Satanic Temple Protests Ten Commandments Monument with Goat-Headed Statue

By Ron Capshaw August 19, 2018 at 11:28am

It is a sign of how disgusting our culture has become that even in the reliably red state of Arkansas, the Church of Satan exists.

The Church of Satan, or the Satanic Temple, made itself known on Thursday by placing a goat-headed Satanic statue in front of the Arkansas state capitol.

Their purpose was to demand the removal of a Ten Commandments monument that has been in front of the capitol since 2017.

Members of The Satanic Temple wrapped themselves in the First Amendment flag, declaring that the Ten Commandments monument violates the constitutional right of religious freedom.

As reported by CBS News, Ivy Forrester, who helped found The Satanic Temple, presented to an audience of Satanists and atheists the seven-and-a-half-foot tall goat-headed statue of “Baphomet.”

“Good people of Arkansas and supporters of religious liberty,” co-founder Lucien Greaves said during the unveiling. “I present to you Baphomet: symbol of pluralism, legal equality, tolerance, free inquiry, freedom of conscience and reconciliation.”

Forrester spoke of the strategy behind placing the Baphomet statue in front of the capitol:

“If you’re going to have one religious monument up then it should be open to others, and if you don’t agree with that then let’s just not have any at all,” she said.

Lawmakers originally installed a six-foot, privately-funded monument of the Ten Commandments in 2017, but it was destroyed less than 24 hours later when a man rammed his car into it. A replacement for the monument was unveiled in April of 2018.

Should Satanism be protected by the First Amendment?

The Church of Satan removed the statue of Baphomet later Thursday, as by law Arkansas legislature must approve any installations on capitol grounds, according to Breitbart.

In response, the Church of Satan has threatened to join a religious discrimination lawsuit, as they do not believe the law “should be applied retroactively to its proposal.”

“The Satanic Temple never asked for the Ten Commandments monument be taken down, nor do we ask that Baphomet be erected to the exclusion of any other monuments of religious significance,” Greaves explained. “We have as little interest in forcing our beliefs and symbols upon you as we do in having the beliefs of others forced upon us.”

Residents and politicians in the area were by no means pleased with the Satanic monument.

“It will be a very cold day in hell before an offensive statue will be forced upon us,” Republican state Sen. Jason Rapert wrote when the statue was erected.

Submit a Correction →