Vandals attack pentagram erected to protest Nativity scene

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Vandals attack pentagram erected to protest Nativity scene

Terry Spencer, Associated Press

Updated 4:12 pm, Tuesday, December 20, 2016


BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — A 300-pound metal sculpture of a satanic pentagram, erected as an atheist protest to a public park's Nativity scene, was severely damaged on Tuesday when it was pulled to the ground by vandals.

Atheist Preston Smith's 10-foot tall sculpture lay broken in Sanborn Square at noon. Tire tracks led from the twisted metal to the street.

It appeared vandals had attached a chain from a vehicle to the sculpture and yanked it down, dragging it several feet. As local television reporters prepared live broadcasts, two passersby stopped and pushed the sculpture back onto its base before walking away.

The sculpture sits about 20 feet from a traditional Nativity scene of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, and is backed by a banner from an atheist group reading "Keep Saturn in Saturnalias," a reference to the belief that the early Christian church substituted Christmas for a Roman pagan holiday.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Pentagram-erected-to-protest-Nativity-scene-10808849.php

[C_U_L8R]

1. They might not want to mess with spirits

they don't understand. Just saying.
We've seen that movie before.

[ffr]

2. Preston Smith's self proclaimed atheist, demostrates he's not an atheist

That doesn't make much sense to me as to why and atheist would take the position to display a theist type satanic sculpture. Weird.

[Blue Shoes]

3. Probaly just to piss off the bible thumpers.

Its always a good bit of fun to poke fun at them.

[OnlinePoker]

5. Would he be able to put it beside the national menorah without being called an anti-semite?

I doubt it very much.

[obamanut2012]

7. No, The Satanic Temple members are atheists

We do a lot of good work concerning First Amendment rights and women's reproductive rights. We have successfully sued the WBC.

Atheists do not have standing under the religious equalities laws. You have to be a member of a religion. This, TST.

To be a bit funny: we are doing teh work of God.

[rockfordfile]

4. Interesting to see if they catch the idiots

[Guyechka]

6. I was under the impression

that the pentagram was Wican, not satanic.

[HAB911]

8. Just the start of more

Christian love to come!

[HAB911]

9. Before a Satanic Display Was Destroyed in Florida, Bill OReilly Trashed It on His Show

by Hemant Mehta

Why did the Satanic display in Boca Raton, Florida get vandalized (again) yesterday? We don’t know for sure, but it’s tempting to think it may have been prompted by a segment on Bill O’Reilly‘s show the night before.

The Fox News host sent correspondent Jesse Watters to Boca Raton to get reactions to the display and harass Preston Smith, the middle school teacher who put up the display in response to a Nativity scene on the same property. The segment aired Monday night, before the display was destroyed.

There are a couple things worth reacting to:

O’Reilly and Watters talk about whether a swastika display would have been allowed on the property. (“That’s a good point,” said O’Reilly.) But we already know the answer to that. The city is absolutely allowed to reject that sign as hate speech.

The Satanic display and the atheist banner next to it, however, aren’t hateful in any sense. They may be unpopular, but they’re not symbols calling for ethnic or racial “purity” and the deaths of other people. As we’ve said before, The Satanic Temple’s Seven Fundamental Tenets are vastly more ethical than the Ten Commandments. And “Keep Saturn in Saturnalia” is just damn funny.

The two conservatives also mocked how Smith covered up his face when Watters ambushed him. O’Reilly said Smith should “just stand up and explain yourself.” They didn’t focus on how they were trying to run him down as he was going to work at a middle school — a school where, I have to point out, Smith doesn’t talk about his activism. No wonder he didn’t want to talk to a reporter.

Watters wasn’t interested in a conversation. He wanted to get Smith in trouble by having him speak about Satan while surrounded by students, and Smith wisely didn’t take the bait.

This is what you get from conservatives. The people who claim to love the Constitution whine their asses off when someone uses the First Amendment the same way Christians do.