because loads of religions are based on paganism. watch Zeitgiest - or look it up for more information.

The pentagram oriented in any direction does not originate with any modern religious or magical practice. In fact, the pentacle was used by Christianity in the past to represent the 5 wounds of Christ. It has also been the official seal of Jerusalem. It seems to have originated with the ancient Mesopotamians. Pythagoreans used it extensively in sacred geometry. It is a symbol traditionally associated with protection. As for the Mormons: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has traditionally used pentagrams and five-pointed stars in Temple architecture, particularly the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and the Salt Lake Temple. These symbols derived from traditional morning star pentagrams that are no longer commonly used in mainstream Christianity." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagram http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefspentagram.htm In the end, it is merely a shape that represents different things to different people. As for it being, "Upside Down", that assumes that there is a top and bottom to a pentagram, and who is to say which is which? Also, in the interest of historical accuracy, the Church of Satan adopted, modified, and copyrighted their version of the pentagram for its use. It is known as the Sigil of Baphomet. However, the Mormon Church predates the Church of Satan by about 140 years. Thus, this association was not something considered by the Mormon Church (as the association did not yet exist when the Mormon Church was founded). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Satan Having seen the images posted by Glenn Blaylock, I'd have to disagree that these are even pentagrams used by Mormons, and no Satanist group I know of uses the symbol used by the Mormons.

As AntigoneRising pointed out, our use of the star predates Satanism's adoption of it as a symbol by well over a century. I would also point out that the Satanic symbol is usually a pentagram (a star constructed from five strait lines of equal length) often inside of a double circle and on top of a goat's head (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seal_of_Baphomet.svg). As can be seen from these pictures and drawings (http://www.nauvootemple.com/g/20010921.jpg , http://users.marshall.edu/~brown/nauvoo/nt-star.html , http://emp.byui.edu/SATTERFIELDB/Temples/Star%20Stone.jpg), The resemblance between the stars that we used in our temples and those used in Satanism is superficial at best. So, the attempt to make a connection between us and them based on this is miss guided. It would be about the same as trying to draw a connection between Satanism and the USA because we use five pointed stars on our flag. I am going to disagree with her source's claim of the origin of the symbol (other than that may be the origin of the representation of stars as having five points). For us, the star symbolizes one of the potential rewards that we may receive after the final judgment.

Satanism has been around since the begining of time and the reason why we as Mormons use the upside down star is because Joseph Smith was a Mason - so he, as well as Brigham Young, decided it would be nice to use some of the Mason symbols in/on the Temple. Personally I think it was stupid - all this symbolism and sealing is much to similar to Lucifers ordinances - not particularly inspired by god, but then again neither was the book of mormon.