> But how would you feel if you ran into your neighbor at the mailboxes and they were getting magazines with swastikas on them?
Depends. If it was the actual red/white/black Nazi design, I'd definitely ask about it and he'd have to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why he is receiving these magazines--and then I'd believe him knowing that actual neo-Nazis never apologize or make excuses but will be frank and confronting about their beliefs and the ones that aren't also tend to make sure their neighbours don't see their propaganda mail.
However, you can't compare that to a cartoon devil in sneakers. If that computer screen had displayed Powered by <image of a pentagram with a goats head in a circle with occult symbols> then, yeah, I couldn't blame anyone for at least wondering if they might be Satan-worshippers :) And if fundie Christians want to get all offended and freak out at Satanists, I'm going to say, have at it. While actual Satanists are generally rather harmless, they are also generally enormous pricks. It might even give me short pause and wonder whether I'd reconsider staying at that hotel, but in the end the potential for hilarity would probably win out.
No, this is more like: Your neighbour receives a magazine with a swastika on it that doesn't actually have anything to do with Nazis, like maybe he is a Hindu. Just like the BSD logo doesn't have anything to do with the devil or satan, but is a play on the word "daemon". In that case, maybe you don't know it, you ask him, he tells you, and since the magazine says Modern Hindu Magazine (health & lifestyle for the modern Hindu!) and the swastika is yellow with orange, you figure that he's probably not a neo-Nazi.
Depends. If it was the actual red/white/black Nazi design, I'd definitely ask about it and he'd have to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why he is receiving these magazines--and then I'd believe him knowing that actual neo-Nazis never apologize or make excuses but will be frank and confronting about their beliefs and the ones that aren't also tend to make sure their neighbours don't see their propaganda mail.
However, you can't compare that to a cartoon devil in sneakers. If that computer screen had displayed Powered by <image of a pentagram with a goats head in a circle with occult symbols> then, yeah, I couldn't blame anyone for at least wondering if they might be Satan-worshippers :) And if fundie Christians want to get all offended and freak out at Satanists, I'm going to say, have at it. While actual Satanists are generally rather harmless, they are also generally enormous pricks. It might even give me short pause and wonder whether I'd reconsider staying at that hotel, but in the end the potential for hilarity would probably win out.
No, this is more like: Your neighbour receives a magazine with a swastika on it that doesn't actually have anything to do with Nazis, like maybe he is a Hindu. Just like the BSD logo doesn't have anything to do with the devil or satan, but is a play on the word "daemon". In that case, maybe you don't know it, you ask him, he tells you, and since the magazine says Modern Hindu Magazine (health & lifestyle for the modern Hindu!) and the swastika is yellow with orange, you figure that he's probably not a neo-Nazi.