When Night Turns to Day: The False Security of Digital Secrets and the Power of Living in the Light

Jamaican saying: When you think it’s peace and safety it’s sudden destruction.

We are living in an information society, a digital age where every tap of a key is etched into permanence. Yet, instead of making us more transparent, this hyper-connected world has given rise to a strange, widespread psychological illness: the epidemic of pretentiousness. People have built elaborate, sanitized digital walls to hide behind, painting flawless pictures to impress strangers while burying their true thoughts in the shadows.

The Heavy Toll of Forced Silence

But there is a dangerous irony in trying too hard to stay invisible. In a free society, the freedom to raise our voices, to speak out and up about the horrible realities of our world—from the loss of jobs to the crippling costs of medical bills, medications, food, gas, and rent—carries a cost. Because some onlookers are quick to label any outspoken view as "too militant," many choose absolute silence. They suppress their thoughts, muffle their expressions, and bottle up their genuine anxieties. But human nature cannot tolerate that kind of containment for long. Eventually, when you force yourself to swallow your reality to keep up appearances, you implode. You become an emotional wreck, hazardous to your own well-being.

The Illusion of the Digital Confessional Booth

To escape this mental anguish, people look for a backdoor. This is where the false confidentiality of apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger catches them in a psychological trap. Because these platforms happen away from public viewing, people treat them like a secure confessional booth. They let their guard down, typing out their deepest, darkest secrets, or venting their rawest feelings as if they can confide in a piece of software.

But "encrypted" only means your message is safe while traveling through the air. The moment it lands on someone else’s device, your privacy is completely out of your hands. I have always said that the Bible warns us Jesus shall come like a thief in the night. When that day arrives, a lot of people are going to be caught with their fingers frozen to their keys, desperately trying to hide what they shared in the dark. If night should ever suddenly turn to day on Messenger and WhatsApp, exposing everything hidden behind the screen, many will not be able to look the Father in the face. They will walk straight ahead with their heads bowed in total shame. True integrity means you don’t write in the dark what you are afraid to stand by in the daylight.

Confronting the "Flies on the Wall"

Then, there are the spectators on the outer edge—the "monitoring spirits" and the flies on the wall. These are the friends and acquaintances who quietly stalk your public Facebook page, reading your words and viewing your life, yet refusing to type a single syllable or leave a comment. They act entirely unconcerned online. Yet, the very moment they see you in person, they want to corner you and discuss everything you posted.

That is pure hypocrisy. Why sit there pretending you don't care, only to demand an intimate conversation in private? When people act like that, I refuse to hold a conversation with them. If you cannot stand with me or engage with me in the open digital square, do not expect me to grant you my energy behind closed doors. Even worse are those who try to police others, telling people not to comment on their friends' pages because they are "too opinionated." These silent watchers are never the ones who come up with real-world solutions to situations. Yet, when bolder souls risk the unknown and speak up to make things better, these hypocrites are the first in line to benefit from the progress.

The Cost of a Curated Persona

Ultimately, those who try the hardest to be careful are the ones most likely to trip over their own pretense. Their absolute, unnatural silence causes people to quietly investigate them. When you paint a picture that is too perfect, you don't protect yourself—you transform yourself into a suspect. People begin to wonder if you are truly who you display yourself to be in the public eye, or if you are hiding a wreck behind the facade.

We just need to act normal. We need to stop trying to curate a performance to impress an audience that doesn’t truly care about us. Keep your personal family moments close to your chest for safety, use the broad reach of the public square to stand firmly behind your principles, and speak out against injustice without fear. When you live an upfront, transparent life, you never have to stress about the walls coming down, because you have nothing to hide.

Tah-Tah!  View things from different angles to see how they look and feel.

Grace Dunkley-Asphall, Copyright © 2026

From Spiritual Abuse to Unshakeable Freedom: A Journey of Reclaiming My Worth

Aging comes with fresh eyes and wisdom.

For a long time, I lived inside a fortress built by other people’s fears. As a child, religion was not a sanctuary; it was a cage of eggshells and invisible tripwires. I was taught a fragile spirituality, one where the most innocent, human pieces of myself were weighed on a scale of cosmic damnation. Manipulation was dressed up as divinity. Threats like "the blood of Jesus is on you" were weaponized to inject a crippling, holy fear into my bones, designed to keep me small, guilty, and entirely at the beck and call of those who demanded the center stage.

Through that painful experience, I learned a profound truth:

"Manipulation isn’t synonymous with change. It is a way to bully people into believing they are not worthy."

But chains, no matter how holy they claim to be, are still chains.

My awakening did not happen in a single thunderclap, but through the slow, steady awakening of my own mind. Critical thinking became my quiet rebellion. I began to look at the grand contradictions of the world with clear, wide-open eyes. I realized that a system requiring me to break my own spirit just to keep someone else's ego fed was not truth—it was spiritual abuse. The terrifying phrases that used to grip my heart lost their supernatural gravity; today, the weaponized wine is just grape juice, and the shouting voices are just noise in the wind.

Now, I understand the profound power of silence. When manipulative people bring their antics, looking for the fuel of my reaction, I hand them my quietness. Let them believe they have the upper hand. Let them bask in their unearned praise and grand appearances. My silence isn’t passivity; it is a fortress. It is the ultimate boundary of a person who finally knows exactly who they are.

Today, the chains are down. They are completely gone. I have reclaimed my spirituality on my own terms, deep and unshakeable. Nobody else gets to define my worth, my future, or my connection to the universe. I am thinking deeper, questioning everything, and standing firmly in the brilliant light of my own independence. I am finally, truly, wide awake.

Tah-Tah! We see things with fresh eyes as we grow older.

Grace Dunkley-Asphall, Copyright ©️ 2026

The Highfalutin Tongue: Why We Need to Forgive Our Fluency and Our Filters

Words are constantly evolving in a world of possibilities. 

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We are raised on strict, invisible chalk lines. In close-knit communities, language is the ultimate measure of respect, and specific words are treated as social landmines. We grow up keeping our filters high and our expressions polished. Yet, as we step out into a broader, more diverse world, we discover a fascinating truth: human behavior does not fit neatly into a textbook, and the rules of language are entirely made up.

First, we must look at the science of our slip-ups. When life hits us with sudden shock or an overwhelming burst of joyful news, our brains flood with adrenaline and dopamine. In those high-energy moments, our emotional centers completely hijack the driver's seat, bypassing our logical upbringing. Letting out a taboo word isn't a sign of ignorance; it is a physical and neurological release valve. It lowers stress hormones and matches the massive scale of our raw, human excitement. It is a moment of total authenticity.

Furthermore, the very concept of a "bad word" is a historical accident. English has a notoriously highfalutin history of looking down its nose at others. Following the French invasion of 1066, the ruling class labeled native peasant words as vulgar simply because of who spoke them. We carry that snobbery into the modern world, often snickering at international names like Schitt (an ancient German woodworking title) or Fuk (a beautiful Vietnamese name meaning "blessings and good fortune"). We mock global heritages just because English slang transformed innocent sounds into playground jokes. Meanwhile, we completely ignore that the English name Gary sounds exactly like the word for diarrhea in Japan.

Ultimately, we live and we learn. True maturity means realizing that what we look down on is often just a cultural blind spot. It is time to drop the judgment and stop policing how people vent their stress or shout their joy. Life is too short to let a rigid, highfalutin language dictate our filters. We should celebrate the moments that shock us into laughter, give grace to the words that slip out when we are excited, and remember that every culture is just trying to translate the same messy, beautiful human experience.

Tah-Tah!  Words are constantly evolving in a world of possibilities.

Grace Dunkley-Asphall, Copyright © 2026

I Finally had that Conversation with AI…

Part 1: The Linguistic Roots of Rest (Sabbath vs. Sabbatical)

The modern workplace sabbatical is directly related to the religious Sabbath. Both words originate from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which means "to rest" or "to cease from labor."

The concept of a sabbatical comes from the biblical law of Shmita (the Sabbatical Year) found in Leviticus 25. Just as people were commanded to rest on the seventh day (Sabbath), ancient Jewish farmers were commanded to let their agricultural land rest and lie fallow every seventh year. Harvard University adapted this "seventh-year rest" concept in 1880 to give professors a year off for research, creating the modern workplace sabbatical.

Part 2: Why Different Worship Days Aren’t All Called "Sabbath"

The divergence in why different religions do not use the same word for their day of worship stems from deep historical, linguistic, and theological shifts:

• Judaism (Saturday): The seventh day remains Shabbat because it fulfills the original commandment of creation, where God rested on the seventh day.

• Mainstream Christianity (Sunday): Early Christians intentionally shifted their primary day of worship from Saturday to Sunday to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To distinguish it from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath, early Christian writers heavily emphasized calling Sunday The Lord's Day(Dominica in Latin). Theological tradition kept the terms separate to mark a distinct break from Mosaic law.

• Islam (Friday): Muslims gather for communal prayers (Jummah) on Friday. However, Islam does not view Friday as a "Sabbath" because Islamic theology explicitly rejects the idea that God needed to "rest" after creation. Friday is a day for community congregation, not a mandatory cessation of all labor.

Part 3: Religion as a Social Divider (The Sociological Blueprint)

While faiths often preach unity, sociology looks at religion as a powerful human system of organization that frequently instigates deep division. There is an invisible blueprint to how this happens: 

In-Groups vs. Out-Groups: Humans naturally divide the world into "people like us" (the In-Group) and "everyone else" (the Out-Group). Religion is the ultimate In-Group builder, giving people shared cosmic truths, shared rituals, and a shared calendar. To strengthen the internal bond, societies historically emphasize how different, wrong, or "unholy" the Out-Group is. 

Cosmic Stakes: Unlike political disagreements, religious divisions come with divine stakes. If you disagree over sacred traditions, it becomes a battle between divine truth and spiritual error. This removes the incentive to compromise, as compromise is viewed as a sin.

Boundary Maintenance: To survive across generations, a religious group must prevent its members from blending into the surrounding culture. Strict rules around marriage outside the faith, dietary laws, and specific days of worship build intentional walls between neighbors, discouraging deep social mixing.

Cultural Trauma: When religious groups clash, the trauma of history is passed down through generations as collective memory. Current generations inherit old grievances they didn't personally cause, making the division a core part of their identity.

Weaponization by Political Elites: Rulers and politicians quickly realize that nothing mobilizes a population faster than telling them their faith or sacred values are under attack. Leaders deliberately stoke theological differences to win elections, conquer land, or maintain control while the average person believes they are fighting for God.

Part 4: Case Study — The Modern Irish Troubles

The Troubles in Northern Ireland (late 1960s to 1998) is a textbook modern example of this sociological blueprint in action:

• The Mirage of Theology: The two sides were labeled Protestant and Catholic, but nobody was fighting over the Bible or the Pope. These labels were ethnic and political shortcuts. "Protestant" meant you identified as British and wanted to stay in the UK. "Catholic" meant you identified as Irish and wanted a united Republic of Ireland. Religion was simply used as a badge to instantly know who was an ally and who was the enemy.

• Resource Hoarding: The Protestant majority held total political control and used it to systematically discriminate against the Catholic minority in housing, jobs, and voting rights. When Catholics peacefully marched for civil rights, the state cracked down violently, mutating a political protest into a decades-long armed conflict.

• Total Segregation: The society practiced extreme boundary maintenance. Children went to segregated schools, families lived in segregated neighborhoods, and massive concrete "Peace Walls" were built to physically separate streets. This complete lack of interaction allowed fear and dehumanizing stereotypes to flourish.

Part 5: Institution Building and Social Prestige (The Jamaican Experience)

This identical blueprint shows up globally, including the history of "church schools" in Jamaica, such as the Moravian and Catholic institutions:

• The Positive Impact (Social Elevation): In rural areas, religious groups like the Moravians—who were historical sticklers for literacy—stepped in to build vital educational infrastructure where the government could not. They brought high-quality education, discipline, and community hubs to places like Nazareth, (Nazareth Moravian Church and Nazareth Primary and Infant Schools) Maidstone, Manchester, lifting generations of families.

• The Strategic Impact (Cultural Transmission): From a sociological lens, schools are the ultimate tool for socialization. By educating children from a young age, an institution ensures its values and worldview are passed down intact, cultivating a lifetime of fierce institutional goodwill and loyalty.

• Social Prestige: Certain institutions command a unique aura. In Jamaica, the Catholic Church historically built some of the most elite, highly disciplined, and well-funded schools on the island. As a result, society attached an immense amount of social prestige to them, causing Catholics to be viewed with a specific reverence—almost "like angels."

Part 6: The Connection to Modern Party Politics

What we see in these historical and religious structures is exactly how modern party politics and politicians operate today.

Political parties do not just want a vote; they want to shape an entire identity. They operate just like the old "party schools," teaching people what to think, who to trust, and who to view as the threat. When modern politicians use "us versus them" language, they are trying to recreate that fierce, institutional, unquestioning loyalty. They want the population segregated into echo chambers so that fear takes over and people stop asking critical questions.

Tah-Tah!  Open your minds and speak to get to the truth.

Grace Dunkley-Asphall, Copyright © 2026

New York Resident: Adlyn R. Bernard-Smith from Grass Piece, Maidstone, Manchester, Jamaica turned 107 on June 2, 2026

First and foremost it’s an honor to be associated with, and to personally know  someone who is 107 years old. Affectionately known as Miss Adlyn by her rural Jamaica community at home and abroad, it is now safe to say that Miss Adlyn is a Queen and has been for more than a century. She’s royal by the measures of kindness, compassion, conduct, understanding, and God fearing principles. Miss Adlyn has been a staunch and ardent member of the Moravian Church which took root at the Nazareth Moravian Church in her rural community of Maidstone, Manchester, Jamaica. Hence, on her arrival in New York, it’s not a surprise to see her continue her Moravian attachment.

Loved by all

Miss Adlyn is loved by all her family, friends, acquaintances, church community, and the people who she continues to meet. On June 2, 2026, Miss Adlyn’s daughters, Lina and Jacqueline were happy as a lark as they shared in the glow and joy of their mother's 107th birthday. They did their own photoshoot too. Pauline, the oldest daughter of Miss Adlyn, wasn’t available in person but that didn’t stop her from showing love and appreciation for her 107 year-old mother. 

…and here’s the part that connects me to Miss Adlyn’s love. I also speak for my other  siblings. Her only son, Howard Dunkley, also my brother, became a victim of Hurricane Ivan in the year 2004. Her daughters are now her soldiers with top ranking performance.

What else is there to say about Miss Adlyn? 

Miss Adlyn is stylish in her speaking, otherwise known as ‘speakey spokey’. She’s very posh even when she speaks the Jamaican dialect/patwa/patois. On her birthday when I spoke with her, I got a good chuckle at how well she has kept up with her gracious way of speaking. Her “o” and “a” were properly formed, pronounced and delivered in their designated location. 

Miss Adlyn also has a great sense of humor, and everyday she still engages in a book of ‘search a word’. Her memory is superb. And she doesn’t falter when it comes to current affairs. I often wonder if she’s a genie. I am so intrigued by her ability to function at such a high level given her age. When it comes to the gifted and honor roll, Miss Adlyn at 107 years of age is at the head of such accolades.

Community Service...Maidstone, Jamaica

Serving the community was of utmost importance to Miss Adlyn. The following are some of the positions she held:

Census taker. Secretary, Community Council. Secretary, Nazareth Primary School Parents Teachers Association (PTA). President, Women's Fellowship, Nazareth Moravian Church.

Seamstress

Miss Adlyn was a seamstress in her community in Jamaica. I recall the lovely custom designed dresses, and school uniforms she made for my sisters and I. 

Duty and gratitude

Duty and gratitude live with Miss Adlyn. She continues to send greetings, good health, and good blessings to everyone. And, at any given point or stage in life, she credits her longevity to the healthy ground provisions she had eaten in her youthful years in Jamaica. Yams such as yellow yam, renta, toi, afoo and others were her foundation foods. 

The creme de la creme of centenarians.

In my boastful and biased yet thankful mind, the 107 year-old Miss Adlyn is the creme de la creme of centenarians. She reminds me of the old time farmer’s most prized container, the blue seam bale bag. It was a big deal to receive one after shopkeepers emptied them of sugar. Some people also referred to it as a crocus bag, farmers used it for reaping and storing ground provisions, the best from their crops. On that note, Miss Adlyn is a blue seam bale bag of solid love, respect, humility, gratitude, caring, sharing, good manners, her christian faith and more. 

Continued strength and good health to Miss Adlyn as she navigates life.

Tah-Tah!  Respecting the elders is highly appreciated.

Grace Dunkley-Asphall, Copyright © 2026

Lock Them Up To RASS (Repugnant And Seriously Selfish)...Too much Fraudulent Activities

Hello World, In this paragraph, I come to you with a blend of Jamaican dialect and the standard English Language regarding the reported magnitude of fraudulent activities. I am tired of people in our healthcare system and in high places allegedly committing fraud. Lock dem up to rass! Poor people are feeling the pinches. Enough is enough! Black, brown, white or blue eyeball, lock dem up! Mama, Dada, bredda, sistah, huncle, hanty, cuzzen, granny, grandpa, pawsen, techa, or pickney dem, even friends; lock up the entire lot, stock and barrel. Bungle in AI tuh, cyber criminals, anyone who abuses the power of their own power to steal, manipulate, destroy, exploit and enrich themselves. Lock them up!

Translation: Standard English Language 

Hello World, I am tired of people in our healthcare system and in high places allegedly committing fraud. Lock them up, period! Poor people are feeling the pinch. Enough is enough! Black, brown, white, or blue eyes, lock them up! Mama, Dada, brother, sister, uncle, aunty, cousin, granny, grandpa, parson, teacher, or child; lock up the entire lot, stock, and barrel. Bunglers in AI too, cyber-criminals, anyone who abuses the power to steal, manipulate, destroy, exploit, and enrich themselves - lock them up!

Translation: Meta AI Language

To the esteemed individuals entrusted with our healthcare system and positions of authority, it has become abundantly clear that stringent action is required to address the alleged fraudulent activities. Those found guilty should face severe penalties, including imprisonment. The most vulnerable members of our society are suffering, and it is imperative that we take immediate action. Regardless of one's background or socioeconomic status, those who abuse their power for personal gain must be held accountable and face the consequences. This stance applies equally to individuals from all walks of life, including respected family members and community leaders; everyone who engages in such nefarious activities should be brought to justice. Bunglers in AI too, cyber criminals, anyone who abuses the power to steal, manipulate, destroy, exploit, and enrich themselves - lock them up!

Tah-Tah!  According to the old saying: Honesty is the best policy.

Grace Dunkley-Asphall, Copyright © 2026

Jamaican Parliament On Stage With Mace: The Touch The Outside The Anticlimax...warrants a conversation with AI

The Island of Jamaica is a land of fun loving people, rich culture, sports enthusiasts, Olympians, the world's fastest man in track and field, good foods and beverages, reggae music, remedies for the mind, soul and body, many houses of worship, farmers, gullies and mountains, appointments and disappointments, success and failure, great educators, sea, sand, sun, beaches, rivers, robust Blue Mountain coffee, laughter, silence and more good attributes. By the same token, it is also a land where it’s best practice to be mindful of your words, noticeable bouts of spirit tek (likable), run-mouth (idle talk), and die hard followers of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) or the People’s National Party (PNP).

In a brilliant dose of honesty, I am a dodo head, lol, when it comes to party politics and the rules and regulations that govern the Jamaica Parliament. However, there are times when common sense prevails and I am able to share my opinions. 

That being said: Due to the brouhaha, in April 2026, caused by someone touching the mace while Parliament was in session, I gathered the pluck to have a conversation with AI. And my sole purpose was to get, for myself, a proper understanding on why the Mace should not be touched. Thus, I solicited Google as the avenue to AI.

#1 My Questions:  What is “Mace”?  Is there any ritualistic or necromancy attached to it, such as the one in the Jamaica Parliament? 

AI Overview/Response:

The Mace is a heavily ornamented staff, usually made of silver and gold, that serves as the ceremonial symbol of authority in Westminster-style parliaments, including the Jamaican Parliament. 

Based on recent parliamentary events in Jamaica, there is no necromancy(communication with the dead) involved; however, the Mace is surrounded by strict, nearly ritualistic protocols that govern the legitimacy of the government. 

What is the Parliamentary Mace?

*Symbol of Authority: It represents the authority of the Sovereign (King Charles III) and the Speaker of the House. Without its presence on the table, the Parliament cannot legally sit, debate, or pass laws.

*History: The Jamaican Mace dates back to the 1700s and is carried into the chamber by the Marshall at the start of every session. 

*Positioning: It must remain on the table while the house is in session. If the house meets as a committee to examine a bill, the mace is placed under the table. 

The "Ritualistic" Incident in Jamaica Parliament 

*The Event: In April 2026, Opposition MP Dr. Angela Brown Burke touched/removed the ceremonial mace during a heated debate over the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill. 

*The Protocol Breach: Speaker Juliet Holness immediately declared this a serious violation of tradition, stating, "Member, at no time can you grab the mace in Parliament. Not even in jest, member. And not in protest either", notes. 

*Consequence: The incident was treated as a grave violation of parliamentary rules, leading to the member’s suspension and a temporary halt to proceedings, reinforcing the sacred nature of the object in parliamentary tradition. 

While the behavior was dramatic, it was a political, symbolic protest rather than a "ritualic or necromancy" incident. The "ritual" is simply the strict adhering to the 18th-century protocols surrounding the object's presence. 

***End of AI Overview/Response.

#2 My Question: In recent times the Governor General of Jamaica found out that the insignia he wore, and those before him, was dehumanizing to the first degree. How certain are we that the mace isn’t of the same order, or has a hidden agenda in plain sight?

AI Overview/Response:

The connection you've made highlights a significant ongoing conversation in Jamaica about colonial symbols. The Governor General did indeed suspend the use of the Order of St. Michael and St. George insignia in 2020 because it depicted a white archangel trampling a dark-skinned figure representing Satan. 

While the Mace is also a colonial-era artifact, its design and historical "agenda" differ from the insignia: 

Design and Symbolism

*The Mace: Its symbols are largely structural and heraldic. It features royal ciphers, the royal coat of arms, and symbols like the Tudor rose or portcullis. It does not contain figurative illustrations of people or racialized depictions.

*The Insignia: The dehumanizing element was a specific piece of figurative art (the archangel and the "dark-skinned" Satan) which was criticized for normalizing the degradation of people of color.

Historical Origins

*Weapon to Symbol: The Mace originated as a medieval weapon used to protect the King. Over time, it evolved into a symbol of the Speaker's authority and the legitimacy of the House to meet.

*Colonial Purpose: Like the insignia, the Jamaican Maces (ordered in 1753 and 1787) were created during the peak of the colonial era. Their "agenda" was to establish that power in Jamaica flowed directly from the British Crown.

The "Hidden Agenda" Question

Critics argue that the "hidden agenda" of the Mace isn't in a specific image, but in what the object represents: the continued survival of colonial power structures in a post-colonial nation. 

*The Insignia was rejected because its imagery was overtly racist.

*The Mace is currently under fire more for its political function—the fact that Parliament "cannot legally sit" without a symbol of the British Monarchy.

While no dehumanizing imagery has been identified on the Mace, many Jamaicans believe the object itself is an "outdated" reminder of colonial bondage and should be reviewed as Jamaica considers transitioning to a Republic.

***End of AI Overview/Response.

#3 My Concern: It seems that most of the hierarchy in the government body has a symbol. In ancient times the swastika was a religious symbol for people of the darker hue. However, for some unknown reason, Hitler took it and defaced it for his selfish reason. I still don’t, in modern times, see the reason for worshipping ornaments or dumb things.

AI Overview/Response:

The use of these objects isn't about "worshipping" the item itself, but rather about using a tangible anchor to represent abstract concepts like law, order, and collective agreement that are otherwise invisible. 

Why Governments Use Symbols

*Tangible Authority: Symbols like the Mace make political authority "emotionally meaningful" and visible to a public that cannot interact directly with a vast government. 

*Psychological Order: Rituals and ceremonial objects create a sense of predictability and control. Research shows that structured rituals help reduce collective anxiety and increase confidence in the stability of a system.

*Legitimacy: In modern states, these rituals replace the "divine right" of kings, serving as a public, repetitive performance that reinforces the legitimacy of the legal and legislative process.

The Swastika vs. The Mace

You mentioned the swastika, which is a powerful example of how a symbol's meaning can be forcibly changed:

*Original Meaning: Long before the Nazi regime, the swastika was a universal symbol of well-being, good fortune, and the sun across various ancient cultures, including those in India, Africa, and the Americas.

*Defacement: Hitler co-opted it in the 1920s to awaken the "imagination of the masses" through an appeal to raw feeling and identity, permanently tainting its meaning in the Western world.

*Comparison to the Mace: While the swastika was a religious icon of peace turned into a sign of hate, the Mace followed the opposite path: it was a lethal weapon of war that was "civilized" into a symbol of peaceful democratic debate.

Symbols as "Dumb Things"

From a purely logical standpoint, a gold-plated stick (the Mace) or a cross-shaped pattern (the Swastika) has no inherent power. However, humans use them because pure logic rarely unites large groups of people. 

*A "Social Glue": Symbols act as a shortcut for shared values. For many, "worshipping" the ornament is actually a way of respecting the social contract it stands for. 

*A "Living Lie": Critics, like yourself, argue that when the symbol's history is rooted in violence or colonial dehumanization (as with the Jamaica Mace or the Governor General’s insignia), the ornament becomes a "dumb thing" that hides a dark history in plain sight.

As Jamaica considers moving toward a Republic, do you think it’s possible to have a government without any physical symbols, or would we just end up creating new ones?

***End of AI Overview/Response.

Tah-Tah!  We learn everyday.

Grace Dunkley-Asphall, Copyright © 2026