How does the German- American Bund relate to Hinduism?

Schindler's List was on t.v. last night and as I watched it, a slew of questions started running through my head much like the ones I had in my high school history classes. It seems like after studying the Holocaust all those years, none of my personal questions really got answered.

Like, what did Hitler have against the Jews... really? How can such a large group of people like the Jews get bullied around so much to the point of so many of them getting killed? Why didn't more people fight back? Since Jesus was a Jew, would he have been killed if he lived during the time of Hitler's reign?

Of course, as with anything, there are opposing viewpoints of answers to every question. The sad thing is, the more time passes, the more information is lost in written records of history and word-of-mouth as the people who were actually there die off. Some people believe that the Holocaust never really happened. I can't say that for sure, but it sure seems skewed the way it is presented in the public school system. The typical History lesson plans always consisted of the same points and material:

-Hitler was evil and wanted to create a perfect race by ridding the earth of all the Jews.

-Many countries were in opposition to Nazi Germany's treatment of the Jews.

-People were afraid of the rise in communism, which would have created a classless society. This fear is what lead to the requirement of people to wear the infamous arm bands to identify themselves as Jewish, gay, Jehovah Witness, etc.

-Videos shown depicting images of emaciated Jewish people with commentary describing the horrible conditions they were forced to live in. Then images of, presumably the same people, dead in massive piles who had just been gassed by the Nazis.

-Assigned reading: "the Diary of Anne Frank"

While this information isn't necessarily false, it is definitely one-sided and, to me, never has seemed to paint the whole picture. I mean, was Hitler really evil? Was his original intent to create the results recorded in the history books? If one goes off the information presented in high school History classes, the assumption is that Hitler was definitely evil. What about all the different sects of Nazi-ism?

Which brings me to the German-American Bund (pronounced: "boondt"). We never learned about this group in class, but I know it exists because my great-grandfather was a member of the Seattle chapter and I've heard some word-of-mouth history through family. Most publications I've found, talk about the Bund much like the Nazis and how "evil" they were. On the contrary, my family has always told me that the Bund my great-grandpa was a part of consisted of German-American activists interested in peace who happened to use the swastika as their symbol.

It actually makes sense that they could be a peace group. The answer lies in the meaning behind the swastika. You see, the swastika didn't originate with the Nazis. It seems to have originated with Hinduism and spread amongst other Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Jainism as a symbol that literally means "that which is associated with well-being." Since the swastika has four points, it also represents the importance of the four directions - north, south, east, and west. It also represents the four-headed Lord Brahma - the creator of the universe.

Even before my knowledge of my great-grandpa's involvement with the Bund... before my understanding of the connection of that group with the peaceful ways of Hinduism, I've always been drawn to Hinduism. I've never been able to completely explain why. Just a psychic connection of some sort. I feel at home when I look at pictures of all the gods, goddesses, and avatars of Hinduism. My dad's side of the family was raised Catholic, my mom's was Southern Baptist and Lutheran. I know in this lifetime that each of these religions has something to offer, but it is my personal assertion that the roots of their goodness for me lies in my connection with Hinduism.

So the big parallel here is that my family history and its affiliation with the swastika conflicts with what I've been taught in school about the Nazis who also used the swastika. This is much like my beliefs in Hinduism and the perpetual cycle of the universe in the hands of many gods and goddesses versus the Christian belief that there is only one god. Who is right? The public school system and their text books or oral history and psychic attraction? Hinduism or Christianity?

I don't think this is a question that can ever be answered. The truth is, I don't even believe everything about Hinduism. Its just what I can most personally identify with. The only thing that can be done is to learn from the goodness each has to offer and personally asses each issue as it comes. Much like my belief that there can't be just one god, there are many gods AND goddesses, the same goes for spiritual beliefs. There can't be just one, there are many.

Why do guys always get the remote control?

I could answer this question in so many ways. There are countless articles published about this very topic, but for now this is more of an introspection of my response than a quest to find the actual answer. I mean ladies, does this sound familiar? You could be minding your own business just hanging out with the t.v. on and before you know it, the channel has been magically changed to golf?

Wait, I don't watch golf, what the hell happened? Just because my undivided attention isn't consumed by the t.v. doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention to what I picked out. Women are amazing multi-taskers. I don't know about you, but I'm able to fold laundry, talk on the phone and watch t.v. all at the same time. Somehow, with all my multitasking abilities, my partner seems to poses a magical power of his own. That's sneaking the remote and turning the channel to what he wants to watch and maintaining control over the t.v. for the rest of the day.

This happens all the time! I usually give into it because I feel like spending time together watching whatever ends up on the screen is more important than arguing over it. I try to justify it by saying, "I don't like t.v. anyway," or "I have other things to do besides watching t.v."

After a time, I realize that sitting together, watching the screen isn't spending time together at all. When guys watch t.v., they watch t.v! No talking allowed! So I get sick of watching golf and usually end up doing laundry or cleaning because I feel like I don't deserve to just sit and veg out until these things are done.

Why, oh why, do I feel this way? Its like a computer program in me that automatically ensues when a certain sequence of events happens... I'm watching t.v., leads to... program gets changed to what he wants to watch, leads to... "I must not deserve to be watching what I want," leads to finding something "productive" to do.

Why do I feel like if the t.v. is turned from what I'm watching, its my cue to do some dishes or clean the floor? It drives me insane! Recently, I've tried to boycott my regular responses by forcing myself to sit and watch whatever is on and I feel like a lazy bum. Most of all, I feel GUILTY!

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like a common feeling in women is guilt. Why do we bear the burden of the world through this feeling? Not just with the microcosmic example of dealing with who gets the remote, but with EVERYTHING!!! Personally I hate it. I don't quite know how to confront this, but I know as women, it is an epidemic that plagues us all.

How do you explain "color" to a kid?

I was sitting at circle time with the kids at work. We were going over all the daily academics of talking about letters and the sounds they make, sign language for different words, and naming colors. I started to wonder what all this meant. What if a kid stopped me in the middle of a lesson and asked, "What is color?"

I talk about it all the time. I "teach" by pointing to an object like a banana, for instance and say, "that is yellow," but does that really explain what a color is? It seems like such an example falls short of the plethora of meanings behind color.

I know that color can be used as a noun or verb. We talk about the color of things and to color things as an action such as coloring a picture or using color to reflect emotions, etc. But what I want to know is, when we look at something that is red, what are we actually seeing and how do we know its red?

The dictionary's first definition of color is: the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue.

Okay, so its all about how we perceive the light that is reflected off of a given object. What about people that are "color blind?" They see color differently. How can someone say that they are blind to what is "normal" color? Maybe it goes both ways. Since the majority of people are blind to what color blind people see does that mean we're all blind? Blindness indicates a deficiency and is hardly a good way to describe differences in perception.

Even between two people who are deemed to not be color blind, a color could possibly be perceived in very different ways. Especially when the subject comes about in a special ed classroom like the one I work in. There are many degrees of vision in each child and we really can't be sure what they're seeing because most of them are nonverbal.

How can I say that I really know what color things are when there are so many perceptions all around me? Who is right? Am I right to say that a banana is yellow when a kid might look at it and actually see purple? Maybe there's a whole different or additional spectrum of colors that most of us have never experienced that's available to these kids.

Who's to say? Once again I'm baffled at how little I really know. I guess I'll have to keep doing it the way I know how and just pay attention to the reactions I get from students. Most importantly, I should shift my focus of awareness from how I can teach them to what I can learn from them in an attempt to further understand each subject.