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January 7th, 2014
10:00 AM ET
Satanists unveil design for OK statehouse statueBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) - Satanists have unveiled their design for a proposed statue at the Oklahoma state Capitol, including a place for people to sit on the devil's lap "for inspiration and contemplation." The New York-based Satanic Temple submitted its proposal to Oklahoma officials this month after applying for a spot on Capitol grounds late last year. The Satanists say their statue would "complement and contrast" with a Ten Commandments monument placed at the Capitol in Oklahoma City in 2012. The Satanists' proposed monument depicts Baphomet, a goat-headed pagan idol sitting on a 7-foot-tall throne inscribed with an inverted pentagram. In an artist's rendering provided by the Satanic Temple, smiling children look adoringly at the devilish figure. "The statue will serve as a beacon calling for compassion and empathy among all living creatures," Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the Satanic Temple, said in a prepared statement. "The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation.” According to its Indiegogo page, the Satanists have raised more than $16,000 toward their goal of $20,000 for the monument, which Greaves said would "be a historical marker commemorating the scapegoats, the marginalized, the demonized minority and the unjustly outcast.” The Temple of Satan is less a religious body organized around rituals and regular meetings than a roving band of political provocateurs, according to Greaves. They believe Satan is a "literary construct," the spokesman said, not an actual being with horns and hooves. READ MORE: Satanists want statue next to Ten Commandments The proposed statue includes quotations from poets Lord Byron and William Blake. “Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion” runs the Blake quotation. The 18th-century poet was a Christian, albeit one with a mystical bent and little use for traditional morality. The statue's main figure, Baphomet, has long been associated with Satan, Greaves said. In the 12th century, the Knights Templar, a group of Christian crusaders, were accused of worshiping Baphomet in their secretive rituals. "From the mythology created by these accusations against the Templars, we now have a symbol for Satan pictured as a goat-headed beast," Greaves said. Since the 1960s, a variation of the horned goat head has been the official symbol of the Church of Satan, which is not affiliated with the Temple of Satan. The head of the Church of Satan has told CNN he does not approve of the idea of a Satanist statue on public grounds. Oklahoma state Rep. Paul Wesselhoft told CNN that he doesn't think the Satanists' statue will be approved. “What will disqualify them has really nothing to do with Satan as such; it's that it has no historical significance for the state of Oklahoma,” he said. Trait Thompson, chairman of Oklahoma's Capitol Preservation Committee, said he has not received the Satanists' proposed design yet. He also said that no applications will be considered until a lawsuit over the Ten Commandments monument is settled. The American Civil Liberties Union has sued over Oklahoma's Ten Commandments monument, calling it an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. After news broke of the Satanists' proposal, the state was flooded with requests from religious groups seeking to erect monuments to their own faith, including Hindus and Pastafarians, a satirical religion that "worships" the Flying Spaghetti Monster. An Oklahoma lawmaker told CNN that the Satanists' message wouldn't fly in the Bible Belt state, where nearly two-thirds of the population is Christian. "Any monument displayed on state property should reflect the values of Oklahoma or memorialize those who built or defended our freedom," Rep. Bob Cleveland said Tuesday. "In my opinion, this Satanist monument does not meet with the values of Oklahomans." soundoff (3,489 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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If these clowns aren't from Ok or live there permanently then they should not be allowed to put the statue up.
Do all Christians live in OK?
Do you think no Satanist live in OK?
If Christian monuments are OK, then everything's OK. This is hilarious!
I agree, once you put it on public property you've opened the door.
My proposal would be a statue of Flip Wilson to represent the Church of What' Happenin" Now Baby ...
Wow... i wish people would stop idolizing the evil spirits that are among us such as baphomet and all of his soul-less followers like celebrities and government who are obviously embodied by evil. If this gets approved i will personally be there to make sure it gets removed ...DEMOLISHED more like it... horrible example to our kids.
Government can't be evil. According to the Bible, no man is in power unless God wills it. So...all those people in charge...yeah, that's God's Will. Even Obama.
That's Christianity all over. Violently destroy anything you don't agree with.
Christian100,
Looks like we'll see you on tv in prison. Many viewers will be laughing.
hahaha...idiocracy at its finest.
...or satire ...
The true motto of this country is not "In God We Trust"; it's "E Pluribus Unum" – from many, one.
Take "under god" back out of the pledge.
Remove "in god we trust" from our currency.
End the practice of the 'inauguration invocation prayer' when inaugurating newly-elected Presidents.
Tax religions and churches that take donated money and use it for political purposes.
Get religion away from my rights!
The real reason to do this which should appeal to conservatives who believe in supporting our Founding Fathers intentions... is that "E pluribus Unum" is the motto that our Founding Fathers approved!
How can you say you want to do as the Founding Fathers intended, yet support an replacing the Motto they approved with a motto passed to spite the USSR in 1958.
You seem to have read the exact opposite of what what written.
How so?
"E Pluribus Unum" is the national motto that was approved to go on our currency and on the National Seal in 1795.
"IN God we Trust" is what our National motto was changed to in 1957.
Do you support the wishes of the Founding Fathers or the Red Scare Era Politicians?
civil rights act was passed in 1964. Our founding fathers would poop their pants if they knew we had an African-American president.
Why do you want to impose your religion upon elected officials (like Obama)?
Live4Him,
The whole point here is that NO ONE'S RELIGION should be on government property.
@Observer : The whole point here is that NO ONE'S RELIGION should be on government property.
Everyone has a religion, so the only way you could accomplish this is NOTHING was on government property.
Live4Him
"Everyone has a religion, so the only way you could accomplish this is NOTHING was on government property."
Now you've got the point. Nothing RELIGIOUS on government property.
Yes.
No monuments to religion should be on government property. That's the smartest way to solve this problem.
Nature is my religion. So you can't put up any statues of birds, trees, flowers or water.
PC Police!!!!
@Observer : Now you've got the point. Nothing RELIGIOUS on government property.
Everything is influenced by one's religious values – be it a cross or the lack thereof. You're religious values include 'Nothing RELIGIOUS on government property', so why should your values trump other's values?
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Stop, liar.
-And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."-
– From The Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem
No that was made our motto by law in 1958. Prior to that the Motto was E Pluribus Unum, as voted for by the founding fathers in 1795.
Why are you against the wishes of the founding fathers?
wiki,
It took almost 150 years after 1776 for that to become our official national anthem.
Our founding fathers also supported slavery and opposed equal rights for women. I think they were very wrong about some things.
Yes, clearly.
But was the National Motto something they were wrong about?
I don't know. I never said it was. I just said the Star Spangled Banner contains the phrase "In God is Our Trust".
Interestingly the Star Spangled Banner was not written until 1812, long after the founding fathers voted to have E Pluribus Unum show up on our currency and be on the National Seal.
Equal rights for all human beings didn't start to become a reality in America until the 1960's. And even still we have a lot to improve on.
"In God We Trust" only recently became a National motto. The phrase did not appear on our currency until 1957.
Civil rights act was passed in 1964. Seems like things got better after we changed our motto.
I wanna get laid on top of that statue
Ban it!
"Pastafarians, a satirical religion that "worships" the Flying Spaghetti Monster"
You mean the Flying Spaghetti Monster isn't real?
Oh' he's real. And so are His sons and daughters, Ravioli, Spaghetti, Fettucini and many others!
Ramen!
Great! So, you can sit on Satan's lap and tell him what you want for Christmas. Oh wait...
How about a statue of a Native American god weeping as cross-adorned Christians shoot native women and children? It's a traditional Oklahoma value, and historically accurate.
Good one!
Satan, the demon of the demented !! Next topic!!
I support a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster 🙂
The pay for one to be put up! Unless you are joking 🙂
Isn't it enough that the Satanists have control of the White House?
I'm thinking it's more the HoR has a lock on devilish legislature.
Not too bright.
Ya shouldn't mock Satan. My wife's groin doctor knows a fella that saw Satan walkin around over in Elizabeth in broad daylight. True. He can turn himself into something else at any minute tho.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JuSfRgh0Vo
When all is said and done, it makes good toast. lol.
That is totally awesome.
anyone else notice the toaster isnt plugged in and the chord is severed?
I'm pretty sure Satan represents Oklahoma values, but I don't know about those Pastafarians.
The Pastafarians, and their great deity, the flying spaghetti monster are not to be trifled with. It is through his noodley essence that the world was created in the great cosmic colander.
“What will disqualify them has really nothing to do with Satan as such; it's that it has no historical significance for the state of Oklahoma,”
What about the 10 commandments? Was Mt. Sinai in Oklahoma?
Burning bush: "No comment"
I wonder if graffiti was painted on the statue would Satanic Temple be upset over it?
I bet if you spraypainted "Satan Sux" on it it would burn them up!
I dunno. Would Christian Churches be offended if someone spray painted graffitti on a statue of Jesus? Or is it Christian to distroy anything that is non-Christian?
Why would it have to be Christians doing it?
Although the point is made. They may get upset over it not for the content of the graffiti but making it a discrimination issue.
" They believe Satan is a "literary construct," the spokesman said, not an actual being.........."
That's an accurate description of all of the manufactured gods and demons since the first one was contrived many thousands of years ago.
What facts lead you to this conclusion?
Don't bite, Lie4Him is the most disingenuous lying troll on this blog? No matter what is said to refure his ignorance it will continue spewing out its ignorance.
All of them. What facts lead you to believe in a deity? A book written by Bronze Age sheep-herders is not enough.
Don't bite, Lie4Him is the most disingenuous lying troll on this blog? No matter what is said to refute his ignorance it will continue spewing out its ignorance.
The fact that there is zero evidence for any gods. Duh!
All of the facts lead to that conclusion. All of them.
The evidence not taken from a 1400 year old book written about non existent figures from 600 years prior. Oh.. and intelligence, logic, and reason. I wouldnt expect you to understand. Once people get hooked on the god-aide they refuse to drink normal water.
"What facts lead you to this conclusion?" – Live4Him
The fact that led me to this conclusion is the total lack of facts, or any kind of proof or evidence, supporting the existence of supernatural beings.
The little girl's arms and hands look positively alien-like...
Because only aliens will bother to look at it.
I'm thinking crappy design flaw, but okay.
Tsk tsk. OK should be careful at what doors they open on government land.
Do you think aliens have visited earth?
I wouldn't discount the possibility. I think it's awfully arrogant to think the we are alone in the universe.
Who said we are alone? I asked if we've been visited.
Shhhhh!
Like the 1% of Americans that are Gay Satanists want the majority to bow down to them. They are children seeking attention, hey look at me I'm different...please look at me. Ok now your going to be sorry!!!!!
Carl,
You're sad and funny at the same time.
Carl,
Based on your statistic of "1%", you don't do ANY RESEARCH. Try to learn facts.