Is Oklahoma ready for this?
Jan 9, 2014, 8:28 AM | Updated: 10:02 am
(AP Photo/Satanic Temple)
In 2012, the Oklahoma State Legislature authorized a Ten Commandments monument at the state capitol in Oklahoma City. It was the idea of State Representative Mike Ritze.
“We get our laws from the ten commandments and we just wanted to emphasize where our heritage comes from,” said Ritze.
The ACLU, as you’d expect, has sued to have it removed, but a New York group called the Satanic Temple has taken a different approach.
“So you open that door. We’re going to walk in, and we’re going to walk in like we [expletive] own the place,” said their leader Lucien Greaves.
Greaves, raised $20,000 online to build a statue of Satan to join the Ten Commandments on the capitol grounds.
“We are taking back religious rights for minority groups and even non-believers,” said Greaves.
He says if the state allows one religion, it has to allow them all. So he has unveiled the design of his Satan statue – a figure with a goat head, horns, wings and a long beard, wearing a skirt, and sitting on a throne under a Pentagram symbol, with a smiling boy and girl looking up at him.
The statue is designed so there’s plenty of room to sit on Satan’s lap.
So is Greaves serious?
According to an interview he gave to a podcast called Sick & Wrong, absolutely.
“People can try to marginalize it as a joke. It’s not going to matter,” said Greaves.
Of course, Oklahoma is considered the buckle of the Bible Belt and politicians are saying there’s no way will they allow this, and yet every Christian pastor will tell you Satan is real. So why not have a statue? At least we can see what the Ten Commandments are up against.