The Devil in Little Rock, Arkansas
Religious freedom is an extremely important subject. As Christians, we know that we have to protect our right to worship as we please, but what happens when the government gets involved?
In April, Republican Senator Jason Rapert of Arkansas sponsored an installation of a Ten Commandments monument outside of a public courthouse. This installation sparked a lot of controversy about religion and its place in public. Modern Satanists brought an idol of Baphomet, a physical representation of Satan portrayed as part goat and part human, to protest the installation and promote religious pluralism.
Law and Duty
By Abby Scoggins
Little Rock, Arkansas contains a Ten Commandments monument that is creating controversy between Satanists and the state. They claim that the installation of the monument breaks the First Amendment, and they argue that their own Baphomet statue should be placed nearby to show that Christianity is not the dominant religion. How should we who identify as Christians respond to this? Where should we draw the line concerning religious freedom?
According to the First Amendment, the Satanists have a point about being able to establish and adhere to their own religion, and the Amendment also allows “the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” People assembled in a rally on Arkansas Capitol grounds, but not all Satanists were peaceable in their protests. Less than 24 hours after the Ten Commandments statue was in place, a person drove his car into it to demonstrate his disapproval. The Satanists are complaining about the state of Arkansas going against the First Amendment, yet, in their efforts to uphold First Amendment standards, they break the amendment themselves.
We as Christians should be fair and not shun other religions just because they seem wrong to us. However, we must not have limitless tolerance. Evil people and ideas exist in the world, and we need to uphold our virtues and morals. Ronald Reagan once said, “[Our society has drifted] too far toward intolerance against genuine religious freedom.” In other words, people in today’s society care more about others not disagreeing with their views than about the views themselves.
We Christians can support religious freedom and the First Amendment without agreeing that people such as the Satanists are correct in their way of thinking. In the midst of our society’s struggle with tolerance concerning personal opinions and beliefs, we must hold firmly to our own principles.
Justice for Baphomet
By Grady Hayden
By placing the Ten Commandments on public land, the state of Arkansas has violated many laws, the most important being the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights. The first part of this amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” In placing the Ten Commandments on public property, Arkansas has established a state religion. The few of you who know me may say, “But Grady, what about states’ rights? Doesn’t Arkansas have the right to do this if they want to?”
The answer to that question is no. Article six, paragraph two of the Constitution contains what is called the Supremacy Clause. This clause states that the federal constitution is the supreme law of the United States. It follows, then, that the state of Arkansas must abide by the constitution of the United States as well as the constitution of Arkansas.
By erecting the Ten Commandments on public property, the state of Arkansas has violated its own constitution as well. Section 24 of the Arkansas Constitution states, “No man can, of right, be compelled to… erect,… or to maintain any ministry against his consent.” It goes on to state, “No human authority can, in any case or manner whatsoever, control or interfere with the right of conscience; and preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment, denomination or mode of worship, above any other.”
By placing the Ten Commandments on public property the state of Arkansas has forced, against their conscience, the non-Christians of Arkansas to support and maintain a preferential state religion with their tax money. Therefore, if Arkansas is going to blatantly disregard their federal and state constitutions and establish religion, then they are compelled to give equal treatment to other religions because they must treat everyone equally. Therefore the statue of Baphomet should be allowed to be placed on public property beside the Ten Commandments. It would be a further violation of law to deny this request by the Satanic Temple. This is what makes the protest by the Satanic Temple so ingenious. It forces the state of Arkansas to either place Baphomet on public property and create a pantheon of all gods or cease their illegal activity altogether.