Earlier this year, the controversial monument to the ancient Israelite moral code known as “The Ten Commandments” was reinstalled on the grounds of the state capitol of Oklahoma, some would say, violating the separation between church and state established in the Constitution of the United States of America (sigh!) . The full story is here:
Earlier this month, Michael Reed II, the gent who destroyed the original version of the monument had a letter published in the Tulsa World apologizing for his actions and discussing the circumstances of his mental breakdown (I know, boo-hiss):
The installation of the original monument, led the Satanic Temple to begin work on a statue of Baphomet to also be displayed on the grounds of the Oklahoma state capitol. In January Patheos.com posted an essay as to why Christians should support the intallation of such a statue. You can read that here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christianpiatt/2015/1/why-christians-should-support-the-satanic-statue-in-oklahoma/
Members of the Satanic Temple San Antonio confirm that since a new “10 Commandments” monument has been erected on the state capitol grounds, that they’ll be pressing forward to have their statue of Baphomet erected in the vicinity.
Meanwhile here’s an interesting piece on the overall stance and goals of the Satanic Temple according to one outsider’s account:
“Let’s be very clear about this: Adherents of the modern Satanic Temple don’t engage in religious or animal sacrifice, and they have no truck with magic, even the kind of low-key supernaturality embraced by some Christian denominations. Satan, to these Satanists, is a literary figure, not a deity—he stands for rationality, for skepticism, for speaking truth to power, even at great personal cost.”
