We’ve all had those times when we wish government would really push for the unnecessary things we want.
Like building the Death Star from “Star Wars” or national “Netflix and Chill Day.”
But there are some requests that are just too excessive.
The Satanic Temple formally requested authorization from the Arkansas Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission last week to erect a Baphomet statue next to the proposed and accepted statue of the Ten Commandments at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Approved Arkansas Senate Bill 939 allows a privately donated statue of the Ten Commandments to be placed on the grounds of the capitol.
The purpose of this statue is to represent “an important component of the moral foundation of the laws and legal system of the United States of America and the state of Arkansas,” according to the bill.
While this justification does not contain any religious rhetoric, we just can’t get over that the monument alone is religious rhetoric.
Neither can Satanists, which is why they adopted similar language to justify the Baphomet statue.
The Satanic Temple claims its goat-headed statue is intended to memorialize “various historical witch hunts and homage to the persecuted free-thinkers and ‘heretics’ who helped inform American secular jurisprudence.”
If Christians can justify the placement of a religious statue based on historical connection to U.S. and Arkansas law, the Satanic Temple can follow suit with an equal justification for the presence of their beliefs at the state capitol.
The self proclaimed mission statement of the Satanic Temple is, “to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will.”
Given this eloquent definition of the beliefs, we believe the request to place the Baphomet statue on capitol grounds reflects an effort not only to have Satanic beliefs represented next to Christian beliefs, but also to demonstrate the problem of displaying a religious monument on government property at all.
The Satanic Temple originally intended for the Baphomet statue to be in Oklahoma, but the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided another Ten Commandments statue there was unconstitutional.
After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling, we believe the same fate awaits the Arkansas statue if the state does not open Little Rock to monuments of other religions.
In fact, atheist, vegan and Hindu groups have made similar efforts to the Satanists to have their beliefs represented on capitol grounds.
Additionally, the Satanic Temple said “the state either allows for an open forum available to private donors, or it does not. The legislature doesn’t need to approve our monument, as the approval of the Ten Commandments already established the parameters by which monuments are allowed on capitol grounds.”
We think the Satanic Temple couldn’t have articulated the heart of the issue any more clearly.
Either Arkansas allows the Baphomet statue and subsequent religious monuments to be placed near the Ten Commandments statue or Arkansas does not allow any religious statues in the capitol, regardless of historical justification.
