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submitted 2 months ago by Armio2@lemmy.ml to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

Today, in a symbolic act, Iranians set fire to the flags of Israel and the United States, as well as an obelisk and a statue of Baal—which they described as a symbol of Satan—in various cities across Iran in response to the release of the Epstein documents.

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[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

... Now I wanna know why there was a statue of Baal on the street in iran. Like, is there a Baal worshipping segment of the population? Was it some ancient statue? An art piece? Ragebait? I have so many questions.

[-] Armio2@lemmy.ml 38 points 2 months ago

They built the statues specifically to burn them down for this symbolic act, they are not stone statues. I answered this to our other friend who asked as well🙏🏻

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Oh that explains it, thank you! I wonder why Baal was singled out instead of just building a statue of satan himself? There's a cultural aspect here I'm missing.

[-] DancingBear@midwest.social 7 points 2 months ago

Baal is actually in the Bible of Christians and Hebrews

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah, but... why go after baal for being satanic, instead of going after satan directly? I don't quite understand why baal is taking the spotlight when you could have simply made a statue of satan, but I'm sure there's a reason.

[-] Sandouq_Dyatha@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 months ago

Muslims don't generally don't have a representation of what Satan looks like, Baal is an idol, already has a shape

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Not an unreasonable explanation, thank you!

[-] DancingBear@midwest.social 4 points 2 months ago

Because Baal is actually in the religious texts

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

If you're going for textual literalism sure fair enough, but what's confusing me is that they then go outside the bounds of that to invoke satan anyways. And aside from that, it's not like (figures that you can reasonably call a satan/devil analog if you dont want to start a fight) aren't in the Torah, Koran and Bible - why not build a statue of Iblis, the progenitor of devils? And why describe Baal as a symbol of satan instead of just going after satan directly, since that means you already believe satan exists?

I guess I'm just trying to figure out the symbolism here. Burning the flags is pretty clear, but the statue and the obelisk seem more like they're an act aimed at worshiping false idols (what Baal is primarily used for in the various texts) which... is that what they're accusing the US/Israel of? Because that seems like a largely semantic question given they're all worshiping the same god, and just burning a satan-analog would be a much clearer message about opposition to evil than the sorta abstract concept presented by Baal in any of the texts.

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 1 points 2 months ago

Baal simply means "Lord," or "master," as I stated earlier.

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

... You did? I'm sorry, I didn't see where you mentioned that.

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 2 months ago

Probably because I stated it after your posts, my fault, entirely, I should have linked you. https://kbin.earth/m/worldnews@lemmy.ml/t/2396552/-/comment/11212850

More on things you may find interesting

https://kbin.earth/m/worldnews@lemmy.ml/t/2396552/Iranians-set-fire-to-the-flags-of-Israel-and-the/comment/11213043#entry-comment-11213043

https://kbin.earth/m/worldnews@lemmy.ml/t/2396552/-/comment/11216059

It's taken me several years to get all this stuff, and we're just not taught it. Christianity has it's own political agenda, largely began to validate Constantine's conquests, evolved over time to support European's and USA's.

And Judaism began as Abraham leaving either Babylon or Chelsea, choosing to worship one of their many gods, and conquer and colonize, and so on since Summer and before.

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Thank you, those are very interesting!

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 1 points 2 months ago

You're welcome! Even though you follow Satanism, I daresay a deep dive into these topics will irrevocably change your understanding and relationship with your own faith! Another interesting point of reference to look into is the difference in understanding between Judaism and the ha-satan and Christianity's Satan!

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Ah, thank you! But I'm afraid you may have the wrong idea: The Satanic Temple (which I am a part of) is in all but name a secular humanitarian organization - formed in opposition to the various religious authoritarian movements in the US. The trappings of satanism are only there to serve as a way to bait hypocrisy. I'm only interested in this topic from a cultural standpoint, as I'm not personally religious. I do appreciate the thought though!

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 1 points 2 months ago

Well, aside from news, I don't know anything about any practices of satanism, but fwiw, the tenants don't clash with my understanding of Christianity, gnosticism, or Judaism, which is very incomplete, at best!

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 2 months ago

Baal looks a lot like Baphomet in that photo.

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I was assuming it was based off later depictions of Baal Hammon (the ram) but blending the two for dramatic effect would also make sense.

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 1 points 2 months ago
this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2026
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