Thread:Tagg3r/@comment-5850386-20131230010840/@comment-2052424-20131231010039

Definitions, symbols, and events change their meaning all the time. The Yule tree was once part of a ritual in a pagan holiday, now it's a Christmas tree. The word 'gay' used to mean a happy and/or joyful mood, now it describes an orientation. There was a similar version of the 'Nazi Salute' in America, done during the pledge of allegiance, but people weren't comfortable doing it after the Nazis adopted it. The swastika used to be a religious symbol, then it was a good luck symbol that people would send to each other, then the Nazis turned it into a symbol of hate, intolerance, and industrialized genocide.

The meanings that things have are the meanings we give to them, directly or indirectly.

As to Stalin, yes, he is just as bad as Hitler, some would even argue that he is worse. However, just mentioning someone is not a bad thing, if it were then it would be impossible to teach History. It's how you talk about them that matters. Discussing Hitler and Stalin, and the effects that their atrocities had is not bad. Talking about idolizing them, or describing them as your heroes, is quite the opposite.