this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2023
867 points (98.8% liked)
The Satanic Temple
2547 readers
1 users here now
I noticed there wasn't a TST Lemmy community. The Satanic Temple is a modern satanic religion that aims to promote human rights and compassion. Check out their about page on their official website at https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/about-us. Note that this community is not an official affiliation. TST is also separate and not affiliated with the Church of Satan, who have a slightly different viewpoint of what satanism truly is. Dunno what to post in here, but maybe some will search for this and take part. Hello!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The vandalism is expected. TST probably put it there hoping for vandalism because that exposes the hypocrisy.
And yet here you are attacking their tone instead of the people defacing their shit.
Satanism isn't just about TrOlLiNg. The fact that you're more worried about tone than the vandalism shows how other religions are allowed to be the butt of the joke, or in this case the violence. Just like how the guy got a slap on the wrist charge instead of the hate crime you'd 1000% get for tearing up a Jesus statue.
"The vandalism is expected."
Welcome to the point - IT FUCKING SHOULDN'T BE.
I think you miss the actual point.
The actual point is to expose religious hypocrisy. Not only does forcing the states hand to put the statue there the first place achieve that goal, but in a rare and very much anticipated double-dip maneuver, they also get to expose the hypocrisy in its vandalism.
TST does this through a lot of expert-level trolling. You may not see it as such but it really is.
That’s not a bad thing. Honestly their approach is fucking amazing and it works. Trolling isn’t itself a bad thing. It’s a tool that can be used. It can be used poorly or well. And for good or bad. TST is using it well, for good. Good for them.
ETA, maybe “expected” isn’t the best word. But it’s certainly an opportunity that they can and will take advantage of. I don’t think TST sees the vandalism as an expressly negative thing, but rather a real thick silver lining. If anything, it actually helps their message.
Why do you see this as trolling, though? I saw the display, and there was nothing insulting or disrespectful about it.
Now, if it had been a defaced crucifix or something like that, I could agree. But I don't see how Baphomet itself is offensive to Christianity. It isn't even a Christian icon. It comes from occultism.