The Bible God or Kali

Quote: FrGamble

They should either join the Bible study which welcomes free inquiry and rationalism or just start a club based on these good concepts rather than one that uses the name of the father of lies and someone who only wants to hurt and destroy humanity.

Friends do not let friends' sentences run.

To address your points:

1) The Satanic Temple in this case is aiming at the so-called "Good news clubs," which I understand are Evangelical in nature. Perhaps this eases your concerns.

2) The people at the Satanic Temple are actually atheists. They don't worship anything. They have an explanation as to why they chose Satan as a symbol, but really it's because it provokes reactions like yours. I must say it's more effective than I supposed.

3) Seeing how effective the name "Satan" is, the group takes very good advantage of the unintended consequences of laws and rules aiming to mix religion into public life. The "After School Satan" is just the latest. They also have petitioned to place statues of Satan in public property, have given invocations to start legislative sessions, and more.

4) The Satanic imagery gets to be a bit much at times, but that's a minor quibble.

5) In scope they do less than the Freedom From Religion Foundation (another fine group of activists), but they tend to have a bigger PR impact.

It's in People Magazine this week.

"I seriously can't wait," wrote one parent, Summer Smith. "My daughter is so excited for this. The actual content of the club looks very reasonable and fun."

The leader of the Satanic Temple says:

"Our goal is that when people see things from our perspective, they'll look beyond the stereotypical assumptions about our group," he tells PEOPLE. "It really is possible to identify as a Satanist and live a moral, productive life."

This is a great thing that's happening,
enough Christian BS lying, already.
They're as much about 'unconditional
love' as they about every other lie
they say they stand for.

http://www.people.com/article/after-school-satan-club-launches-across-country

While I acknowledge it is possible to identify as an atheist and live a very moral and productive life, I would say it is impossible to profess allegiance to satan and live a moral life.

Just like you don't understand love you really don't understand who satan is. I fear which one is worse.

Quote: FrGamble

While I acknowledge it is possible to identify as an atheist and live a very moral and productive life, I would say it is impossible to profess allegiance to satan and live a moral life. .

Satan is just as mythical as your god is, and nobody
is making kids give their allegiance to Satan anyway.
The Satanic Temple knows Satan is a myth, that's why
they're all atheists. You miss the point entirely again.

Quote: FrGamble

While I acknowledge it is possible to identify as an atheist and live a very moral and productive life, I would say it is impossible to profess allegiance to satan and live a moral life.

I need to get over my laziness about uploading photos here, and find the TNG "double face-palm" meme photo...

Really, you think because you take Judeo-Christian mythology seriously that everyone else does as well? Satan is no more real than resurrected Jesus or Jehovah or the invisible ghost.

It's just that the "Tooth Fairy Temple" wouldn't arouse such reactions from people like you. I'm telling you this because it won't do you any good. It's those reactions that tarnish the image and prestige of your faith. Do you think most people take Satan seriously? If they did, there wouldn't be so many humorous depictions of demons, devils and Satan. To take just two from the same guy, Matt Groening, look up Devil Flanders in an early Simpson's Halloween special, or the Robot Devil in Futurama (sometimes called Beelzebot).

Quote: Nareed

Really, you think because you take Judeo-Christian mythology seriously that everyone else does as well? Satan is no more real than resurrected Jesus or Jehovah or the invisible ghost.

Satan is an archetype, he isn't real. He's
the opposite of the god archetype, the
yin and the yang. To believe any of these
characters are real and living in some
mythical place is to miss the point by a
mile to the n'th degree. The only reason
I have these conversations is I just can't
believe anybody believes any of this
stuff is real. I know FrG is a priest and says
he believes, but I can't take it seriously.
He wants to believe, that's what he's really
saying. To think archetypes are real, I mean to
really believe it, is not possible for a rational
person. That's funny farm stuff, next to Uncle
Ted who thinks he's Paul Bunyan.

If satan wasn't so real and so dangerous I wouldn't have such a reaction. I recognize that often these clubs and such just use his name to get a rise out of folks and shock them. They don't really believe he is real. Unfortunately that doesn't mean he is not, nor does it mean they are any less vulnerable to the evil one and his attacks. As they say, the devil's greatest trick is convincing people he doesn't exist.

Quote: FrGamble

As they say, the devil's greatest trick is convincing people he doesn't exist.

Let me try to break the irony meter:

"Well, isn't that special?” The Church Lady.

So the belief that Satan isn't real is proof that Satan has taken me over, or done his voodoo on me, or something?

Quote: FrGamble

As they say, the devil's greatest trick is convincing people he doesn't exist.

LOL! No way you just said that. Classic
circular argument for the existence of
any god or devil. There is no argument
to defeat it. You have to believe in the
devil because he's tricking you into not
believing he's real. The dog chasing his
tail. Priceless example of non reasoning.

You are on a roll today Bob! With all the proof of supernatural evil it is indeed quite a trick for anyone to be so foolish as to not believe in the reality of satan.