Chad Perrin said:
Essentially, what you're saying appears to be: "The hammer and sickle is okay because it has been sensationalized differently." That roughly equates to saying "It's no big deal: it's just a symbol."
Absolutely. I also don't think it's good to get worked up about the crucifix, which has been used as a symbol of hatred from time to time. Or, for that matter, the swastika.>
If it's just a symbol, the same is true of the swastika.
Quite. But it is the case (and I don't condone this) that the symbol is banned in Germany and seen as extremely insensitive in most of Europe. Thugs don't generally daub the hammer and sickle on people's gravestones. If my son went out wearing a hammer and sickle t-shirt his friends might think, at most, that it was either rather stylish or a bit old school; if he went out wearing a swastika they probably wouldn't even talk to him. I'm simply describing a situation that pertains in my country and in most European countries. I didn't invent it.