For a very short period of time on Thursday, a Satanic monument of the deity Baphomet was erected outside a Little Rock, Arkansas courthouse to coincide with legislature saying it was okay to display a Ten Commandments statue within the grounds of the government building.
NOW: The Satanic Temple is rallying around their Baphomet statue at the Arkansas State Capitol. #arnews #arpx pic.twitter.com/AgO4CESKMq
— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) August 16, 2018
Prior to and upon the Ten Commandments Statue being approved by the Arkansas state government, the Satanic Temple argued that the religious themed monument would be an affront to their own religious liberty under the constitution. And because the notion of religious liberty is such a hot button issue nowadays, the Satanic Temple believed the only way there would be ‘equality’ in the eyes of the constitution would be to have the Baphoment monument also have a place on the government property.
These guys tell me they’re “witnesses to Christianity” not here to support or rally against the Satanic Temple rally at the Arkansas State Capitol. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews pic.twitter.com/rsTi3MGJ6Z
— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) August 16, 2018
Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves spoke at the Baphoment where he proceeded to thank state Senator Jason Rapert who was the driving force behind the Ten Commandment statue being put at the Courthouse. Greaves’ presumed sly gratitude towards Rapert came on the premise of ensuring a ‘fair and balanced representation of Baphomet and Satan on the Arkansas capital grounds.’
Below you can also find a transcript of Greaves’ speech (via eBaums World):
Good People of Arkansas and supporters of religious liberty, I present to you Baphomet, the symbol of pluralism, legal equality, tolerance, free inquiry, freedom of conscience, and reconciliation.
We did not bring Baphomet in hopes of replacing the Ten Commandments monument. It is not the purpose of our monument or our efforts to erect this monument to impune or silence the beliefs of others. Despite what you have probably heard the truth is the Satanic Temple never asked for the Ten Commandments monument to be taken down. Nor do we ask that Baphomet be erected to the exclusion of any other monuments of religious significance. In fact, from the beginning we were clear: We only want our monument on public grounds where other monuments of religious significance are preexisting. We have as little interest in forcing our beliefs and symbols upon you, as we do in having the beliefs and views of others forced upon us.
What we are asking for is only that the public square, these capital grounds, remain an area in which free speech, religious liberty, and equality under the law be respected by the holders of public office who swore to uphold those values.
This is not a protest against the Ten Commandments. This is not a protest of Satanists against Christians. This is not a protest of secularists against believers. This is a rally for reason in the face of prejudice. Progress in the face of decline. Liberty in the face of rising theocracy. And toleration in the face of infantile tribalisms.
This is an opportunity for us to stand together whatever the differences amongst ourselves and stand up for the principles that allow for a free exchange of ideas and the free exercise of religious convictions.
It has been said that there is no greater tyranny that which is perpetrated under the law and in the name of justice. And I can tell you that among legally sanctioned tyrannies, none is greater that which would deny the liberty to freely one’s own conscience. To reach one’s own determination of one’s religious convictions. That would deny one the self-determination to stand up for, with equal voice, ones deeply held beliefs. Conviction enforced by coercion is subjugation.
It has also been said that when tyranny comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. This is because the tyrant knows that through fear he can manipulate a people away from their principals, so long as he appropriates the proper symbols, repeats the appropriate soundbites and claims to represent a purer form of the values that he manipulates and forms, and ultimately inverts.
Today’s theocrat won’t tell you he demands your subjugation, he’ll redefine subjugation as freedom.
In response to the Satanic Temple, Rapert released the following statement on Facebook:
Statement of Sen. Jason Rapert in Response to Scheduled Protests Against the Ten Commandments Monument
August 16, 2018
The United States Constitution guarantees the rights of all American citizens to express their political opinions, to peacefully assemble and to petition their government. The first amendment in our Bill of Rights states specifically that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I hold these rights very dear personally and will always defend the rights of American citizens even when we may disagree.
The essential right to freedom of speech also ensures that the voice of the people of Arkansas and our great state may be heard as well. Though our state is being visited today by outsiders who clearly choose to travel around the nation uplifting the profane and proclaiming extremely unorthodox views, rest assured that though we respect their right to free speech, they must also respect our right to disagree with them and repudiate their false claims.
The Constitution also protects the rights of the people to elect legislators to govern on their behalf, with their consent. The legislature carried out the will of the citizens of Arkansas when it overwhelmingly approved Act 1231 of 2015. State legislators responded to the will of Arkansans by passing the Arkansas Ten Commandments Monument Act and our Governor signed the bill into law. I have confidence in the Arkansas Attorney General to successfully defend the law in state and federal courts.
Due process was followed to the letter of the law when the Secretary of State and the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission held a series of open and public meetings to gather input on the placing of the Ten Commandments monument. The process allowed citizens to participate in the implementation of Act 1231. The extremist group that has targeted our state again today came and spoke against the monument during our public meetings and sought for a sponsor of a bill to erect their profane statue – they never had any takers. The process was open and they failed to convince any of the 135 legislators to sponsor a bill to carry out their idea.
The people of Arkansas have exercised their rights to place a monument on the state Capitol grounds which honors the influence of the Ten Commandments as an historical and moral foundation of law. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this same right in 2005 for the people of Texas in Van Orden v. Perry when it held that an exact replica of the Ten Commandments monument which we have on our Capitol grounds was appropriate in the state of Texas. I have personally visited the Ten Commandments monuments located on the Capitol grounds of Colorado and Arizona, and I am told Missouri also has a Ten Commandments monument somewhere on their Capitol grounds. Many times I have entered the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. and personally taken photographs of the Ten Commandments engraved on the doors entering the court chamber and beheld Moses engraved above the chair in which the Chief Justice sits. If the display of the Ten Commandments is appropriate for the U.S. Supreme Court and these other states, it is also appropriate for the good people of Arkansas.
Our rights to build a monument were exercised through the electoral and legislative processes and have been upheld by the judicial system. They are no less sacred than the freedoms of a shrill few, for whom legal and political rights are merely methods to fleece the gullible and entertain the cynical.
No matter what these extremists may claim, it will be a very cold day in hell before an offensive statue will be forced upon us to be permanently erected on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol. Our Supreme Court ruled in the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision Pleasant Grove v. Summum that no group can force a government body to do such a thing.
I pledge to all Arkansans that we will defend the will of the Arkansas people and the honor of our great state. It was my honor to sponsor the bill which led to passage of the Arkansas Ten Commandments Monument Act and I hope to help every state in our nation do the same if they wish to do so.
As much as it may sound as if the Satanic Temple – who do not actually believe in Satan but rather refer to themselves as ‘skeptical atheists‘ – are simply just trying to stir the pot they have a point. In terms of separation of church and state, a guiding belief the United States is founded on there is zero place for a Ten Commandments statue on the grounds of any local, state or federal property. Likewise it’s really quite absurd this is even being debated, even in the South.
Anyways the Satanic Temple have since filed a lawsuit against the State citing the first amendment in hopes of religious pluralism on the Arkansas State Grounds.
