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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023

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One of the Satanic Temple's causes is separation of church and state, and I expect part of what they're trying to do here is cause governments to decide it's too much trouble to allow holiday displays on public property at all. Vandalism of their displays, or Christians also using such displays in deliberately inflammatory ways, both make it more likely they'll get that outcome.

Meanwhile, I don't think the ideological faction represented by the Satanic Temple would actually care very much about the content of your proposed displays. If anyone did dramatically tear such a display down, it would almost certainly be some progressive activist, a distinctly different faction.

If they object to holiday displays, then they should be going around shopping malls demanding the Santas and Christmas trees be taken down. It's that they're sticking their tongues out, like primary school kids, at specifically Christian festival is the major pain in the backside. I'm not impressed, and honestly I think it makes them look like wet blankets rather than Kewl Edgy types, but eh. If they have nothing more meaningful in their lives to be getting on with than trying to shock their grannies, I feel sorry for them (I may be a pathetic loser, but I'm not going around trying to construct maximally offensive to atheists rip-off imagery in public spaces).

I think the problem for them is that they're on public land, as they feel this violates their right not to have the government endorse a religion.

Personally, I think they're looking for things to be annoyed about, and holiday displays that please a large majority of people are not the sort of foil people should spend their time targeting. I felt that way when I was an atheist as well -- if your biggest problem with church/state relations is that Iowa, of all places, has a nativity set at the capitol, you are doing fanatically well for yourself. When I was active in the atheist community I knew Satanic Temple people, and I found them distasteful, because I felt they alienated and aggrieved Christians for no actual benefit to atheists.

The shopping mall, your neighbor who went big on Christmas decorating, a local Church with a big banner facing the street with some explicitly Jesus-themed Christmas message, etc, etc are all private institutions.

It's when the county courthouse does it that these people ask that others be given equivalent space to mount religious symbols. A big star of David or menorah, Baphomet, etc.

Malls are run by private individuals; separation of church and state doesn't apply.