Satanists Want to Build a 7-ft Tall Statue of Satan Next to 10 Commandments

Remember my post of about a month ago, on a group of New York-based devil worshippers who call themselves the Satanic Temple — in the name of “religious parity” — planning to erect a monument to Satan next to the Ten Commandments outside the state capitol building in Oklahoma?

In 2009, the conservative-led Oklahoma state legislature approved a privately funded Ten Commandments monument, which was erected last year outside the state Capitol building. Ever since the approval, opponents have called into question the constitutionality of the monument. The Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit seeking its removal.

Similar requests for other “religious parity” monuments have been made by a Hindu leader in Nevada, an animal rights group and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

In response, the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission recently placed a moratorium on considering any new requests. “Anybody can still make their request, but we’ll hold off on considering them until the [ACLU] lawsuit is adjudicated,” commission Chairman Trait Thompson said.

Well, the Satanic Temple has chosen a design for their monument.

CBS New York reports from Oklahoma City that yesterday, Jan. 6, 2014, the Satanic Temple unveiled designs for a 7-foot-tall statue of Satan. The group hasy submitted its application to the Capitol Preservation Commission, 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.

Design submitted by Satanic Temple

Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves said in a statement: “The monument has been designed to reflect the views of Satanists in Oklahoma City and beyond. 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 push by The Satanic Temple has rankled elected leaders in this conservative state known as the buckle of the Bible Belt, who say such a proposal would never be approved by the commission.

“I think you’ve got to remember where you are. This is Oklahoma, the middle of the Heartland,” said Rep. Don Armes (R-Faxon). “I think we need to be tolerant of people who think different than us, but this is Oklahoma, and that’s not going to fly here.”

Another Oklahoma legislator, Rep. Earl Sears (R-Bartlesville), called the group’s effort “an insult to the good people of the state. I do not see Satanism as a religion, and they have no place at the state Capitol.”

Greaves makes the devil’s horns hand-sign (Oops! Excuse me! it’s really the “I love you” sign of deaf-mutes! No, it’s really the Texas Longhorns handsign! Sarc) at a Satanic Temple rally in Tallahassee, on Jan. 25, 2013, in support of Florida Governor Rick Scott’s Senate Bill 98.

But Greaves says “We plan on moving forward one way or another” and claims to have raised nearly half of the $20,000 needed to build the monument.