Oklahoma Satanic Monument Unveiled

The Satanic Temple just doesn't quit. Into the latest round of controversy over their proposal to place a "monument to Satan" at the Oklahoma City statehouse, the group has unveiled their design for the monument. It features a friendly-looking Baphomet (who is not Satan, by that way, but that's a topic for another day) flanked by two children. It's about the most inoffensive and unthreatening rendering of the Dark Lord that I've ever seen, which I'm sure was the entire point.

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.”

I'd be happier with this whole situation if the Satanic Temple was more a sincere religion and less a band of political pranksters, but they are making an important point and I don't see any representatives from other traditions stepping up. Back in December a Hindu temple floated the idea of putting up their own statue, but I've heard nothing from them since then. Sometimes history winds up being made by the people who show up.

Meanwhile, Fox Business News commentator Bernard McGuirk has called for members of the Satanic Temple to be put to death. You know, because clearly that's the proper Christian response to people who disagree with you.