12-17-2013, 01:56 AM
Last year, the Oklahoman government signed off on the construction of a large religious monument depicting the Ten Commandments that was to be placed on the grounds of the state’s capitol building. If you’re of the mindset that church should be separated from state, celebrating our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage — as Rep. Bobby Cleveland put it — is not best achieved by plopping a monument to the Ten Commandments on the grounds of a government building. Oklahoma may not be representing your secular beliefs with this endeavor, but you have an unlikely representative in this battle: The Satanic Temple....
Of course, the Oklahoma government does not want to erect a monument to Satan on the capitol grounds, however metal it may be. Brady Henderson, legal director of the ACLU’s Oklahoma chapter, thinks that the government will be in for a surprise. Should the campaign reach its funding goals, the organization feels that the monument should not be blocked from construction just because it represents a different religious viewpoint, as that’s religious persecution, and this will begin a heated legal battle. Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves is playing fair, however, and notes that the statue would be in accordance with community standards, and will be in good taste.
