Satanic Temple does it again: Gets a display at Michigan capital, beats out nativity scene
23 replies, posted
[quote]Looks like we’ll have to make a visit to the Michigan State Capitol building this year since officials there just gave the green light to a display from the Satanic Temple.
It comes just [B]a couple of weeks after they received an okay to show their display in the Florida Capitol Building[/B] as well.
The display, which depicts a snake wrapped around the Satanic cross presenting a book as a holiday gift, will be featured on the northeast lawn at the Capitol Dec. 21 to 23, said Jex Blackmore, a member of the Detroit chapter of the Satanic Temple. The cross reads, “The greatest gift is knowledge.”
“Encouraging families to have [B]important discussions and to learn from each other and to spend the holidays promoting knowledge[/B] … is just something we think is important,” Blackmore, whose phone number begins with the digits 666, said today.
...
The only reason they [B]filled out an application to put up a display in Michigan is because a Christian group wanted to put up a Nativity scene first.[/B]
And now?
[B]The Nativity… has been scrapped. [Michigan State Capitol Commission John] Truscott said today the Nativity was approved but the out-of-state person backing it couldn’t find someone to put up and tear down the display each day. That’s necessary because Capitol rules forbid permanent displays.[/B]
...
When Jex first reached out to the Capitol Commission to learn how she could submit our display, she refrained from mentioning that she is a representative of the dreaded Satanic Temple.
[B]Jex was told at that time that the new requirement for holiday displays (that they be taken down each evening and replaced again in the morning) was a result of trying to deter “that group from Florida” — clearly a reference to The Satanic Temple — winning the right to exhibit our holiday display in the Florida Capitol Rotunda.
It seems that, despite Michigan’s efforts to specifically exclude The Satanic Temple’s display, they’re going to get it, anyway. And they won’t even have the Nativity scene they obviously favored.[/B][/quote]
[url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/12/16/michigan-officials-wanted-to-keep-a-satanist-display-out-of-the-capitol-but-their-rules-backfired-on-christians/]Patheos[/url]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/oMRqMBN.jpg?1[/img]
The display
I always get a laugh out of these. I think it's hilarious.
The cherry is that the nativity scene failed to meet the conditions.
Whoa. I didn't know one was put up in Tallahassee (Florida's capital.)
GOING TO SEE THIS TOMORROW.
This is great! I love that they got past michigan's attempt to stop them. If nativity scenes can be put up, then so can these. In fact, I would like them ALL to be put up.
[quote]...Blackmore, whose phone number begins with the digits 666...[/quote]
I love that they point this out.
The greatest gift is knowledge though, thanks Satan
I love the Satanic Temple, they're absolutely hilarious. They go around searching for loopholes and such where they can throw something like this in just to troll Christians :v:
[editline]16th December 2014[/editline]
LaVeyan Satanists on the other hand just troll themselves into oblivion
I have to admit, though - knowledge is indeed the greatest gift.
The rift between ideologies is chiefly in the imaginary side of things. All things Christian have become to be accepted as pure, blessed or exalted, while anything that was ever touched by the snake or Satan/Lucifer were tainted and corrupted. It's a form of propaganda that's been in the making for nearly 2 millenia, put simply.
There's too much context-grabbing and semantics involved to even hope to begin to unravel this, but basically the problem boils down to Bible-thumpers taking the Bible as not a allegorical account of ancient history (Lucifer not being Satan, but instead Babylon, and more specifically, it's king of the time, Nebuchadnezzar II, for example), but as a literal encyclopedia on what and who and where anything happens or happened. While, defiantly symbolic in their presentation, the Satanic Temple (Lucifer standing for Satan in this case) rebels against mainstream Christianity much like the fairytale version of Satan was indeed thought to have rebelled against God, while maintaining a double-sided ironic facade, wherein it is encouraged to both explore alternatives to your deeply held beliefs to try to grasp the truth (hence the "The greatest gift is knowledge.") while also posing as a more traditionally understood and accepted rebellious shard of Christianity (hence why they are a Satanic Temple to begin with).
My point is, the Satanic Temple is essentially a form of atheism (think actual anti-theism, not fedora'd gentlemen) in that it renounces the traditional God and defies His rule of the domain as the one and only accepted path. It manages to catch the attention of the religious sects by posing as a facet of their very own religion, but does so by adopting the symbolic act of rebellion against your creator as a motif. But all of this doesn't matter to the BTs, because they don't usually see behind the deist symbolism, instead only seeing the immediate - in this case the Snake, the Devil's Cross and the Sigil of Baphomet, and they just throw a tantrum: "Lawd hev moicy, the devil's implements are right here, in the heart of my community, and they are ACCEPTED? UNACCEPTABLE!"
I love the fact that dissenting viewpoints have the opportunity to be laid bare to all who would but have a look, but I despise the fact that were it not for a measure of playing the system, people in power are directly attempting to oppose this from ever coming to pass.
Edit:
Also, due to the media, the masses seem to have the impression that Satanists are the edgy, all-black goth/Marylin Manson kids who cut themselves and sacrifice rodents in their basements. This is bullshit too, and serves to show how easy it is to sway public opinion in a world where most people just don't have the time to research this or that, because life's fast and you always need more.
[QUOTE=just-a-boy;46731508]My point is, the Satanic Temple is essentially a form of atheism (think actual anti-theism, not fedora'd gentlemen)[/QUOTE]
the fact that you had to point this out is fucking depressing
^
most satanism (the kind that does these events, not the goat-heart ripping kind) exists to promote secularism and to abuse systems that allow religious practices, they aren't athiests, they really are a religion that worships the troll, they exist to be satire, not to push anti-faith
[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;46731557]the fact that you had to point this out is fucking depressing[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Sableye;46731574]^
most satanism (the kind that does these events, not the goat-heart ripping kind) exists to promote secularism and to abuse systems that allow religious practices, they aren't athiests, they really are a religion that worships the troll, they exist to be satire, not to push anti-faith[/QUOTE]
Like I said, read it as literally anti-theism, or being opposed to a God(s) in religious context, not the denial of the existence of God(s), which is why I specifically mentioned it as a form of anti-theism not related to the cancerous euphoric militant atheism that's thrown around in discussion.
Maybe anti-theism is the wrong word for it, but I can't for the life of me come up with a more appropriate expression, so forgive me.
The only thing i learned from this thread is that people still say trolling
[QUOTE=just-a-boy;46731614]Like I said, read it as literally anti-theism, or being opposed to a God(s) in religious context, not the denial of the existence of God(s), which is why I specifically mentioned it as a form of anti-theism not related to the cancerous euphoric militant atheism that's thrown around in discussion.
Maybe anti-theism is the wrong word for it, but I can't for the life of me come up with a more appropriate expression, so forgive me.[/QUOTE]
Read their website. They're not opposed to religion unless it is forced on someone else. For example, they believe gay marriage shouldn't be banned just because of someone else's religious beliefs.
From their FAQ:
[QUOTE]"The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forego your own."[/QUOTE]
I like TST. It's about having faith in science instead of the supernatural.
So, what is the book that is shown on the display?
[quote=the article]...said Jex Blackmore, a member of the Detroit chapter of the Satanic Temple...[/quote]
Could you have a more metal sounding name?
On-topic, good for them, and I honestly think that is an awesome idea for a display. It isn't just a rehash of a 2000 year old scene or some advertisement for thoughtless gifts, it advertises the giving of knowledge which really should be more important in today's society than it is, hell I'd be pretty stoked to get books for Christmas rather than some of the shit I get instead.
But seeing as this is Satanism, Christians all over will misinterpret it as evil knowledge and petition to get the display banned or some stupid shit, it's really sad how few people really understand what Satanism is and instead assume it means they worship Satan and commit treacherous evil acts.
The reason they are allowed to get away with this is because it's in front of a government building and the city has already passed allowing nativity scenes there.
The problem is that due to how all religions are treated equally in the constitution, if they allow a nativity scene for one religion, they have to allow them for all of them. As long as they allow anything to be placed there, the Satanists have their right to do this :v:
[editline]17th December 2014[/editline]
So no, they can not in fact ban Satanic presentations specifically. The Satanic Temple does this every year and I think at this point people have stopped trying to pull it down, they have never been able to so why bother lol
[QUOTE=CreeplyTuna;46731751]Read their website. They're not opposed to religion unless it is forced on someone else. For example, they believe gay marriage shouldn't be banned just because of someone else's religious beliefs. [/QUOTE]
I repeat once more, not outright atheist in the traditional sense of denying the existence of God, but anti-theist in a more subtle form - that is, opposing and refusing to abide by the "rule" of the abrahamic God, providing a dissenting platform of voices. Stop bringing this up, I've made it clear more than once that I did not mean a denial of existence, rather implying a denial to obey.
[QUOTE=Alxnotorious;46730572]I love that they point this out.[/QUOTE]
Everyone's phone number in a part of Tennessee starts with 666
That's the most metal font
So, this is a satanic cross? Looks nothing special apart from the pentagram on it.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;46731458]LaVeyan Satanists on the other hand just troll themselves into oblivion[/QUOTE]
can you elaborate?
[QUOTE=DEMONSKUL;46734553]So, this is a satanic cross? Looks nothing special apart from the pentagram on it.[/QUOTE]
It's hard to tell in the OP's image because the snake is contrasting, but the Satanic Cross is a bit different
[IMG]http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/symbolism/images/5/54/Leviathen.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130922004857[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Quark:;46735439]can you elaborate?
It's hard to tell in the OP's image because the snake is contrasting, but the Satanic Cross is a bit different
[IMG]http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/symbolism/images/5/54/Leviathen.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130922004857[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Like 90% of the shit in LaVeyan satanism is shit like "If your barista made your coffee too hot or didn't use enough hazelnut stuff then destroy them."
Seriously like anyone pisses you off, bam no holds barred, wreck em so sayeth the great lord Anton LaVey
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