[Vision2020] Satanism Was: Of, By

[Chasuk]

On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 11:58 PM, Donovan Arnold
<donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Satan's greatest trick was to convince people that he doesn't exist. I think
> Satanism, is, for the most part, the same as Atheism.

The single Satanist I have known who believed that Satan was an actual
being often said to me: "Remember that history is written by the
victor."  Meaning, of course, that he believed that God was the
victor, who had given Satan a bum rap.

> Atheists are best at doing this. They have made God very unpopular in this
> country. You cannot even say, "Merry Christmas" without subjecting yourself
> to a potential lawsuit.

First, God is significantly more popular in this country than He is in
any country in the Western world.  Second,  the "Merry Christmas"
claim is false.  Wal-Mart and Target (and probably other retailers)
have encouraged their employees to say "Happy Holidays," but only for
the purpose of including Thanksgiving,  Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New
Year's Eve -- as well as Christmas, and not instead of Christmas.

Certain groups have misrepresented the situation.  Here is what the
ACLU has to say:

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Of course, there is no "Merry Christmas" lawsuit, nor is there any
ACLU litigation about U.S. currency, military chaplains, etc. But the
facts are not important to these groups, because their real message is
this: By protecting the freedom of Muslims, Jews, and other
non-Christians through preventing government entanglement with
religion, the ACLU is somehow infringing on the rights of those with
majority religious beliefs.

In truth, it is these website Christians who are taking the Christ out
of the season. Nowhere in the Sermon on the Mount did Jesus Christ ask
that we celebrate His birth with narrow-mindedness and intolerance,
especially for those who are already marginalized and persecuted.
Instead, the New Testament—like the Torah and the Koran and countless
other sacred texts—commands us to love our neighbor, and to comfort
the sick and the imprisoned.

That's what the ACLU does. We live in a country filled with people who
are sick and disabled, people who are imprisoned, and people who
hunger and thirst for justice. Those people come to... [us] for help,
at a rate of several hundred a week, usually because they have nowhere
else to turn... So, as often as we can, ACLU secures justice for those
folks who Jesus worried for the most.

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> Separation of Church from State was designed to protect our religion from
> being indoctrinated and controlled by the government, not to weed God out of
> our daily lives and thinking, which is what is happening, sadly, all over
> this country, and you can see the negative impact it is having.

That is too big of a can of worms to want to examine right now.  Maybe
in a separate thread, later.

Chas