Runboard.com
Слава Україні!

runboard.com       Sign up (learn about it) | Sign in (lost password?)

Page:  1  2 

 
Bellelettres Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 11-2008
Posts: 2049
Karma: 11 (+22/-11)
Reply | Quote
'Snaketivity' scene


Satan Is in the Illinois Capitol. Because It’s the Holidays!

By Liam Stack
Dec. 6, 2018

Yes, Illinois, there is a Satan. If you’re looking for him, just check near the Christmas tree and the menorah in the state Capitol.

It is there, among the twinkling lights and flickering candles, that you will find a tribute to the prince of darkness by the Chicago chapter of the Satanic Temple, a group based in Salem, Mass., that has 15 chapters nationwide.

It looks a bit different from the pine boughs and mistletoe often associated with this time of year: a woman’s hand presenting an apple as a serpent coils around her wrist. A pentagram and the words “knowledge is the greatest gift” are written on the pedestal below.

The onyx-black statue has drawn criticism from people who think a mephistophelian tribute to the Fall of Man seems a little ... un-Christmaslike. But state officials said there was little they could do once the temple requested a spot in the holiday display, which was unveiled to the public on Monday.

If it is true, as the saying goes, that the Devil is a liar, he also has the good fortune to have attracted followers with a keen understanding of both the Constitution and the outrage-driven internet news cycle.

In a statement, the Temple, which did not respond to messages seeking comment, said it “appreciates this constitutionally protected opportunity to contribute its perspective to the numerous religious viewpoints on display in the Capitol during the winter holiday season.”

David Druker, a spokesman for the Illinois secretary of state’s office, said lawyers on staff agreed that the Temple had a right to participate in the display.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and religion under the First Amendment and forbids government endorsement of a specific religion. The Supreme Court has ruled that temporary holiday displays such as trees and menorahs are allowed on public property.

“If you allow people to convey some messages then you need to be consistent,” Mr. Druker said. “And the message itself — knowledge is the greatest gift — I don’t know that there is much controversy with that.”

The Satanic tribute is one of four in the Capitol rotunda, along with the Christmas tree, the menorah and a solstice display from an anti-religion group that includes a sign that says “Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

The anti-religion group has been part of the holiday display for several years but has not drawn as much controversy as the Satanic Temple, Mr. Druker said. His office has received only a few complaints, he said, but some of them were “vociferous.”

“People feel strongly,” he said. “They say, ‘Satan is evil, how could we do anything that endorses him?’ And that wasn’t the intent.”

Religious groups and conservatives have been irked by the tribute. Some see it as a mockery of their beliefs, while others see forces at work that are larger than the First Amendment.

On Twitter — a veritable hellscape of its own — Illinois Family Action, a conservative group, said defenders of the tribute “fail to realize that the little baby in the manger has CRUSHED Satan’s head and the gates of hell will NOT prevail.”

But the Satanic Temple, which describes itself as “a nontheistic religious organization determined to halt the dangerous encroachment of theocracy into American government,” says it does not want the gates of hell to prevail.

In fact, the group says it does not “believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural” at all.

“We do not promote a belief in a personal Satan,” the group says on its website. Instead, it refers to a “metaphoric representation” of “the literary Satan” found in the works of the writers John Milton, Mary Shelley, William Blake and Anatole France.

For them, Satan is “a symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority” and Satanism as a creed is based on a high-minded devotion to “rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions.”

https://tinyurl.com/y9hpoh4r
12/7/2018, 10:11 am Link to this post PM Bellelettres
 
msdulittle Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 12-2016
Posts: 975
Karma: 6 (+7/-1)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


Interesting Crogin!

Hope you don't mind if i post this elsewhere. emoticon
12/7/2018, 5:08 pm Link to this post PM msdulittle Blog
 
crogin Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info



Registered: 01-2009
Posts: 1840
Karma: 6 (+7/-1)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


Huh? This was Belle's post not mine. The author is listed as Liam Stack. As long as you link it to the original article I think you ould be fine to repost it. emoticon

---
Don't try to tell me the only way left is up.
There's always more down!

12/7/2018, 5:29 pm Link to this post PM crogin
 
msdulittle Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 12-2016
Posts: 975
Karma: 6 (+7/-1)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


I'm sorry Belle and Crogin!

Belle hoping you don't mind if i post it elsewhere. emoticon
12/7/2018, 5:43 pm Link to this post PM msdulittle Blog
 
Bellelettres Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 11-2008
Posts: 2049
Karma: 11 (+22/-11)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


Of course I don't mind. Feel free to post anything I post, anywhere. Spread the cheer!
12/7/2018, 6:09 pm Link to this post PM Bellelettres
 
msdulittle Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 12-2016
Posts: 975
Karma: 6 (+7/-1)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


Thanks Belle for the heads up!
12/7/2018, 9:20 pm Link to this post PM msdulittle Blog
 
Bellelettres Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 11-2008
Posts: 2049
Karma: 11 (+22/-11)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


You're welcome, msd.
12/7/2018, 9:28 pm Link to this post PM Bellelettres
 
shiftless2 Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 11-2016
Posts: 2548
Karma: 29 (+34/-5)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


Image


"Besides the sculpture, a sign from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has been hung in the rotunda of the Illinois Capitol that states, “Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”"

https://www.foxnews.com/us/satanic-temple-statue-joins-holiday-display-in-illinois-capitol

Last edited by shiftless2, 12/7/2018, 9:51 pm
12/7/2018, 9:49 pm Link to this post PM shiftless2 Blog
 
Bellelettres Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 11-2008
Posts: 2049
Karma: 11 (+22/-11)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


They should take that sign down. It's not a religious display. It bashes all religions.
12/7/2018, 10:52 pm Link to this post PM Bellelettres
 
Philer Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 12-2016
Posts: 5360
Karma: 24 (+39/-15)
Reply | Quote
Re: 'Snaketivity' scene


quote:

Bellelettres wrote:

They should take that sign down. It's not a religious display. It bashes all religions.



Even if it's not a religious display it's expressing a moral viewpoint which is what religions do.

Since I've been very critical of Islam and to a lesser extent Mormonism I can't consistently object to someone's general anti-religion view being expressed. They have a right to express that view.

And every specific religion is by default putting down the other religions unless they are a more tolerant religion like the Bahai faith.
12/8/2018, 2:42 am Link to this post PM Philer Blog
 


Add a reply

Page:  1  2 





You are not logged in (login)