Oklahoma Satanists Seek To Put Monument On Capitol Steps, Next To Ten CommandmentsThe satanists assert their monument will be of good quality, in good taste and yes, children-friendly. One proposal is a monument in the shape of a pentagram (please see a rather elaborately decorated pentagram, above). Another proposal features an interactive display for children; who could object to that?
Sean Murphy – December 9, 2013, 7:10 AM EST
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- In their zeal to tout their faith in the public square, conservatives in Oklahoma may have unwittingly opened the door to a wide range of religious groups, including satanists who are seeking to put their own statue next to a Ten Commandments monument on the Statehouse steps.
The Republican-controlled Legislature in this state known as the buckle of the Bible Belt authorized the privately funded Ten Commandments monument in 2009, and it was placed on the Capitol grounds last year despite criticism from legal experts who questioned its constitutionality. The Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit seeking its removal.
But the New York-based Satanic Temple saw an opportunity. It notified the state's Capitol Preservation Commission that it wants to donate a monument and plans to submit one of several possible designs this month, said Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the temple.
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The simple fact is that "good" Christians who want to advance their own cause at the expense of other religions may shoot themselves in the foot, without even applying for a concealed-carry permit.
Please excuse me for a moment while I ROTFLMFAO: idiots in Texas of the same kind as these dominionists in Oklahoma attempted to deny the Unitarian Universalist Association and its member churches a tax exemption notwithstanding the fact that historically four US presidents have been Unitarian. The idiots in Texas got their butts kicked by a federal court; one can hope the same fate will meet the OK legislators.
Look. This is simple. Either all religions are protected from government intervention and excluded from government participation or advocacy, or that First Amendment thingy doesn't mean (ahem) a damned thing. It's all or none; state legislatures can't pick and choose which religions to protect. Got it? Good! Oh, and by the way...
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Reminds me of this lady. When it comes to religious fanatics, we're not dealing with the sharpest tacks in the box...
ReplyDeleteellroon, most of my contact with religious zealots has been in my business dealings, and most of the true fanatics worked in the oil business. The legislator is not unusual in her (blatantly false) assertion that our nation's founders were Christian and the (equally false) assertion that they wrote the Constitution with Christians in mind. They weren't, and they didn't, and there's plenty of evidence, for people willing to look at known facts instead of making shit up. But some Christians seem to be unable to bear the thought that, e.g., Jefferson was not one of them (generic deist, actually), or the Adams family (Unitarians, no less!).
DeleteI have been tolerant all my life, even when religious extremists have called me, to my face, "dangerous." But I'll be damned if I'll put up with their attempts to control every aspect of American life and American society. Uh-uh... no way. I prefer to agree to disagree, but if they insist on an outright fight, they can count on a helluva battle from me.