In a film by German Lutz Becker ,called Double - Headed Eagle, a collection of newsreel footage tells it's own story of the rise of fanaticism in Germany, from 1918 to the 1933 beginnings of World War II. It was the birth of it all, you might say, the growth of Nazi power and the framework of the Third Reich.
" The eagle represents sovereignty, and the double heads represent the double stamp of approval, both by man AND god.
Hitler was part of Germany's destruction during WWI, and saw a fiercely proud nation morally destroyed. Germany had Her spirit broken after the war.
He began his rise to power and one of the great things he did was rebuild the sense of "civil religion" where people had faith in the nation again. That was one of the heads (the approval of man).
His total control of the emotional feeling of the country combined with the total stamping out of all religious activity gave him the right to use the second head on his eagle for his crest.
Hence, he claimed the double headed eagle." by Psychic Spy 2005
A flag waving on Main Street in our town yesterday afternoon, cast a shadow onto a brick wall behind it. Driving by in our Tahoe, I was sitting in the passenger seat, enjoying the late afternoon sun.
I had just looked to the right as the flag and shadow suddenly came into view, I was quite taken with it. I thought the shadow looked like a flame. Later I recalled that it was not unlike the flame on the cross found as the trademark of the Methodist church these days.
So the flag against the wall, was like a flame. Was it strange that it immediately seemed to be a flag which could break down a wall of barriers. A flame of change?
A definition of a barrier can be different for all people. In my thoughts it was various barriers; against women, minorities and those not as privileged as the one percent. It was my view of the world, it was more and more about things that disturbed me, that the flame would burn through the barriers, the brick walls, the things which blocked others out.
My daughter, the driver, wondered what I furiously wrote down and we had a discussion about it. One flag which burns down barriers might be also a flag which is building barriers because in the multicultural or world view there are many kinds of ways to become nationalistic, fanatical and dangerous to those who are different.
So the flames were good or bad depending on your perspective, the wall coming down perhaps good or bad, but how is it perceived? Through the influence of circumstance, of leadership, of propaganda and expectation, also the walls come down. There are always flames involved. Flames of passion, of justice, of danger, of hatred, making a hell for those who want to live just in the status quo. The status quo changes. It swings too, from good at times, through good and into evil. Just ask the Germans.
My mind carried me back to the brief clip of the Double-Headed Eagle; I had seen and I heard them. I heard the people who shouted for the flames of changes, I heard them chant as the brick wall of civilized Germany was torn down to somehow make way for a new Germany. I heard their voices, their passion, they believed.
I can hear them now, here. I worry about them, what they are saying, what they are doing. I know they want change, but I don't believe they are ready for the kind of change that is coming.
Flames burn people, brick walls crush them. Stewardship of passion is difficult if stirred by propaganda to hideous extreme, leadership corrupted by greed and unregulated power makes for chaos. Power corrupted is easily missed in it's process to flames.
What did I see? I saw change.
From the website of the United Methodist Church
History and Significance
"The history and significance of the Cross and Flame emblem are as rich and diverse as The United Methodist Church. The insignia's birth quickly followed the union of two denominations in 1968: The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church.
Following more than two dozen conceptualizations, a traditional symbol—the cross—was linked with a single flame with dual tongues of fire. The resulting insignia is rich in meaning. It relates The United Methodist church to God through Christ (cross) and the Holy Spirit (flame). The flame is a reminder of Pentecost when witnesses were unified by the power of the Holy Spirit and saw "tongues, as of fire" (Acts 2:3).
The elements of the emblem also remind us of a transforming moment in the life of Methodism's founder, John Wesley, when he sensed God's presence and felt his heart "strangely warmed." The two tongues of a single flame may also be understood to represent the union of two denominations.
The insignia, one with lettering and one without, was formally adopted by the General Conference in 1968 and registered in 1971 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Since 1996, the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) of The United Methodist church has supervised the emblem's use."
The Double Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933 presents a unique and disturbing look at the rise of the Nazi party. The documentary, directed by Lutz Becker, attempts to remain as objective as possible, serving as a neutral observer of the years 1918 through 1933 in Germany. Via newsreel footage and clips of features from the era, the film offers a kaleidoscopic view of the many elements that fueled the rise of the Socialist Nationalist Party, including post-WWI poverty. Hitler occupies a central place in the documentary. ~ Betsy Boyd, Rovi
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/the-double-headed-eagle-hitler-s-rise-to-power-1918-1933#ixzz1yfro0iAn
Copyright 2012 by SheilaTGTG55
No comments:
Post a Comment