Group Unveils Satan Statue Design For Oklahoma

This artists rendering provided by the Satanic Temple shows a proposed monument that the New York-based Satanic group wants to place at the Oklahoma state Capitol. The statue features a bearded, goat-headed demon sitting in a pentagram-adorned throne with children next to it. (AP Photo/Satanic Temple).

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A satanic group unveiled designs Monday for a 7-foot-tall statue of Satan it wants to put at the Oklahoma state Capitol, where a Ten Commandments monument was placed in 2012.

Satanists unveil design for Okla. Capitol monument Associated Press Okla. imposes moratorium on Capitol monuments Associated Press Satanists, Pastafarians, Hindus, Dudes and PETA Are Trolling Oklahoma The Atlantic Wire

Fla. rejects request to install Satanic display Associated Press The New York-based Satanic Temple formally submitted its application to a panel that oversees the Capitol grounds, including an artist's rendering that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard that's often used as a symbol of the occult. In the rendering, Satan is sitting in a pentagram-adorned throne with smiling children next to him.

"The monument has been designed to reflect the views of Satanists in Oklahoma City and beyond," temple spokesman Lucien Greaves said in a statement. "The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation."

The Satanic Temple maintains that the Oklahoma Legislature's decision to authorize a privately funded Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol opened the door for its statue. The Ten Commandments monument was placed on the north steps of the building in 2012, and the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sued to have it removed.

This is based on a false idea of equal treatment that the mere presence of idea places it on equal footing with all other ideas. Equal treatment certainly allows advocates of that idea to speak about it, and even to include it as part of their religion.

Killing chickens and smearing your body with their blood is an example. Just because a Manger Scene is contructed in the public park doesn’t mean a chicken smearer should also be included.

At issue is the plan for the square footage designated by the organizer as encompassing any public display. Does it take up 100 square feet, a thousand, or just 12?

Based on the space determined for the display, the organizer then determines how many displays are able to be accommodated in a rational decision based on the ability to be observed and the aesthetics. This should also be limited to local individuals/groups/organizations with physical residency in the city or state or municipality that is decorating their public display area. (They need to be available to tend to their display among other things.)

Given the above, the organizer then randomly assigns the available spaces by some kind of lottery system. Each group desiring to be a part gets to put their application in the pool, and then there is a drawing.

In the 10 commandments versus Satan issue, it is better to have a committee determine the time frame of any display, the area devoted to it, and the times when applications are received and the decisions made.

Personally, I would avoid permanent displays and decorations and make even building paintings and art have a designated shelf life and replacement cycle.

If only the 10 commandments and the Satan display are entered, and if the display calls for more than one item, then that micro-group’s offering would go on display. If, however, there were thousands of entries, then the low density satanic groups with citizenship in that municipality would be less likely to be the chosen display (although randomness makes that a remote possibility.).

This is actual equal treatment. All entrants with an equal mathematical opportunity to be among those selected to display. It isn’t based on viewpoint and granting a minority viewpoint a 1000 times greater representation than its presence in the population justifies simply because it is an idea that exists.

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