Your thoughts on Satanism and the petition for a Satanic statue.

[Catholic_Lady]

People, please read what I actually say lol.

[Catholic_Lady]

Oh it is? The report is dated 9/8/15, which is yesterday. That's weird.

I think efforts were started over a year ago in Oklahoma, and things fell apart there, so they have a statue with no home, and efforts are continuing to put it somewhere.  I remember hearing they were considering putting it near Detroit, Michigan, but that fell apart too.

Ah I see. Thanks for clearing it up.

[Cyberman]

My OP already says what it means to them lol. The problem I have is with them putting it right next to a Christian/Jewish symbol, because whether they like it or not, their symbol still originally comes from the Christian/Jewish religion as a symbol of evil.

So it's a xtian symbol next to another xtian symbol.

So by wanting to put it next to the Ten Commandments, they are knowingly and purposely defiling something that is sacred to a lot of people. Just pick a different spot in the same property.

I think the point is that any religious symbol placed there is knowingly and purposely defiling something that is sacred to a lot of people.

[Catholic_Lady]

My OP already says what it means to them lol. The problem I have is with them putting it right next to a Christian/Jewish symbol, because whether they like it or not, their symbol still originally comes from the Christian/Jewish religion as a symbol of evil.

So it's a xtian symbol next to another xtian symbol.

Yes, it's a Christian symbol of evil, next to a Christian symbol that is supposed to represent something sacred lol. So I see it as kind of a hate thing to put a symbol of evil right next to it. If the Satanists wanna put their little demon anywhere else on public land, it's whatever I guess. Just so long as there is mutual respect there.

[Cyberman]

But it's not their little demon; it's yours.

[Catholic_Lady]

But it's not their little demon; it's yours.

What do you mean?

[TheRocketSurgeon]

Then why is it only symbols you approve of which get to be on public land?  Who made you the arbiter?

Keep your bloody religion in your homes and churches and you'll have no trouble from me.

As I said, I don't care about this or other symbols being on public land. But putting a symbol that came from the Christian/Jewish religion to represent evil, right next to a Christian/Jewish symbol, is a clear and deliberate sign of hostility towards an entire group of people. And that's the part I don't agree with.

But that's exactly the point, CL.  It is a symbol chosen specifically to demonstrate why having religious monuments, even Christianity, displayed as part of our public buildings is a problem. It is hostile to us when Christians try to assert their cultural dominance by placing their monuments on our public buildings. Showing Christians that it's not cool, using the same methodology, is more important than violating the precept of not offending others' religious beliefs, especially those who aren't willing to respect the neutrality of government with respect to their own.

You're quite correct, that both images are taken from the Bible (well, technically Baphomet is derivative of a much older concept), and they're equally wrong to have up there in a public space. Unfortunately, the only way to get most Christians to see the problem that the rest of us see clearly is to use a symbol specifically tailored to raise their indignation.

And though I know that it's not exactly the point you were trying to make, I'd nevertheless be careful as a Christian, when you start to denounce other faith-groups for stealing religious symbols.

http://relijournal.com/christianity/borr...istianity/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_Paganism

I'm just sayin'.

[Cyberman]

But it's not their little demon; it's yours.

What do you mean?

What I say. It's a xtian symbol. That you (generalising plural) have an issue with it based on your own mythology isn't their problem. That they can so easily score a hit against you is also not their problem.

[Catholic_Lady]

What do you mean?

What I say. It's a xtian symbol. That you (generalising plural) have an issue with it based on your own mythology isn't their problem. That they can so easily score a hit against you is also not their problem.

I definitely don't like it, but I still wouldn't stop them from putting it on public land. My concern here is with putting it right next to the 10 commandments, because it wouldn't stand on its own, but rather, it would be deliberately done as a sign of hostility and hate for another group of people.

[Simon Moon]

I have a problem with them wanting to put that up right next to a Christian/Jewish symbol, though. Those Satanists did not invent the symbol of the Demon, the bible did. They took something that was made up to represent evil, and are trying to make it their own. Which is fine, I guess, but by putting it next to the 10 commandments statue, they are deliberately and knowingly trying to "defile" something that is very sacred for the majority of people in this country. Why not just choose a different spot to put their statue in? Its own spot?

Why does it matter if their symbol was borrowed from your mythology?

Why does it matter if it is placed next to your symbols?

This is a simple case of freedom of religion and freedom from religion. Do you even know the content of the 1st Amendment?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

If Christianity and Judaism are allowed to put their symbols on Government land, then other religions have he same rights. If the local governments would actually obey the Constitution and remove all religious symbols from their property, then you wouldn't have to be offended by Satanists exercising their rights in getting their religious statue erected.

By the way, almost everyone of Christianity's symbols were borrowed from earlier pagan religions. So your argument that Satanists are borrowing their religious symbol from Christianity is a non starter.