statue of baphomet in detroit - discuss civily

[Ryujin]

The fact that some Christians don't like it on theological grounds is strong evidence that it is a religious display.

Obviously so and Christians can be as put out by it as they like, but they can't do anything about it, if it's on private property. I would also say that it has just as much right to be on public land as that Ten Commandments display; none.

 

[I'm A Banana]

For folks who can tolerate reddit, there's also this.

 

[Scott DeWar]

For folks who can tolerate reddit, there's also this.

I cannot tolerate reddit. is there a way to give a slight hint of what is in there?

 

[tomBitonti]

The fact that some Christians don't like it on theological grounds is strong evidence that it is a religious display.

Well, what matters is what is represents to those who put it up, not what it matters to other folks.

But, if folks say it is truly a religious display, and not just a stick in the eye of other folks, I accept that. I was getting a sense that the statue might have been put up less to honor a religious belief and more to simply offend others to make a point.

Thx!

TomB

 

[I'm A Banana]

I cannot tolerate reddit. is there a way to give a slight hint of what is in there?

There's this fun bit related to the showing:

Whose genius idea was it to weed out protestors by having everyone in attendance sign a paper selling their souls to the devil? Did anyone actually leave at that point? Were there any other security protocols put in place that we may not have heard of?

The contract was my idea. As far as I know nobody left. We had a decoy location that ticket holders had to first visit before receiving the secondary location - which was one of four intersections surrounding the venue. Attendees then had to find a "psychopomp" wearing a red scarf and recite the passphrase "as above," and wait for the response "so below". They were then led by foot to the actual venue.
​

This bit about why they do what they do:

What would you consider the goals of Satanism? In realistic terms.

To empower individuals to challenge tyrannical systems.​

This is cool because it gets at part of the "protest vs. worship" vibe: TST considers activism a kind of worship, a devotion to their higher ideas of individual sovereignty and opposition to tyrannical authority.

What's an out-standing point of view that many people don't know about your group?

What practices do you have?

Does your status affect your relationships with other people?

(1) Everyone involved is incredibly sincere, as opposed to being trolls. (2) Activism as worship. (3) Being a spokesperson who receives death threats occasionally gets in the way of my social life - In fact, I'm currently yelling at my funny guy for not coming up with a funny response to this.
​

And there's this bit:

Our organization was not founded to oppose Christianity. We have affirmative beliefs as Satanists.

They're also thinking about moving the statue to Arkansas, presumably because of stuff like this.

 

[Scott DeWar]

. . . . . I was getting a sense that the statue might have been put up less to honor a religious belief and more to simply offend others to make a point.

Thx!

TomB

which is why i feel they are doing this as well.

 

[Scott DeWar]

There's this fun bit related to the showing:


This bit about why they do what they do:


This is cool because it gets at part of the "protest vs. worship" vibe: TST considers activism a kind of worship, a devotion to their higher ideas of individual sovereignty and opposition to tyrannical authority.


And there's this bit:


They're also thinking about moving the statue to Arkansas, presumably because of stuff like this.

Oh, sorry. I thought you meant the reddit i hear about on facebook.

THAT reddit I can't stand.

This one depicted on enworld I do not know so have no right to make any judgement.

forget what I said there. I went back and discovered you were quoting the regular reddit. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Umbran]

This is cool because it gets at part of the "protest vs. worship" vibe: TST considers activism a kind of worship, a devotion to their higher ideas of individual sovereignty and opposition to tyrannical authority.

So... a variation on Discordianism's fight against the Curse of Greyface? Just a tad more focused.

 

[I'm A Banana]

So... a variation on Discordianism's fight against the Curse of Greyface? Just a tad more focused.

Similar in principle, but more seriously held. In the same way that people protesting outside of an abortion clinic are probably motivated by their faith to demonstrate (they have deeply held beliefs and are expressing them through protest) TST is motivated by its faith to challenge tyrannical authority in ways including statues to Baphomet sitting next to monuments to Christianity.

 

[Umbran]

Similar in principle, but more seriously held.

Eh. You were good, until the "serious" part. Not that folks at the TST aren't serious. But it isn't exactly appropriate to cast aspersions on how seriously others hold their beliefs. "Us? We are dedicated to our faith! Those guys? They're just fooling around!" is not a generalization we should usually be making.

It would be interesting to see if the current TST has some roots in the Discordianism of the 60s and 70s....