First off this I hope this thread will not turn into a "Lets prove whos right/wrong" thread. I just have a simple question I currently have As my wallpaper. No, this first off isn't me trying to make anyone angry by having this image as my laptop wallpaper. So back to my story/question, I was sitting at a local library listening to music and reading up on some author when some women who happend to walk by saw the image. At this point i had headphones on so if she said anything during her glance at it i missed it. Soon i felt a poke in my shoulder, i turned around and this woman had a very angry look on her face. The first words out of her mouth were "Do you understand that picture is pure evil?". My response was "I just see it as a picture really, i don't associate good/evil with a picture". Not one second after these words had left my mouth this woman went on a rant about the evil in symbols. After talking to me for about 10 minutes on "Hidden Meanings" behind pictures she asked me if i belived in Jesus Christ. I told her honestly "I believe in something but whos to say which religion is right". She informed me that i was on a path to hell and having that drawing was a sign that i was being used by evil. Her final words before leaving were "I pray my children never come to this library and see such demonic pictures again". So this is where my question comes in. I understand this symbol might be associated with Satan or evil. However, do people really believe that a simple picture/drawing/painting can be a strong representation of evil? After thinking about what she said i was more angry than anything. How the hell can someone just tell someone they are going to hell because of a picture? We'll my rant is over. I posted this for Christians/Catholics because the woman never informed me what religion she was part of. Any insite on this would be more than welcome.
It's a tricky question to answer. Symbols can be evil (whatever that means to you), but it's not so much the shape and form of the thing, as the intent behind it, and religious symbols, doubly so. For instance, up until the late early Twentieth century, the swastika was regarded as a good luck charm, literally meaning "good fortune" or wellbeing. But when I painted a swastika on my bike as a kid (after seeing it in a book and thinking it was cool - I was like, five) I got a torrent of fairly emotional dialogs from elderly locals, and ended up painting over it. Had the symbol changed? Or was it simply that its meaning had changed because of its usage. Or rather, recent usage. Here's a site all about it... http://www.reclaimtheswastika.com/ I guess it's not that symbols can be "evil", but that people can be evil, and can be affected by evil. Popular opinions change. If some hindu rap artist started using the swastika again as a symbol of fortune and love, it might sway all the way back again. I understand her reaction. I get a similar feeling when I see the MacDonalds Symbol. The difference is that she fears what she does not know, where as I know MacDonalds is evil. -mu
The context of evil doesn't have power without someone believing in it Eye of the beholder kinda thing
eh, there's no such thing as good or evil, really, anyway. The eternal struggle of good versus evil...heaven versus hell...satan...god...we made it all up to explain our world. Think God really judges people based on their actions? hell no. Judge not, lest ye be judged, right. Who is God to judge me... symbols mean nothing...are nothing. History is real...haha some people... Anyways what is that pic of...some sort of pagan symbol or something? looks cool.
short answer - THAT BITCH IS A QUACK long answer....that bitch is a quack! lol seriously anyone so weakened by religion that they fear a silly digital image needs to rethink their fuckin' faith before the easter bunny has them in fits of stigmata
What mils said, definitly intepreted by the eye of the beholder. Just because a certain group uses a certain picture/symbol to represent them doesn't make it evil or good, infact i think that presumption is ridiculous. Everyone's always trying to place "good" or "evil" labels on everything because that's how they make sense of things... Quack Attack!
hmm...This is a pretty interesting question I think, and i'm not too sure how equipped i am to answer it but i'll give it a go. One of the aspects of cultures, is Symols, whether its in the form of language, an "evil symbol" or a christian "holy" cross... These symbols in a culture are generally assumed to all mean the same things. However all cultures now days are comprised of people from many different relgions, ethnic groups and even walks of life. To someone who is very relgious, a symbol of satan, can possibly represent as much to them as a sign saying "fuck you". Its all the same kind of thing, and as symbols are a form of commnication, A fair bit of meaning is based on symbols obviously, considering language is made up of various symbols. So in short, yes i do believe that someone who is religious would place that much meaning into a picture, and can be very offended with it. The way i see it is, The lady probably had every right to get offended inside her own mind, and think "that evil satantic little brat is going to hell". Because everyone is entitled to their opinion, however I dont think she had any right to tell you that your going to hell and what an evil person you are. That would be like you telling her the cross around her neck represents the fact that she doesnt believe in the right god and is going to hell for it.
we can assume she's a christian. christians created their idea of hell, so i think that gives them license to say whatever crazy shit they want. that doesn't mean you have to take it as anything more than an insane person's ramblings.
ok for you people that dont know where the baphomet came from, it was a symbol for the Knights Templar. look it up on wikipedia, and it'll tell you right. it really has no conotations to evil at all.
Well I just read up on the Baphomet on Wikipedia and it didnt say it was a symbol of the Knights Templar. The symbol was supposedly used falsely as a way of accusing the Knights Templar of Pagan idol worship; though no one actually knows where the icon comes from. From what I was seeing in the article the image is most likely a mixture of images long pre-dating Christianty and its Satan. The most you could probably say about it nowadays is its best used with Paganism(which shouldnt be seen by Christians as evil, rather misguided). However, the head of the image the Topic Creator has there(its not the original Baphomet, rather an interpretation by a man in the 1800s) is used as the Satan Tarot card and the symbol of Church of Satan. === Anyway... yes I think people can take a picture and see it as possibly evil. Art in itself has the ability to motivate and inspire people; and its only natural for some people to take an image that inspires people to do things they dont agree with to be the embodiment of evil. Some Hindus even have statues in their homes because they believe the Gods need an image of themselves to interact with the physical realm-- which could be taken as a very literal translation of an image "being" something. Dont let what that rude, biased woman said get you down.
Heaven and hell is just something religion uses to control people. If you don't believe what we say you are going to hell. What a bunch of shit! Heaven and hell is right here on earth, and life is what you make of it. No one should need a book to know how to be a good person. It's time for all of these self-righteous religious dick-heads to wake up and realize they are part of the problem not the solution. I am personally a Niolest "I care about nothing" "And tomorrow we will come back and cut off your johnson!"
I think you were there for her to pick on because she's probably a nicpicky person. Wrong time wrong place. If I didn't like something about a complete stranger that I never met I would never go out of my way to tell him.
she never informed you what religion she was, but the question "do you belive in jesus christ" makes it obvious what she is. christians are the only people i know that will go out of their way to tell you that you are wrong and that you will pay for it.
The truth about people like her is that they have no faith like they claim to. They are just afraid of what is coming to them; insecure to the point that they can't act like adults and accept the image on the screen for what it is: a bunch of pixels. The meaning behind the picture might have originally been evil, but who's to decide what is evil and what is good? If you saw nothing wrong with the picture, and viewed it as simply that, then you weren't doing anything wrong. That lady was just a dumb bitch, and to be honest I would have looked her in the eye and told her to go recheck her good book, because from what I understand about Christianity, humans don't have the right to condemn other humans. But most Christians do anyway.
the reason they do so (at least as far as i see) is because they were lead to faith by fear at a very young age (think hell houses). since all "good" christians are supposed to spread the gospel, they do so in the only way they know, by trying to scare the fuck out of people. unfortunately for them, any rational person can see right through it for the lie that it is.
Yeah man, Shame on Christians for going out of their way to Tell you what They believe. Maybe we Christians would get alot more done if we Spread the Faith by the Sword like Muslims. Shame on us Christians for voicing our Faith. If you need me I'll be in time-out
they tell you what they believe whether you want to hear about it or not. and don't give me shit like "Maybe we Christians would get alot more done if we Spread the Faith by the Sword like Muslims." haven't you ever heard of the spanish inquisition, or the confilict northern ireland, or even better, the crusades? to quote bertand russel: the only reason they (christians) love us (atheists) is because they can't kill us.
yes, this christian is a victim because she berated a person for simply having a symbolic image on his laptop. it would be one thing if she was telling him what she believed. it's another thing to attempt to make someone feel stupid or evil for not believing the same thing that she does. "spreading the faith by the sword like muslims???" do you even realize how how prejudiced and bigoted that is? my guess is no. i hope you haven't forgotten that christianity is among the bloodiest religions, and that christians still kill people because they are non christian.
yeah man, you only heard one side of the story and from that one argument your willing to call her a "victim"? Not downing the ThreadStarter or anything. You may view this scenario as a Christian trying to belittle somebody by telling them they are going to hell or you could look at it as a woman who sees a kid on a computer with daemonic images and she's just trying to do her part by informing him. I do hope you know that in the Tora(muslim's bible) it says to spread the faith by the sword. So I don't know how i'm being prejudice and a bigott. Morale of the story is: Don't go downing Religion in general just because you had one bad experience. And it's always good to get both perspectives.