• dev_null@lemmy.ml
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    11 hours ago

    We don’t like religious symbols in public space, so let’s put more of these, yay!

    Yeah, they try to put non-religious things instead like cool Dante’s inferno statues. End result is that the religious symbols are banned, or if they aren’t, that there are other non-religious symbols around them. As much as they are a religion legally, they are atheists and their symbols are not religious, just fancy branding.

    Proselytism is bad, so we need to recruit more people to fight it.

    Yeah, what’s weird about that? Fire is bad so we need to recruit more firefighters to fight it. TST does not proselytize, as they don’t try to convert you into any religion. The are just an NGO.

    • Bonsoir@lemmy.ca
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      7 hours ago

      They did try to put a baphomet statue in front of a 10 commandments monument in Arkansas. They are fighting for a plurality of religion, not secularism.
      If I wanted to contribute to a secular cause, I would much rather contribute to a secular organization to begin with.

      TST does not proselytize

      But the only times you hear of them is when people are trying to get more folk implied (or when they send a lawsuit, but that’s an other story). TST plays the card of a non profit when they don’t want to be associated with religious weirdos, and the card of religion when they want a special treatment. In the end it’s a knockoff religion that hijacked the name “satanism” while replicating what they denounce of christians.

      Fire is bad so we need to recruit more firefighters to fight it.

      It’s much closer to putting up advertisement against advertisement.

      They are just an NGO.

      That’s not true. It’s a bunch of for-profit organizations coupled with a recognized nonprofit church so they can be exempted from taxation. See here : https://the.satanic.wiki/index.php/The_Satanic_Wiki . Also, as a supposedly non-profit org, they do not disclose their financial information, which is usually a big red flag.

      • dev_null@lemmy.ml
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        2 hours ago

        But the only times you hear of them is when people are trying to get more folk implied

        Yes, and that’s plain old recrutiment/advertising of their cause. Proselytization refers to trying to convert someone to a religion, which they don’t do.

        It’s much closer to putting up advertisement against advertisement.

        Correct.

        That’s not true. It’s a bunch of for-profit organizations coupled with a recognized nonprofit

        Yes, so an NGO. Where did I say they are a non-profit?

        • Bonsoir@lemmy.ca
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          1 hour ago

          Proselytization refers to trying to convert someone to a religion, which they don’t do.

          They do claim it’s a religion. It is legally a religion. When they are recruiting, it is proselytism. Also, proselytism is part of the definition of a church in most countries, that is why, for instance, the Church of Satan is not legally a church in the US, because they do not proselytize. By their own saying and by the government, TST is a religion and they do proselytize.

          Where did I say they are a non-profit?

          You said it is just an NGO. I mean, yeah, but you could say that about pretty much anything. But clearly there is something more to it than the average NGO, with them being both a church and a couple for-profit organizations.