Guest
Guest
 |  Subject: Satanic Temple Seeks to Place ‘Homage to Satan’ Near Ten Commandments Monument  Sat Dec 07, 2013 6:30 am | |
| Satanic Temple Seeks to Place ‘Homage to Satan’ Near Ten Commandments Monumenton December 7, 2013Posted In: Uncategorized  OKLAHOMA CITY – A New York-based Satanist organization has offered to erect a public ‘homage to Satan’ near a Ten Commandments monument on the premises of the Oklahoma capitol building.The Satanic Temple issued a news release about the matter this week, outlining that they believe that it may resolve the dispute over the monument, which is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit.As previously reported, the monument at issue was proposed and paid for in 2009 by Republican Representative Mike Ritze, and was soon after approved by the largely Republican-run state legislature.“[T]he Ten Commandments are an important component of the foundation of the laws and legal system of the United States of America and of the State of Oklahoma,” the bill authorizing the monument acknowledged. “[T]he courts of the United States of America and of various states frequently cite the Ten Commandments in published decisions, and acknowledgements of the role played by the Ten Commandments in our nation’s heritage are common throughout America.”The six-foot display was erected last year, but the ACLU said that the monument was unconstitutional.“The monument’s placement at the Capitol has created a more divisive and hostile state for many Oklahomans,” stated Ryan Kiesel, the executive director of ACLU of Oklahoma, in a news release. “When the government literally puts one faith on a pedestal, it sends a strong message to Oklahomans of other faiths that they are less than equal.”This past August, the organization filed suit against the monument, with the lead plaintiff being minister Bruce Prescott, the director of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists. Prescott said that mixing the sacred with the secular in such a manner cheapens the display, and asserted that it violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” More |
|
