Kids attending Mass every Sunday are subjected to the image of broken bleeding man wearing a crown of thorns on his head nailed to a torture/execution device. Who knows how much trauma is being inflicted on young children.
And given the police records, we can plainly see who the real danger to children is.
Yes, children have been and are being raped by clergy, priests, pastors, nuns and other religious staff, while their managers actively cover the crimes up and enable the rapists in further rape - e.g., move a rapist from one church/diocese, etc. , to another without letting the people at the new sit for rape know who and what is going lead them and rape their children.
Sorry to use "rape" so often, but that's what it is and what is covered up so often by churches, congregations, politicians, media...
Tragically, the U.S. federal government, whatever the Party, has never bothered to investigate sex crimes against children by the institutions which are imagined, by adults, to protect them: churches, boy scouts, too often parents and other relatives, etc., which allows sex and other crimes against children to flourish.
For its many limitations, the Australian, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is lightyears ahead of the U.S., but, of course, lightyears from where it needs to be to adequately protect children.
Protecting the children is always the fallback position for religious bigots. Christians, acting in the name of Christianity, have inflicted far more harm on children than Satanists ever did. Given their relative body counts in the Old Testament, I never understood how Satan got labeled the bad guy in the first place.
Christians' idea of "protecting the children" amounts to little more than shielding them off ANY OTHER RELIGIOUS SYSTEM than their own. There can be no doubt but that such Christians want EXCLUSIVITY.
Along with monitoring everyone's bathroom habits, grooming children, and raising millions of unwanted babies, they somehow find the time for regular book burnings. They're heroes!
And, then, said vandals will be portrayed by Kevin Sorbo in a "God is not dead - Mayhem at the State Capitol" movie which will portray them as heroic protectors of the young. I am just getting so cynical over how religion is being used as a force to keep others down.
But….that’s cheating! That’s like Peltola recruiting a second Dan Sullivan!
ETA: And I applaud Peltola’s campaign for what they did! It doesn’t even matter with ranked choice voting but apparently the Rs don’t rank their choices at way higher rates than Dems. Dumb and dumber.
The funny part about that kerfuffle is that the Republicans ran a spoiler of their own- 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘺. Since the candidates are listed alphabetically by last name, the second Republican's name (which I'm blanking on because what am I gonna do, memorize every one of these cookie-cutter shïtheads?) is printed at the top of the list, making him far more likely to draw low-information voters away from the incumbent Sullivan than the other Sullivan, who is not listed as having a party affiliation.
But you won't hear Fox News kvetching about 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 candidate.
I do not applaud. Campaign the way you want others to campaign. Or as Michele Obama said - when they go low, we go high.
Having said that, I don't see how it can be considered illegal. Parties are obviously legally allowed to recruit people to run. And as the first judge to rule on the case said, you can't possibly deny a citizen the right to run for office merely because they have a name resembling a GOP or Dem candidate.
Absolutely not. Here in Norway, Xmas is joined with dark days. So after we have plucked a tree or five, we celebrate my cousin's welcoming all of us relatives to pick as many trees we need. (sorry for any wrong spelling).
It's funny how supposedly macho conservatives/Republicans are such bedwetters when it comes to Satanists and Muslims ("Sharia law is right around the corner, man. Do something!!!!!!!!!!").
I would give a lot to be able to take one such person (or more if possible), sit them down, put a copy of the Seven Tenets of The Satanic Temple in front of them, and INSIST that they READ EACH TENET OUT LOUD. After which, I would ask if they had any objection to any one of them, and if so, why.
Related in spirit if not subject: ~20 years ago on some long forgotten online forum someone was dissing evolution. A sensible person took an approach similar to yours. Started out by asking the creationist to explain what he understood evolution to be. Guy had a predictably bad understanding. And a conversation followed that went on for at least a couple of weeks between those two. The rest of us politely stood by and watched. As I recall, the creationist never even made it to first base in being able to articulate even a high school level of understanding of what evolution actually was.
So I expect you would get poorly grounded objections. A lot of them starting with “The bible says….”
Nice to see there are still judges out there who are capable of recognizing the blindingly obvious and ruling accordingly. I hope the Satanists take video of all the apoplectic Nat-C public officials making funny faces as they walk by the display!
I'll be voting today and going with the (D) choice wherever there is one. In my area, there are offices where the only one running is the (R). In which case, I'll leave it blank.
What you folks offer the world (and me) is just so special.
Election Day seems a good time to remind everyone that you love and respect them, as I do most of you. (Those I know best, and overall more love and respect hopefully to come with time!)
In fact, by purest "coincidence" (apparently), this is one of several cold-weather items that will arrive at my door today.
There's also this one, but since I risk running afoul of violating Trump's NSPM-7 every single day, it seemed unnecessary to add to the risk of wearing the "with profanity" version:
I remember one day when I walked 8 miles UP Mt. Mitchell, caught a ride down to my car, then spent the rest of the same day hiking the massive altitude shifts of the Linville Gorge trail, eventually spending part of the night sleeping (or trying) entirely on a rock (under a rock overhang, when rain began.)
All because the police wanted to serve me for a deposition concerning a divorce and a child.
SUCH a day!! I miss being able to just walk and walk and walk.....
I didn't want to risk being taken off the qualified voters list, or I'd have waited until 11/3 myself. I am white, so the risk is about 1/4 as great as if I were Black. Still....
Sort of a tradition, and I know I can just walk right in with no line or wait. (And if I don't vote at the elementary school, they may not see a single Dem ALL day....)
No, wait! This is NOT "your asshole President's South Carolina"!!
My faith... my beliefs about spiritual things... are private now. They weren't always. Back when I was a new teenage convert, the youthful arrogance and zeal made me rather annoying and judgmental. But that faded in time. Experience... wisdom... knowledge... empathy.... tempered the youthful zeal and arrogance.
Faith became a private part of my being. It was something I shared only with those closest to me. Because it was opening myself up to another and sharing something deeply personal and meaningful to me.
There was a deconstruction in there from fundamentalism and deciding what things to hold on to and what many things to discard. I'm still private.
And as I've grown older, when it comes to America, I've seen myself more as a steward than an owner. America isn't mine. It belongs to everyone who shares the ideals of human rights and the promise of liberty and justice for all. It doesn't matter to me where they came from, so long as they share those ideals with me. We're just caretakers. We will be gone soon enough and other caretakers will take over for us. May they do better.
Anyway, my point is that whipping out my dick and pissing on a public building to mark my territory has never occurred to me, because it's not mine. It's a trust.
So thank you to the judge that reminded these Iowans that. Your state doesn't belong to any one group, any one religion. Your state is a temporary home for you to care for and cherish so you can pass it on to the next generation and everyone who lives there shares it with you. You don't get to mark territory. You get to share common spaces.
"Them with ears, let them hear." Question becomes: How many out there actually WANT TO HEAR such a message? Personally, based on Iowa courts' previous performance, I am not encouraged.
Good. As it should be, and if you want more of these conservative Christian theocrats kept in check, go out and vote today! I just did more than an hour ago and I was one of the first in line at my polling location.
I voted a month ago. I sent it through the US postal too. Here in Arizona we have a Secretary of State who believes in Democracy and set up a independent system to track our ballots. I know my ballot was received.
Voted this AM, too. Not huge crowds at the voting venue, but a bit of a wait. Poll workers were very good, though one wished me a "blessed day" [😝]. I'll survive that.
Iowa has positively busted its nut to disallow The Satanic Temple to participate in what should be egalitarian religious events on public property. Its bias toward Christianity and against "anything that isn't god first" has historically been blatantly obvious. That it took a federal court ruling to empower TST to join in other suchlike events tells me that the Hawkeye State still has a ways to go to join the rest of us in the 21st century.
Whether this decision gets appealed, possibly all the way to SCOTUS, is another matter. Regardless, I'll take victories like this as they come.
The way legal wrangling tends to go, Iowa won't be able to appeal in time to try and stop this year's event. To push it to SCOTUS will take a few more years.
Iowans don't like carpetbaggers. I've been here since 1969 and some still call me a carpetbagger, especially my youngest brother who was born here. : )
My bride and I have already voted but we are going to wander down to voting place to see who we know — and know of — who are hanging around. The precinct we live in usually has the highest turnout in the entire county.
Well, gosh. I’m up so early this morning I’m almost the first person to comment.
“ Specifically, she cited the state’s argument that Krampus “might frighten children” and the sticks in the display “might be used to strike them.”
I think we have grounds right here to stay clearly, once again, that every accusation coming from the religious reich, err, ummm, right is a confession about who they are and what they want.
I wonder how the KKKhristians would feel about an image of Jesus crucified: you know the ones with the blood dripping from the crown of thorns the blood dripping from the spear wound in his side, the blood dripping from the wounds and his hands and feet, maybe the agony on his face.
I’m sure that would frighten children. And I’m equally sure that the so-called Christians would have no problem with white Jesus being portrayed in such a way.
"Protection of children."
"Harmful to minors."
Kids attending Mass every Sunday are subjected to the image of broken bleeding man wearing a crown of thorns on his head nailed to a torture/execution device. Who knows how much trauma is being inflicted on young children.
And given the police records, we can plainly see who the real danger to children is.
It seems to me that teaching the Seven Tenets will protect children far more than anything Christianity pushes.
"Kids attending Mass..."
They're subjected to what you mentioned in Protestant churches, too.
It ain't just the Catholics.
The same is true of rapey fucking pedophiles.
I was typing mine when you were posting yours. Great minds and all that.
The imagery is a tool of psychological violence used to breed guilt, self-hatred, and a rejection of earthly life!
Yes, children have been and are being raped by clergy, priests, pastors, nuns and other religious staff, while their managers actively cover the crimes up and enable the rapists in further rape - e.g., move a rapist from one church/diocese, etc. , to another without letting the people at the new sit for rape know who and what is going lead them and rape their children.
Sorry to use "rape" so often, but that's what it is and what is covered up so often by churches, congregations, politicians, media...
Tragically, the U.S. federal government, whatever the Party, has never bothered to investigate sex crimes against children by the institutions which are imagined, by adults, to protect them: churches, boy scouts, too often parents and other relatives, etc., which allows sex and other crimes against children to flourish.
For its many limitations, the Australian, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is lightyears ahead of the U.S., but, of course, lightyears from where it needs to be to adequately protect children.
https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/
Protecting the children is always the fallback position for religious bigots. Christians, acting in the name of Christianity, have inflicted far more harm on children than Satanists ever did. Given their relative body counts in the Old Testament, I never understood how Satan got labeled the bad guy in the first place.
Christians' idea of "protecting the children" amounts to little more than shielding them off ANY OTHER RELIGIOUS SYSTEM than their own. There can be no doubt but that such Christians want EXCLUSIVITY.
Which is why this ruling is so very important.
Yep.....
My friend, you know I GOTTA do it....
The Children's Crusades should forever put an end to the lie about harming children.
As should the 1,000,000 miscarriages that toxins in Earth's air produce each year. But then, God always has been Earth's most prolific abortionist.
That is a question that will never elicit an answer from these religious bigots.
Along with monitoring everyone's bathroom habits, grooming children, and raising millions of unwanted babies, they somehow find the time for regular book burnings. They're heroes!
https://share.google/KGd49iJnicsVod96y
I have noticed that. Luckily I live in Norway, "The shit hole country", so I am totally having a fun week, maybe more weeks.
> "But until then, it’s full steam ahead for this winter’s Satanic event."
I'm not holding my breath. $20 says they will (A) find a different excuse or (B) violate the order.
Or allow Nat-C agitators to vandalize and disrupt to their shriveled little hearts' content without lifting a pinkie-nail to stop them.
And, then, said vandals will be portrayed by Kevin Sorbo in a "God is not dead - Mayhem at the State Capitol" movie which will portray them as heroic protectors of the young. I am just getting so cynical over how religion is being used as a force to keep others down.
Would these be the same children they are protecting by electing pedophiles?
Gotta keep the product fresh for the predators who matter!
*𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴*
So the Christmas tree will be up for one day only? Cool!
Yup! One day for every right-wing church in the state, I'll wager.
But….that’s cheating! That’s like Peltola recruiting a second Dan Sullivan!
ETA: And I applaud Peltola’s campaign for what they did! It doesn’t even matter with ranked choice voting but apparently the Rs don’t rank their choices at way higher rates than Dems. Dumb and dumber.
They didn’t think it was cheating when they did it in Floriduh.
It’s not cheating when THEY do it. That’s strategery.
Or when they financed third-party spoilers for the 2016, 2020, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 2024 Presidential races.
The funny part about that kerfuffle is that the Republicans ran a spoiler of their own- 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘺. Since the candidates are listed alphabetically by last name, the second Republican's name (which I'm blanking on because what am I gonna do, memorize every one of these cookie-cutter shïtheads?) is printed at the top of the list, making him far more likely to draw low-information voters away from the incumbent Sullivan than the other Sullivan, who is not listed as having a party affiliation.
But you won't hear Fox News kvetching about 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 candidate.
I do not applaud. Campaign the way you want others to campaign. Or as Michele Obama said - when they go low, we go high.
Having said that, I don't see how it can be considered illegal. Parties are obviously legally allowed to recruit people to run. And as the first judge to rule on the case said, you can't possibly deny a citizen the right to run for office merely because they have a name resembling a GOP or Dem candidate.
I used to be in your camp. I no longer am. When a party uses the rules to abuse the norms, it’s time to follow suit.
In this one instance, it's not a Christmas Tree, it's a Holiday Tree.
The pagan symbol that YHVH himself told his followers NOT to emulate.
That’s very woke of them.
Absolutely not. Here in Norway, Xmas is joined with dark days. So after we have plucked a tree or five, we celebrate my cousin's welcoming all of us relatives to pick as many trees we need. (sorry for any wrong spelling).
We put up xmas trees app Dec. 20th, and put them down app Jan. 6th.
It's funny how supposedly macho conservatives/Republicans are such bedwetters when it comes to Satanists and Muslims ("Sharia law is right around the corner, man. Do something!!!!!!!!!!").
I would give a lot to be able to take one such person (or more if possible), sit them down, put a copy of the Seven Tenets of The Satanic Temple in front of them, and INSIST that they READ EACH TENET OUT LOUD. After which, I would ask if they had any objection to any one of them, and if so, why.
The result might be somewhat instructive.
Related in spirit if not subject: ~20 years ago on some long forgotten online forum someone was dissing evolution. A sensible person took an approach similar to yours. Started out by asking the creationist to explain what he understood evolution to be. Guy had a predictably bad understanding. And a conversation followed that went on for at least a couple of weeks between those two. The rest of us politely stood by and watched. As I recall, the creationist never even made it to first base in being able to articulate even a high school level of understanding of what evolution actually was.
So I expect you would get poorly grounded objections. A lot of them starting with “The bible says….”
Nice to see there are still judges out there who are capable of recognizing the blindingly obvious and ruling accordingly. I hope the Satanists take video of all the apoplectic Nat-C public officials making funny faces as they walk by the display!
Need to bring in extra smelling salts, fainting couches and clutching pearls.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.P9CabGzFmGAIdV9L4-RWowHaC6%3Fr%3D0%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=afbab32b2132297591452f72927098cbe66150554ecfd7901e9491fb274b607a&ipo=images
Iowa would have done better to let TST quietly have their display instead of making a big fucking federal case out of it. Ooops! Too late. 🙄
Babs to the rescue.
Make the defendants personally liable to pay all legal fees and costs.
Wouldn't THAT be nice? I wouldn't hold my breath about that one, though.
Has EVERYONE voted?
I hope so, and......
THANK YOU all so VERY MUCH!!!
*raises hand*
I voted weeks ago. Didn't check off a single name with an R next to it.
Same here. And before I voted for any judges I checked who appointed them.
"“It’s not a red wave. I don’t think we’re going to get our $5,000 checks,” host Jesse Watters said."
I hope he got another scolding from his mom.
I'll be voting today and going with the (D) choice wherever there is one. In my area, there are offices where the only one running is the (R). In which case, I'll leave it blank.
In person, first day of early voting, hosted a Donuts & Democracy (and coffee) event just outside the buffer zone to kick off balloting.
Democracy is not a spectator sport.
𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡.
↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ THIS!!! ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑
Yeah, what they said!!!!
Oh, one may spectate their way through elections all they wish... but the 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 are full-contact, whether they like it or not.
"If you don't vote, you've lost your right to complain."
-Lots of folks, always
SWEET!!!
Democracy runs on participation. Standing on the sidelines is not protest, it's apathy.
I can't imagine not whining, and I've only earned that right by voting.
What you folks offer the world (and me) is just so special.
Election Day seems a good time to remind everyone that you love and respect them, as I do most of you. (Those I know best, and overall more love and respect hopefully to come with time!)
In fact, by purest "coincidence" (apparently), this is one of several cold-weather items that will arrive at my door today.
https://mahoganymommies.com/products/storm-without-profanity-hoodie?variant=48054612132057
There's also this one, but since I risk running afoul of violating Trump's NSPM-7 every single day, it seemed unnecessary to add to the risk of wearing the "with profanity" version:
"https://mahoganymommies.com/products/storm-with-profanity-hoodie?_pos=1&_psq=storm&_psid=bb6edac5e&_ss=e
VOTE!
...and LOVE.
Yep, already voted for Democrats by mail.
Looking forward to full communism being implemented in January./s...well, /s on the second sentence, not the first.
I was holding out for... https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.1737067596.1991/flat,750x,075,f-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8.jpg
...but all I got was this lousy capitalism.
I like the Dem version of "communism" MUCH better than the one Thump offers, Daniel.
Always been more fond of a ballet slipper on the back of my neck than a "Jackboot" worn by a thug.
"NRA . . . WE MEANT THE OTHER "JACK-BOOTED THUGS"
https://time.com/archive/6924527/nra-we-meant-the-other-jack-booted-thugs/
Voted by mail about a month ago.
Thanks, Joey!!!
Walked uptown to my polling place and voted.
How wonderful, Lynn!
(I mean, both actions!)
Weather was pleasant and I needed to get out of the house. It was a pleasant hike.
Lynn,
I remember one day when I walked 8 miles UP Mt. Mitchell, caught a ride down to my car, then spent the rest of the same day hiking the massive altitude shifts of the Linville Gorge trail, eventually spending part of the night sleeping (or trying) entirely on a rock (under a rock overhang, when rain began.)
All because the police wanted to serve me for a deposition concerning a divorce and a child.
SUCH a day!! I miss being able to just walk and walk and walk.....
A month ago!
I do like voting in person on election day. But my boss requested me travel on election day to attend a meeting. So I promptly voted early.
Likewise, ericc. At least typically.
I didn't want to risk being taken off the qualified voters list, or I'd have waited until 11/3 myself. I am white, so the risk is about 1/4 as great as if I were Black. Still....
Sort of a tradition, and I know I can just walk right in with no line or wait. (And if I don't vote at the elementary school, they may not see a single Dem ALL day....)
No, wait! This is NOT "your asshole President's South Carolina"!!
Not any longer.
My faith... my beliefs about spiritual things... are private now. They weren't always. Back when I was a new teenage convert, the youthful arrogance and zeal made me rather annoying and judgmental. But that faded in time. Experience... wisdom... knowledge... empathy.... tempered the youthful zeal and arrogance.
Faith became a private part of my being. It was something I shared only with those closest to me. Because it was opening myself up to another and sharing something deeply personal and meaningful to me.
There was a deconstruction in there from fundamentalism and deciding what things to hold on to and what many things to discard. I'm still private.
And as I've grown older, when it comes to America, I've seen myself more as a steward than an owner. America isn't mine. It belongs to everyone who shares the ideals of human rights and the promise of liberty and justice for all. It doesn't matter to me where they came from, so long as they share those ideals with me. We're just caretakers. We will be gone soon enough and other caretakers will take over for us. May they do better.
Anyway, my point is that whipping out my dick and pissing on a public building to mark my territory has never occurred to me, because it's not mine. It's a trust.
So thank you to the judge that reminded these Iowans that. Your state doesn't belong to any one group, any one religion. Your state is a temporary home for you to care for and cherish so you can pass it on to the next generation and everyone who lives there shares it with you. You don't get to mark territory. You get to share common spaces.
Do better.
"Them with ears, let them hear." Question becomes: How many out there actually WANT TO HEAR such a message? Personally, based on Iowa courts' previous performance, I am not encouraged.
Good. As it should be, and if you want more of these conservative Christian theocrats kept in check, go out and vote today! I just did more than an hour ago and I was one of the first in line at my polling location.
I voted a month ago. I sent it through the US postal too. Here in Arizona we have a Secretary of State who believes in Democracy and set up a independent system to track our ballots. I know my ballot was received.
My state has two systems: you can track online and/or sign up to receive a text when your ballot is counted.
Voted this AM, too. Not huge crowds at the voting venue, but a bit of a wait. Poll workers were very good, though one wished me a "blessed day" [😝]. I'll survive that.
💙💙💙 But I VOTED!!! 💙💙💙
Iowa has positively busted its nut to disallow The Satanic Temple to participate in what should be egalitarian religious events on public property. Its bias toward Christianity and against "anything that isn't god first" has historically been blatantly obvious. That it took a federal court ruling to empower TST to join in other suchlike events tells me that the Hawkeye State still has a ways to go to join the rest of us in the 21st century.
Whether this decision gets appealed, possibly all the way to SCOTUS, is another matter. Regardless, I'll take victories like this as they come.
The way legal wrangling tends to go, Iowa won't be able to appeal in time to try and stop this year's event. To push it to SCOTUS will take a few more years.
Hopefully we'll elect Rob Sand instead of some Kansan carpetbagger, and reality will begin to return to our Capitol.
It's going to be an interesting day in Iowa (and elsewhere); and it's raining throughout much of the state.
Remember to *VOTE* (if eligible), and good luck to us all!
Iowans don't like carpetbaggers. I've been here since 1969 and some still call me a carpetbagger, especially my youngest brother who was born here. : )
https://youtu.be/YI7ad3FpTOk?t=47
My bride and I have already voted but we are going to wander down to voting place to see who we know — and know of — who are hanging around. The precinct we live in usually has the highest turnout in the entire county.
Well, gosh. I’m up so early this morning I’m almost the first person to comment.
“ Specifically, she cited the state’s argument that Krampus “might frighten children” and the sticks in the display “might be used to strike them.”
I think we have grounds right here to stay clearly, once again, that every accusation coming from the religious reich, err, ummm, right is a confession about who they are and what they want.
I wonder how the KKKhristians would feel about an image of Jesus crucified: you know the ones with the blood dripping from the crown of thorns the blood dripping from the spear wound in his side, the blood dripping from the wounds and his hands and feet, maybe the agony on his face.
I’m sure that would frighten children. And I’m equally sure that the so-called Christians would have no problem with white Jesus being portrayed in such a way.
James Talarico is projected to win Texas