Satanic Temple Protests Ten Commandments Monument With Goat-Headed Statue

[Aero]

Sounds weird. But this strategy of the Demon statue may have worked in protesting other religious monuments. Some forum members would have you all believe that if Hollywood was gone, our problems would be gone. And I don't believe that one bit.

There might be a more important story here though. Are the Ten Commandments really unconstitutional?

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/17/639726472/satanic-temple-protests-ten-commandments-monument-with-goat-headed-statue

 

[UnderAlienControl]

 

[Aero]

First, they came for us. Then they came for our children.

It wasn't until they came for some slabs of stone that we kind of started to care.

 

[Karlysymon]

First, they came for us. Then they came for our children.

It wasn't until they came for some slabs of stone that we kind of started to care.

Do you think that they will put one up (Baphomet statue), next to the Georgia Guidestones? Afterall, they are slabs of stone etched with ten rules.

 

[Lurker]

Do you think that they will put one up (Baphomet statue), next to the Georgia Guidestones? Afterall, they are slabs of stone etched with ten rules.

No. The Guidestones are on private property.

 

[Lurker]

There might be a more important story here though. Are the Ten Commandments really unconstitutional?

I don't think that the 10 commandments are unconstitutional. Just when that's the only (religious) viewpoint expressed on public ground.

 

[UnderAlienControl]

None of it should be allowed. Separation of church and state. It's the church's job to teach that, not the state. And if these church's (of all faiths) don't dial back on the politcal messages then they should lose their tax exempt status. It's the way it was designed, and we should stick to that design. The Founders didn't want this whole thing turning into some kind of politically controlled theocracy...

 

[Aero]

Do you think that they will put one up (Baphomet statue), next to the Georgia Guidestones? Afterall, they are slabs of stone etched with ten rules.

It is my understanding that this specific group only has one Demon statue that they move around. So yes, whenever this current protest is concluded, they may move it to Georgia.

 

[Violette]

To be fair there shouldn’t be any religion more favored by the state so I agree with the point the ToS is making. Practically, I have little issue with the 10 commandments being displayed publicly. Most of the commandments are followed universally anyway. I do see how people could be bothered by a horned hermaphrodite with an erect phallus surrounded by children though.

 

[Aero]

None of it should be allowed. Separation of church and state. It's the church's job to teach that, not the state. And if these church's (of all faiths) don't dial back on the politcal messages then they should lose their tax exempt status. It's the way it was designed, and we should stick to that design. The Founders didn't want this whole thing turning into some kind of politically controlled theocracy...

I disagree where you say none of it should be allowed. It should all be allowed just separate from the state.

The real problem with the Demon statues is people don't want to teach what it means. Or they don't know or care. So then it all turns into some logical fallacy. And nobody really learns any of this theological shit.

I'm thinking of starting my own Church though. With one goal being to counter the Satanic Temple.

 

[Lurker]

I'm thinking of starting my own Church though

Plenty of money to be made by churching. A new church just built near me. No dime was spared. Must be nice to be tax-exempt.

 

[Aero]

Plenty of money to be made by churching. A new church just built near me. No dime was spared. Must be nice to be tax-exempt.

Doing it for money and trying to fight the Satanic church would be self-defeating.

Of course, resources will be necessary. We will have to construct our sigils out of something. It could all be done virtually, but I think we still need large symbols that exist in physical space. And I'll bet I would be the one they try to tax.

 

[Karlysymon]

None of it should be allowed. Separation of church and state. It's the church's job to teach that, not the state. And if these church's (of all faiths) don't dial back on the politcal messages then they should lose their tax exempt status. It's the way it was designed, and we should stick to that design. The Founders didn't want this whole thing turning into some kind of politically controlled theocracy...

In reality, there is no such thing as separation of church and state. Freemasonry (sorry, Aero) is a religion too. They should scrub all their stuff too, from both stone and paper. That would be problematic though, alot of structures would have to be destroyed.

 

[Corvus Metus]

This entire thing is a troll attempt and little more.

I mean, if I recall correctly, the reasons the ten commandments are up is sort of because of a legal loophole. The state of Arkansas said that it's unconstitutional to have the government display the ten commandments but if someone paid for the statue and got the permits to display it, the could be put up... Which is exactly what the Satanic Temple is doing.

It's little more than an updated take on LeVayan Satanism; instead of more or less being Objectivism with pentagrams, its Liberalism with pentagrams. It's something that shouldn't even be paid attention to.

 

[Aero]

In reality, there is no such thing as separation of church and state. Freemasonry (sorry, Aero) is a religion too. They should scrub all their stuff too, from both stone and paper. That would be problematic though, alot of structures would have to be destroyed.

Your position of anti-masonry has been made pretty obvious. So your ill-informed comments aren't surprising.

It's not a religion. Considering most members are Christian anyway, what you say makes no sense. That would put them in two different religions simultaneously. They don't have an official diety and members are basically banned from talking about religion.

I see you frequently accusing Freemasons of trying to be God-like. But that's a Christian idea, to begin with. More Christians believe in attaining an unity with God. So maybe get your facts right (I won't hold my breath).

 

[Helioform]

It's not a religion. Considering most members are Christian anyway, what you say makes no sense. That would put them in two different religions simultaneously. They don't have an official diety and members are basically banned from talking about religion.

I don't mean to provoke you, but what is the "Grand Architect Of The Universe" if not Freemasonry's God? It is a naturalist deistic religion.

And this quote says it all:

"Not all the religious systems in the world are exclusive; Christianity is. A Chinese may
combine elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism and a Japanese may
successfully blend Shintoism and Buddhism. A Christian owes complete loyalty to
Jesus Christ, God made man; he may not divide his allegiance among other gods.

Most Masons who deny that Masonry is a religion confuse religion with the Christian
religion. They know Masonry is not Christian since if it were their Jewish and Moslem
brethren would object. Since it is not Christian they assume that it is not religious. Or
their views of Christianity as primarily a system of character building and as
synonymous with the decent. kindly. and gentlemanly coincide with their appraisal of
the lodge and they see no conflict between the two institutions. The fact is, however,
that the lodge is essentially religious and possesses all the elements of a religion of
naturalism.

Masons themselves have testified again and again to the religious nature of the lodge
while denying that Masonry should be classified as "sectarian" religion. By this they
mean that the various religious faiths represent on a lower plane that pure and
undefiled universal religion of mankind represented by Freemasonry. For example,
Pike states:

Masonry is not a religion. He who makes of it a religious belief falsifies and
denaturalizes it. The Brahmin, the Jew, the Mohometan, the Catholic, the Protestant,
each professing his peculiar religion, sanctioned by the laws, by time, and by climate,
must needs retain it, and cannot have two religions; for the social and sacred laws
adapted to the usages, manners, and prejudices of particular countries are the work of
man.[1]

Masonry is willing to humor those brethren who go along with the local and tribal cults
so long as they realize that the sectarian doctrines of these cults are simply necessary
evils. Pike explains:

But Masonry teaches, and has preserved in their purity, the cardinal tenets of the old
primitive faith, which underlie and are the foundation of all religion. All that ever
existed have had a basis of truth; and all have overlaid that truth with errors . . .
Masonry is the universal morality which is suitable to the inhabitants of every clime, to
the man of every creed.[2]

He adds, "Religion, to obtain currency and influence with the great mass of mankind,
must needs be alloyed with such an amount of error as to place it far below the
standard attainable by the higher human capacities."[3] Masonry, however, strips
sectarian religion of these encrusted errors and reveals itself as the universal religion.
While religion gathers the barnacles of superstition and error, Masonry remains pure
and undefiled. It becomes Christianity without Christ, Judaism without the Law, Islam
without the Prophet."


https://www.ewtn.com/library/NEWAGE/MASONREL.TXT


As for these Satanists I wouldn't worry about them much because they make themselves look like fools with their statue anyway.

 

[Karlysymon]

Your position of anti-masonry has been made pretty obvious. So your ill-informed comments aren't surprising.

It's not a religion. Considering most members are Christian anyway, what you say makes no sense. That would put them in two different religions simultaneously. They don't have an official diety and members are basically banned from talking about religion.

In the lower levels, yes, it would amount to two religions but the higher you go, one is eventually required to denude oneself of one religion.

I see you frequently accusing Freemasons of trying to be God-like. But that's a Christian idea, to begin with. More Christians believe in attaining an unity with God. So maybe get your facts right (I won't hold my breath).

There is a difference between becoming God and being like God. I think we all understand what it means when a child says to its father: "Dad, i want to grow up and be like you"....character, that is. We, Christians, aren't too stupid to believe we can become gods, transcending humanity.

Iam not making the accusations of Masonry's aspirations for godhood. Why don't you just take it up with your (Masonic) own scholar:

“This – the evolution of man into superman– was always the purpose of the ancient Mysteries, and the real purpose of modern Masonry is, not the social and charitable purposes to which so much attention is paid, but the expediting of the spiritual evolution of those who aspire to perfect their own nature and transform it into a more god-like quality. And this is a definite science, a royal art, which it is possible for each of us to put into practice; whilst to join the Craft for any other purpose than to study and pursue this science is to misunderstand its meaning.”~ W.L Wilmshurst

^Alchemy, at its finest.

 

[Aero]

I don't mean to provoke you, but what is the "Grand Architect Of The Universe" if not Freemasonry's God? It is a naturalist deistic religion.

And this quote says it all:

"Not all the religious systems in the world are exclusive; Christianity is. A Chinese may
combine elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism and a Japanese may
successfully blend Shintoism and Buddhism. A Christian owes complete loyalty to
Jesus Christ, God made man; he may not divide his allegiance among other gods.

Most Masons who deny that Masonry is a religion confuse religion with the Christian
religion. They know Masonry is not Christian since if it were their Jewish and Moslem
brethren would object. Since it is not Christian they assume that it is not religious. Or
their views of Christianity as primarily a system of character building and as
synonymous with the decent. kindly. and gentlemanly coincide with their appraisal of
the lodge and they see no conflict between the two institutions. The fact is, however,
that the lodge is essentially religious and possesses all the elements of a religion of
naturalism.

Masons themselves have testified again and again to the religious nature of the lodge
while denying that Masonry should be classified as "sectarian" religion. By this they
mean that the various religious faiths represent on a lower plane that pure and
undefiled universal religion of mankind represented by Freemasonry. For example,
Pike states:

Masonry is not a religion. He who makes of it a religious belief falsifies and
denaturalizes it. The Brahmin, the Jew, the Mohometan, the Catholic, the Protestant,
each professing his peculiar religion, sanctioned by the laws, by time, and by climate,
must needs retain it, and cannot have two religions; for the social and sacred laws
adapted to the usages, manners, and prejudices of particular countries are the work of
man.[1]

Masonry is willing to humor those brethren who go along with the local and tribal cults
so long as they realize that the sectarian doctrines of these cults are simply necessary
evils. Pike explains:

But Masonry teaches, and has preserved in their purity, the cardinal tenets of the old
primitive faith, which underlie and are the foundation of all religion. All that ever
existed have had a basis of truth; and all have overlaid that truth with errors . . .
Masonry is the universal morality which is suitable to the inhabitants of every clime, to
the man of every creed.[2]

He adds, "Religion, to obtain currency and influence with the great mass of mankind,
must needs be alloyed with such an amount of error as to place it far below the
standard attainable by the higher human capacities."[3] Masonry, however, strips
sectarian religion of these encrusted errors and reveals itself as the universal religion.
While religion gathers the barnacles of superstition and error, Masonry remains pure
and undefiled. It becomes Christianity without Christ, Judaism without the Law, Islam
without the Prophet."


https://www.ewtn.com/library/NEWAGE/MASONREL.TXT


As for these Satanists I wouldn't worry about them much because they make themselves look like fools with their statue anyway.

The writings of Albert Pike have been completely debunked.

And the supreme court has a pretty clear definition of what religion is...

"In its 1961 decision Torcaso v. Watkins, the Court stated that the establishment clause prevents the government from aiding “those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs."

Considering Freemasonry doesn't go against any religion. I would say the case is pretty strong here. It's not a religion.

 

[mecca]

There is a difference between becoming God and being like God.

the spiritual evolution of those who aspire to perfect their own nature and transform it into a more god-like quality

From the quote you posted it looks like they want to perfect their nature to become more God like... it doesn't say they want to become God themselves, I don't see how that's possible in the first place.

 

[Aero]

In the lower levels, yes, it would amount to two religions but the higher you go, one is eventually required to denude oneself of one religion.

Completely unfounded claim. It's just more Albert Pike shit that nobody believes except the gullible hyper-partisans.

There is a difference between becoming God and being like God. I think we all understand what it means when a child says to its father: "Dad, i want to grow up and be like you"....character, that is. We, Christians, aren't too stupid to believe we can become gods.

Iam not making the accusations of Masonry's aspirations for godhood. Why don't you just take it up with your (Masonic) own scholar:

“This – the evolution of man into superman– was always the purpose of the ancient Mysteries, and the real purpose of modern Masonry is, not the social and charitable purposes to which so much attention is paid, but the expediting of the spiritual evolution of those who aspire to perfect their own nature and transform it into a more god-like quality. And this is a definite science, a royal art, which it is possible for each of us to put into practice; whilst to join the Craft for any other purpose than to study and pursue this science is to misunderstand its meaning.”~ W.L Wilmshurst

Lol Ok. Christians are allowed, Freemasons aren't. That's your argument in a nutshell.

"Deification (Greek theosis) is for Orthodoxy the goal of every Christian. Man, according to the Bible, is 'made in the image and likeness of God.' ... It is possible for man to become like God, to become deified, to become god by grace. This doctrine is based on many passages of both OT and NT (e.g. Ps. 82 (81).6; II Peter 1.4), and it is essentially the teaching both of St Paul, though he tends to use the language of filial adoption (cf. Rom. 8.9—17; Gal. 4.5—7), and the Fourth Gospel (cf. 17.21—23)."

Orthodoxy being the second biggest Christian denomination. And the idea that they are giving out disclaimers is comical at best. Yes, I'm sure every Christian pastor is up there saying. "Don't take us literally though!"