How Did The Devil Sign Get Popular?

[Lil Red]

[quote name='littleflower+JMJ' post='1422179' date='Nov 19 2007, 01:00 PM']Okay, just to clarify with your posts LR....

I never said those who use it were "sinful" or "sinning", I said it was dangerous.[/quote]
my apologies. i didn't mean you as in you specifically, but a collective "you". but an example: when i read this, i started obsessing about the fact that i could have been sinning this whole time by throwing up this symbol. (at most a venial sin, but still). and what if i forget the next time i'm rocking out with youth or something and throw it up in the air? am i still sinning? the devil likes to take stuff like this with people like me and screw with us.

[quote name='littleflower+JMJ' post='1422179' date='Nov 19 2007, 01:00 PM']If your seeing it at Catholic events, like mentioned before, its because its being tossed around like it has for years, not because its suddenly become good.[/quote]

[quote name='littleflower+JMJ' post='1422179' date='Nov 19 2007, 01:00 PM']If you see nothing wrong with it, even after reading stuff about it, I have really nothing to say more that I haven't already said in my prior posts. [/quote]
i just am saying that i think the majority of people use it as a 'rock on' symbol than a 'i'm a devil worshipping freak' symbol.

[Laudate_Dominum]

This reminds me of a friend I had as a child who had just come to this country from India. Some mean kids taught him some vulgar words and gestures and lied to him about their meaning. They got a good laugh one day when he used some of these words in class whilst asking the teacher a question. It was very sad, but the teacher was wise enough to realize that he meant no offense and actually responded to his question without reacting to the profanity. Later she pulled him aside and in private explained that those words were vulgar. That poor kid.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' post='1422188' date='Nov 19 2007, 03:25 PM']This reminds me of a friend I had as a child who had just come to this country from India. Some mean kids taught him some vulgar words and gestures and lied to him about their meaning. They got a good laugh one day when he used some of these words in class whilst asking the teacher a question. It was very sad, but the teacher was wise enough to realize that he meant no offense and actually responded to his question without reacting to the profanity. Later she pulled him aside and in private explained that those words were vulgar. That poor kid.[/quote]
Word and symbol meanings change over time or have multiple meanings. Think about the word GAY. First it meant happy, then it meant active homosexual, and now to many people it just means something is lame.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1422232' date='Nov 19 2007, 04:14 PM']Word and symbol meanings change over time or have multiple meanings. Think about the word GAY. First it meant happy, then it meant active homosexual, and now to many people it just means something is lame.[/quote]
For the record I didn't post that story to make a point about the devil sign thing. It was just something that came to mind and I felt like sharing. I don't think that by posting this story I have made a point with reference to the [i]devil sign/rock on[/i] debate.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

While words and symbols often have inherent meaning, some have meanings which vary from culture to culture. I don't think this symbol means anything inherently evil, though it may communicate that to certain people. Therefore, apart from malicious intentions, the sign carries no burden of sin with it. However, it is probably wise not to make the sign too loosely, as it can cause scandal to those who don't realize the person signing doesn't mean what the interpreter thinks (case in point: the above article about George Bush).

Moral theology is not simple enough just to say that so-and-so is sinning because they're using a certain gesture which, regardless of inherent ambiguity, means something sinful to me.

God bless,

Micah

[littleflower+JMJ]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' post='1422188' date='Nov 19 2007, 02:25 PM']This reminds me of a friend I had as a child who had just come to this country from India. Some mean kids taught him some vulgar words and gestures and lied to him about their meaning. They got a good laugh one day when he used some of these words in class whilst asking the teacher a question. It was very sad, but the teacher was wise enough to realize that he meant no offense and actually responded to his question without reacting to the profanity. Later she pulled him aside and in private explained that those words were vulgar. That poor kid.[/quote]

Poor kid! I'm sure the teacher was expecting it though...props for him/her being collected through it all.