Followers of the Satanic Temple have petitioned to erect a monument on the grounds of the Oklahoma Capitol, right next to the Ten Commandments, following the passage of a law in OK that permits religious iconography on government grounds. Now, Hindus are applying to erect a giant statute (presumably on the other side of the Ten Commandments) of their Monkey God, Lord Hanuman, under a 2009 law that permits such religious displays that are paid for with private funds.
When people hear or see the words 'Satanic Temple', I imagine they think of the worst images, something like the one to the left, but to their credit, these Satanists DO have a sense of humor. They have instituted a ritual modeled on the posthumous baptism of the Mormons, where people are re-baptized to become Mormons, regardless of their own religious preference or belief, or those of their family and friends who personally knew and cared for them. Their Satanic ritual is called the 'Pink Mass', from Addicting Info, back in July of this year:
Last weekend, officials from the New York-based Satanic Temple went to the gravesite of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps’s mother, Catherine Idalette Johnston, in Mississippi to perform the ceremony, with Temple Priest and spokesman Lucien Greaves officiating. Two same-sex couples helped him by kissing over the top of the headstone. The ritual was performed as an affirmation of freedom and happiness for everyone, which is a tenet of the Satanic Temple. Greaves said that the trip and ceremony came about as a reaction to the Westboro Baptist Church’s threat to picket the funerals of Boston Marathon bombing victims:
“The idea for the Pink Mass ceremony and website came during the aftermath of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, during which time the WBC were threatening to protest the funerals of the bombing victims. Members of The Satanic Temple were in Boston, waiting for them, but they failed to show. Later, the WBC issued a statement that they had been present ‘in spirit’. We decided that a same-sex couple celebrating ceremony at the grave-site of Fred Phelps’s mother was an appropriate way to meet the Westboro Baptists, ‘in spirit’, but this time on our terms.”The Pink Mass, Greaves explained, must now make Phelps believe that his mother is gay in the afterlife. And every time a gay couple kisses at the grave-site, Mrs. Phelps, the now-gay deceased, will be pleasured wherever she may be. Which is rather a pleasant thought, really. Much nicer than damning people to burn for eternity.
Not quite the same happy, warm and fuzzy image as the shlocky but notorious Satanist, Anton LaVey:
Or maybe, if you find the right wing diametrically opposite in their practices to those of Biblical Christianity, which they reject, including social justice this makes a more accurate image:
Ganesh left, and Hanuman right (photo Karunaker Rayker)
Monkey God... Money God......they only differ by one letter. Monkey God Hanuman or Elephant God Ganesh, I suppose that either would be appropriate for the Hindus to select as a monument to their religion, and I would argue that similar images below both seem to me to be appropriate monuments as well to the religious right:
There is an important lesson here for those religious right extremists who sought to give their own religion not just pride of place, but favoritism over other religions, either implied or more explicit, in knocking down the wall between church and state. The inevitable, and frankly a little bit humorous result is that they have to share that pride of place with two groups towards whom they hold antipathy - Satanism, the polar opposite of Christianity, on one side, and the polytheism of one of the world's religions, equally great in terms of believers, on the other.
Time for an appropriate Bible verse that the religious righties in the Oklahoma Legislature should have studied up on Job 4:8:
Whenever I saw those who plowed wickedness and planted misery, they gathered its harvest.
