Carnifex Umbris wrote:
What's still hilarious to me is that you all think this matters.
You do know the church doesn't hold political power to speak of, yes? Politicians use Christianity as a tool (especially in America), not the other way around. Thus, physical strikes against Christianity (we'll leave off the discussion of how it's possible to make physical strikes against a nonphysical concept for another day) do nothing but make the locals mad.
I don't believe these actions were committed under the pretense that the Church is the top link in the chain; identifying who holds ultimate power goes far beyond the government, too.
Action against the chursh is taken to perhaps shake free a percentage of the world; or to remove one enslaving tool from the hands of the powers that be. There has to be some sort of starting point, and eliminating one weapon is one means to an indication of who wields them.
Religion is a tool alongside The Media, Citizenship, and several others - cutting off any one of these is a great victory for us.
Novak's move was ofcourse flawed, however his intent is unquestionable.
Carnifex Umbris wrote:
The only people you're going to impress are those who already agree with you. You are, if you'll excuse the expression, preaching to the choir.
The unenlightened, and more to the point closed-minded individuals of society are indeed unlikely to be swayed by a symbol like the one Novak has used, indeed. There may be a small percentage of new enlightened thought resultant of it, which is countered by the portion of those claiming to follow Black Metal's message yet too weak/insecure to support these views in reality. Novak's gain would be one of self-expession, which, even if millions don't "get it", is still fulfilling; and a lesson learnt. The drawbacks include sympathy shown for the church, and 3 years imprisonment.
That's my conclusion, anyway.
Carnifex Umbris wrote:
If you feel that strongly that Christianity is the evil downfall of all mankind, try and convert others to whatever brand of non-Christianity you believe in. Of course, doing something constructive isn't nearly as exciting as burning churches, but if you're actually serious about changing the world, that's what you need to do. Get your head out of your pants and actually do something, rather than destroying old buildings.
Convincing the masses requires hundreds of years of social tide redirection, or drastic action - a remarkable event capable of awakening the world to the flaw in their thinking; Novak chose the wrong move - that doesn't mean his end-game isn't to introduce "whatever brand of non-Christianity you believe in".