Deck the halls with…statues to Satan?
Fa la la la ew.
And yet, that’s exactly what you’ll see if you take a trip to the Iowa Statehouse this holiday season, where a creepy statue with a ram’s head has been set up by the Satanic Temple in a cringe-inducing display of “religious freedom” mocking faithful believers during one of the holiest times of the year.
The statue to Baphomet - a ram’s skull adorned with mirrors and dressed in a cloak standing behind an altar covered in candles and a large Satanic Temple banner - is deliberately intended to cause affront to viewers standing among the Christmas trees and Hanukkah menorahs that decorate the rest of the space.
The Satanic Temple, which has historically opposed all religious displays in any publicly funded facility, has used this shtick in the past to intentionally insert weird and grotesque statues of dead animals and demonic figures in public spaces to try and force public officials to nix any faith-related displays altogether. Their argument? Per “religious freedom” rights, if Christians can put up a tree with tinsel to commemorate Christ’s birth, they can erect a statue of a demon goat, and public officials have to allow it.
In fact, the only thing the Iowa Statehouse told the temple they couldn’t do this go-‘round was to use an actual goat skull - that part of the application was denied.
Satanic Temple founder Lucien Greaves told local outlets, “We’re going to really relish the opportunity to be represented in a public forum. We don't have a church on every street corner.”
Thank God for small mercies.
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While the statue is creepy and represents a gross mockery of faith during the Christmas season, at least one Christ-follower is taking a measured approach to this nastiness. Pastor and Iowa House Representative Jon Dunwell explained in a post on X that “The Satanic Temple petitioned for their display in August and were approved with some modification. They wanted to use an actual goat head (I’m assuming a skull) and were prohibited from doing so,” adding, “The display is an inanimate object that has no real power in and of itself. We have nothing to fear.”
As many of you have become aware, last week a display was erected at the Iowa Capitol by the Satanic Temple of Iowa. As I have responded to concerns from Iowans about the display, I wanted to share with you how the display came to be and my response.
— Rep. Jon Dunwell (@jdunwell) December 8, 2023
How did it happen?
• The… pic.twitter.com/8ODJXCxu9Y
Except, perhaps, the absolute degeneracy of society and overall godlessness that our culture seems to be increasingly embracing.
The display will be up for two weeks.
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