Why must a raised arm be forever copyrighted by the Nazis? What if they had customarily shaken hands? Would we all have to stop doing that too? The swastika is an ancient symbol that was used long before the Nazis, and they turned it the other way. Is a swastika itself evil? Is a raised arm evil?

If they are not consciously emulating Naziism in your church, Mary, then they are not emulating Naziism at all. You're judging the book by its cover, in my opinion.

But if you just can't stand it because of the emotional associations that you feel over it, then I guess you have a problem, and you may have to go to another church to solve that problem.

You know, just because Hitler happened to co-opt a bunch of old cultural symbols that had been around for ages (the Roman salute, the Roman Eagle standards, the Swastika symbol, the Nordic legends, the German Cross, etc, etc, etc.) does not mean that those symbols belong exclusively to Hitler from now till eternity or that they are inevitably associated with evil.

Really, for heaven's sake...do you honestly think your church is trying to give the Nazi salute??? They're making a gesture of blessing.

I resent Hitler being given a permanent monopoly (in various people's minds) over a perfectly good gesture which was around long before the Nazis were ever heard of or dreamt of.

What's more important, Mary? Outer form or inner intention? What would Jesus have said about that?