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GOP state rep vandalizes capitol property to protest Satanists.

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
This is about a week old so apologies if this story had already been posted:

Spokane-area Rep. Matt Shea billed nearly $5,000 for damage to state Capitol steps during protest

It seems that while republicans sing the praises of the constitution, they'll quickly attempt to trample it when actions don't jive with their agenda.

Statements from the temple itself:
TST Washington chapter media liaison, Tarkus Claypool, noted:

"The fine people at DES (Department of Enterprise Services) are actually very protective of those granite steps. They asked us to change to our ritual to ensure that our invocation didn't damage them. We showed respect for public property as all responsible citizens should, especially elected officials. It's going to take a lot more than Matt Shea and his bottle of salad dressing to stop us from exercising our first amendment rights. So he and the rest of the WA State legislature can count on us asking to give an invocation next year."

Lucien Greaves gave a statement to Hemant Mehta on Friendly Atheist about the incident:

"This brings to question Mr. Shea’s state of mind, his ability to distinguish reality from fantasy, and his competence in acting appropriately in ways that do not threaten the safety of himself or others. But while one might reasonably question whether or not Mr. Shea should at least temporarily be denied access to sharp objects and his own bank account pending further evaluation, there is no question that anybody possessed of Mr. Shea’s flagrant antipathy towards the most fundamental principles of the United States Constitution should not be holding the office of one charged with upholding those principles. If Mr. Shea is so offended by our First Amendment guarantees that he finds it impossible to accept public religious expression that does not align with his own, then I hope the people of Washington will demand his immediate resignation. This is America, Mr. Shea. Love it or leave it.”
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Too bad Christianity isn't real so Jesus can reign in his **** followers so the rest of us and his dozen or so followers still left on Earth can live in peace.
 

McBell

Resident Sourpuss
Too bad Christianity isn't real so Jesus can reign in his **** followers so the rest of us and his dozen or so followers still left on Earth can live in peace.
I would prefer that ALL the Gods came and collected their followers.

Though, thinking about it, I can not help but wonder how many left behind would be confused that their God left them.....
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
The Seattle Times has taken exception to at least one of my 12 ad block programs. Rather than take the extra hour to disable them all, I was wondering if someone could tell me exactly what the noble and esteemed State Representative did?
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Meanwhile a phone call was made to the Supreme Almighty God in hopes of receiving an assessment on the situation, but only got a cold muted response, leaving people to wonder if he perhaps was out golfing somewhere in the east with his son Jesus, and unavailable for comment.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Just a point. That Satanist in the video? When he says, "Hell yeah, I'm excited about that". Shouldn't he be saying, "Heaven yeah...".?





I crack myself up. :D
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Nah, I'm sure he has lots of supporters and sympathizers. Some probably see his salad dressing fiasco as an act of heroism.

True, but the video said that last year, his fellow law-makers in both parties called upon him to resign for domestic terrorism. So you're probably right he still has lots and lots of supporters, but at least he's lost some of the leaders in his own party. Hopefully, they will figure out some way to make his political career a little less sunshine and flowers.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
The Seattle Times has taken exception to at least one of my 12 ad block programs. Rather than take the extra hour to disable them all, I was wondering if someone could tell me exactly what the noble and esteemed State Representative did?
He and a bunch of his buddies who were wearing leather jackets with huge crusader crosses on them, went around the area after the Stanists left, and applied olive oil to the marble steps while saying prayers and such to cast out evil. Unfortunately, marble and granite are porous, and extracting the staining oils is time consuming and expensive, so they send him the bill of 4,700 some dollars for the repair. Lunatics.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
True, but the video said that last year, his fellow law-makers in both parties called upon him to resign for domestic terrorism. So you're probably right he still has lots and lots of supporters, but at least he's lost some of the leaders in his own party. Hopefully, they will figure out some way to make his political career a little less sunshine and flowers.
He's just a symptom. We've seen a steady stream of them so it's time to look at the 'forest' not individual 'trees'.
 

74x12

Well-Known Member
This is about a week old so apologies if this story had already been posted:

Spokane-area Rep. Matt Shea billed nearly $5,000 for damage to state Capitol steps during protest

It seems that while republicans sing the praises of the constitution, they'll quickly attempt to trample it when actions don't jive with their agenda.

Statements from the temple itself:
The argument could be made that the Church of Satan is really an anti-christian hate group. Because they don't believe in an actual Satan. (Or so they claim) yet they praise him constantly only to target and antagonize Christianity. So would the same thing be allowed against other groups? Could we make a "religion" that was really anti-Islamic or what if someone's religion was antisemitic? Could such things be tolerated as legitimate?

I'm surprised no lawyers yet have had the courage to actually use this argument against the Church of Satan.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
The argument could be made that the Church of Satan is really an anti-christian hate group. Because they don't believe in an actual Satan. (Or so they claim) yet they praise him constantly only to target and antagonize Christianity. So would the same thing be allowed against other groups? Could we make a "religion" that was really anti-Islamic or what if someone's religion was antisemitic? Could such things be tolerated as legitimate?

I'm surprised no lawyers yet have had the courage to actually use this argument against the Church of Satan.
Anyone can believe anything they want to. The law applies to our actions, not our beliefs.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
The argument could be made that the Church of Satan is really an anti-christian hate group. Because they don't believe in an actual Satan. (Or so they claim) yet they praise him constantly only to target and antagonize Christianity. So would the same thing be allowed against other groups? Could we make a "religion" that was really anti-Islamic or what if someone's religion was antisemitic? Could such things be tolerated as legitimate?

I'm surprised no lawyers yet have had the courage to actually use this argument against the Church of Satan.

Some of the Satanists I know might be fairly characterized as "anti-Christian". In my experience, those are mostly people who have converted to Satanism in reaction to some bad experiences they had while being raised as fundamentalist Christians. Their "religious abuse", as they see it, while growing up turns them in anger against Christianity. Plus, while they have left fundamentalism, they often keep the fundamentalist attitude of seeing reality in simplistic black and white terms, laced with a dose of suspicion and paranoia. They are certainly anti-Christian.

But it would be false to characterize all of the Satanists I know or have met in my 63 years as "anti-Christian". Many Satanists don't care enough about Christianity to be anti-Christian. Others don't care about it at all.
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
The argument could be made that the Church of Satan is really an anti-christian hate group. Because they don't believe in an actual Satan. (Or so they claim) yet they praise him constantly only to target and antagonize Christianity. So would the same thing be allowed against other groups? Could we make a "religion" that was really anti-Islamic or what if someone's religion was antisemitic? Could such things be tolerated as legitimate?

I'm surprised no lawyers yet have had the courage to actually use this argument against the Church of Satan.

The Satanic Temple and the Church of Satan are two separate and unaffiliated groups. That aside, the argument would be silly and groundless. Can you actually give any specific examples that could be classified as hate crimes or hate speech? And no, 'butthurt' and bruised ego don't make one a wounded martyr.
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
Some of the Satanists I know might be fairly characterized as "anti-Christian". In my experience, those are mostly people who have converted to Satanism in reaction to some bad experiences they had while being raised as fundamentalist Christians. Their "religious abuse", as they see it, while growing up turns them in anger against Christianity. Plus, while they have left fundamentalism, they often keep the fundamentalist attitude of seeing reality in simplistic black and white terms, laced with a dose of suspicion and paranoia. They are certainly anti-Christian.

But it would be false to characterize all of the Satanists I know or have met in my 63 years as "anti-Christian". Many Satanists don't care enough about Christianity to be anti-Christian. Others don't care about it at all.

Here the statement from the "about us" section on their official site:
The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits. The Satanic Temple has publicly confronted hate groups, fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in public schools, applied for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property, provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict women's reproductive autonomy, exposed harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners in mental health care, organized clubs alongside other religious after-school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations, and engaged in other advocacy in accordance with our tenets.

And here's a trailer for the documentary about them:
 

fantome profane

Anti-Woke = Anti-Justice
Premium Member
The argument could be made that the Church of Satan is really an anti-christian hate group. Because they don't believe in an actual Satan. (Or so they claim) yet they praise him constantly only to target and antagonize Christianity. So would the same thing be allowed against other groups? Could we make a "religion" that was really anti-Islamic or what if someone's religion was antisemitic? Could such things be tolerated as legitimate?

I'm surprised no lawyers yet have had the courage to actually use this argument against the Church of Satan.
In my country hate laws make an exemption for religious expression. I think it was intended to protect Christians who say terrible things about LGBT, but it would be interesting to see the exemption used against them.

I am not a expert in U.S. hate laws, but it would not surprise me if some states had similar exemptions for similar reasons.
 
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