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<p><a href=“http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/05/08/harvard-extension-cultural-studies-club-hosting-satanic-black-mass/”>http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/05/08/harvard-extension-cultural-studies-club-hosting-satanic-black-mass/</a></p>
<p>I wonder how they sign their emails…</p>
<p>^^^ perfect! Darn, I wish I thought of that ;)</p>
<p>Of course, a joke summoning of Satan never hurt anybody… (sarcasm)</p>
<p>It will be fine. Few will be offended and those that are don’t really matter. At least it’s not Condoleezza Rice speaking. That would be cause for major protests.</p>
<p>Since this is CC, we should really be arguing about whether students from the Harvard Extension School are really Harvard students or not. I think the fact that they are planning to conduct this ritual in public suggests that they are not.</p>
<p>Damnit, this portion of the law school’s new student orientation is supposed to be secret!</p>
<p>I took a few courses at the Harvard Extension, and I never considered myself to be “a Harvard student.”</p>
<p>As to the Satanist ritual, I think it’s kind of cute that the local archdiocese takes it seriously enough to issue a formal comment on it. I find it odd that the extension students are apparently viewing it as equal in cultural seriousness to the other rituals they mention. I’ve always thought that the whole Satanic thing was to be taken about as seriously as Kiss (the band).</p>
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<p>I didn’t know anything about Black Masses, so i was surprised to find that:</p>
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<p>I don’t know how many other “religious” services specifically mock another religion. Given that, I am not too surprised that the archdiocese commented on it.</p>
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<p>Especially considering most Harvard students are probably only going to be interested enough to see what’s there, find it not of much interest, and move on. </p>
<p>^^^ Or they get very interested because they can figure out the exact terms for the mephistophelean deal to become a top hedge fund manager.</p>
<p>To the extent that a Black Mass is taken seriously by any believers, my problem is that we shouldn’t be “reenacting” other people’s religious rituals. If we’re talking about a historical religion with no present-day followers, fine, the Classics department can stage a ceremony for Artemis for educational purposes. But if there are actually Satanists out there today (I think there are), and you want to learn about their religion, ask THEM to come on campus and teach you about it.</p>
<p>I think it’s in similarly bad taste when churches hold Seders without Jewish involvement. Hello, we’re right here, and this is a living tradition, not a historical artifact. If you want to take part in a real Seder, just ask!</p>
<p>^^^ That really is a very good point. Especially since they said that they want to modify it by not including a consecrated host. I don’t know if that makes it a minor change, or a travesty, or an insult to people who practice a Black Mass.</p>
<p>Any people who practice Black Mass out there who can comment on that?</p>
<p>Lol, not every religion deserves equal or any respect.</p>
<p>And who, sorghum, gets to make that decision of which ridiculous belief system is more worthy of respect than others?</p>
<p>Oh, that’s easy. If it’s called a religion, it gets respect. If it’s called mythology it doesn’t.</p>
<p>Excellent point, hanna.</p>
<p>Hanna, the article says they are indeed inviting actual Satanists to join them–people from the New York based Satanic temple.</p>
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<p>Do people actually do that? I could see maybe some Christian church having a Last Supper tableau in an Easter pageant (and the Last Supper was a Seder), but IMO it would be ridiculous to actually hold an entire Seder meal and ceremony without any Jewish folks at the table.</p>
<p>As for according Satanists the same proper respect as any other religion - well, I think I would just ignore a real Satanist if I ever met one. But somehow, Satanism just doesn’t feel like it’s “any other religion” in the same way that Nazis are not just “any old political party.” In both cases there is a qualitative difference from other religions and political parties that is born out of deliberately embracing Evil. </p>
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<p>They can get that in high school or earlier by reading a play by Christopher Marlowe called Dr. Faustus or something like that…</p>
<p>Incidentally, we had a HS teacher whom we nicknamed Mephistopheles due to his beard and reputed overbearing manner. </p>