As many readers know, a 9-foot tall statue of a naked Satan appeared atop an empty pedestal in East Vancouver, British Columbia Tuesday, in full view of motorists and commuters passing by on the rails of Vancouver’s Sky Train. One could pass this off as a stupid, misguided stunt, except for the fact that the statue’s left hand is touching his very explicit private parts. As such, it is vile, pornographic and has absolutely no place in public view.
One doesn’t need a PhD degree in psychology to put together a profile of the individual responsible for creating the statue and putting it in public view.
Here’s who he’s not: a psychologically healthy, mature and faith-filled heterosexual husband and father who is concerned about cultural degradation and who supports such old-fashioned notions as life, family, concern for his fellow man and traditional values. He finds happiness in loving service to others, out of love for God. It’s simply not possible for anyone who genuinely fits this profile to expend time and effort fabricating and displaying a lewd statue of Satan.
Who is he likely to be? A man who is a psychologically immature, single, antisocial atheist, who has a distorted view of sexuality, supports libertinism and no doubt feels superior in intellect to people who profess Jesus as their “imaginary friend” (to quote a slur often found in response to articles about faith or values). He seeks happiness—not in any lofty pursuits involving sacrificial service to others for the common good—but in sensual pursuits, possibly accompanied by the abuse of alcohol or drugs because they facilitate casual sexual encounters and anesthetize people from the emptiness and disappointments common to those who seek happiness in sensuality. He believes in nothing, and deeply resents a culture that fails to ratify his lifestyle and genius.
Regrettably, he is not alone in his obsession with the act of sex. Whether from childhood abuse or from peer influences and the absence of healthy parental guidance, many today have elevated the so-called “right” to sexual relations—anywhere, anytime, with any “consenting” person and without the consequence of procreation—as the highest human pursuit.
It is telling that he chose to shock the Vancouver community with a sexually-suggestive statue of Satan because the Father of Lies is assuredly behind the sexual revolution. How very typical of Satan to distort the very beautiful, love- and life-giving gift of God to mankind into something debased that then results in the deaths of hundreds of millions of unborn children, in the deaths of millions from AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases, and in heartbreak and despair among many of those who’ve been victimized by the prevailing ethos.
The person who is responsible for the statue deserves our compassion and prayers. And he is not alone. Whoever drafted one of the petitions to have the statue returned to public view stated in that petition:
First, pornography in public enjoys no protection as freedom of expression. Second, I don’t want to even begin to contemplate how refusing a public space for this vile statue would "restrict" their sexuality. Eeeyew. And, seriously, it is the public exposure of the statue that stigmatizes the religious beliefs of persons of faith; not permitting the statue to be put on public display doesn’t stigmatize anything.
What are we to make of the over 2,000 people who have signed an online petition to have the statue returned to public view and the over 2,400 "likes" on the statue’s Facebook page. Really, people? What is your reasoning for supporting this infantile, antisocial and pornographic tribute to the demon-in-chief who wants nothing more than to see you in hell?
Wake up, folks! There is nothing artistic, positive or "funny" (as some interviewees claimed) about this vulgar, cartoonish figure that would contribute further to the exaltation of promiscuity and to the degradation of women and chlidren (girls and boys) as sexual objects. Vancouver officials acted properly in removing the statue and one prays that the government will not accede to the perverse wishes of a very vocal, but small, minority.
Susan E. Wills is Spirituality Editor of Aleteia’s English language edition.
And today we celebrate...