A Political Candidate Beheaded a Satanic Temple Statue. Now He Faces Charges.
vice.com
A former Mississippi political candidate is facing criminal charges after a bedazzled statue of Baphomet, a figure associated with the Satanic Temple, was discovered decapitated at the Iowa State Capitol.
Michael Cassidy, 35, a former U.S. Navy pilot, told Fox News that he saw the controversy surrounding the display, which was heavily criticized by Republican politicians like Ron DeSantis, and drove to the Iowa Capitol to see it for himself. He said it hit a “nerve” and went on to destroy it.
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According to an archived version of his campaign website, Cassidy pushed for a 10-year prison sentence for anyone who destroys a statue in his own state.
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Pretty sure there's an ocean of difference between Jesus Christ rebuking the literal devil and a politician traveling across state borders to illegally deface a statue as a publicity stunt to fundraise and get an interview on Fox about how he totally "decapitated Satan." Even if his conviction was somehow driven by religion and not pure vanity (it wasn't), any form of religious supremacy has no place in society at large, let alone a government building. The law recognizes this, "freedom of religion" is the backbone of this in the US, and I'd hope people understand why it might be a worthwhile and important protection to have and uphold.
Additionally, I have a suspicion that anyone who favorably compares a person who postures as a Christian supremacist to Christ is less the sort of person with an understanding of their religion and more the sort of person who knows how to search for the word "Satan" in their YouVersion Bible app.
To this guy's fans, and possibly him, he did literally rebuke Satan with this act.
There are people out there who actually believe it, and therefore agree his actions legitimately align with Jesus' teachings.
That's not Satan, that's Baphomet.
A bit of demonology (or culture in general) can go a long way in helping these people avoiding this kind of nonsensical responses.
It's like if someone were to deface a statue of the archangel Michael and I went on a tirade about how evil all the cherubims really were. Michael is an archangel, not a cherubim. Similar but not the same.
Psalm 95:5, "For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils."
That's really metal \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
Jesus rebuked Satan in the text I quoted.
I was handwaving on the statue itself, as it's immaterial to my point. You think they have different reactions to baphoment, even if they are aware? They see baph as an agent of Satan, and therefore Satan.
Well, the statue will be more than material when he will be judged by the law.
The most funny thing is that you believe the infernal potentates are all aligned and following a ruler. By definition the hellish powers are independent and individual in their scopes and objectives, Satan fought God exactly because he didn't recognize its ultimate authority over his own free will. Confusing Satan with Baphomet is like confusing Drumpf and Putin: they both are evil and terrible people supporting one another when their interests collide while also ready to jump at each other throat should the situation require so, but I would never accuse Drumpf of having moved war to Ukraine since it was Putin to do so.
But I don't see you as a reasonable person so I presume this distinction will fall flat at your feet. Oh well, nothing bad, the guy will still be judged for his actions and will suffer the consequences (hopefully) for his sensless violence. Keep seething in your ignorance good boy