Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Live by the State, Die by the State

Ah yes, Oklahoma, the buckle of the bible belt. Would it surprise any of you to know there is a large-ish "monument" with the 10 commandments written on them on the grounds of the State Capitol (there's also an oil well on the grounds and those two sum up most of our state perfectly)?

Well there is:



Well, as Art Carden Tweeted, "live by the state, die by the state".

Now the Church of the flying Spaghetti Monster, a Hindu group, and a Satanist group all have proposed monuments to their deity (or one of their deities) for the Capitol grounds.

I especially like the proposed 7 foot tall Satan sculpture:



Whatever your religious beliefs are, Christianity is not the official religion of Oklahoma and a state sponsored monument to it, is an open door to state sponsored monuments to any and all religions, no?

One local legislator, Rep. Earl Seals from Bartlesville, shows the spectacular level of imbecility that also can be encountered on the capitol grounds:

"I do not see Satanism as a religion, and they have no place at the state Capitol," said Sears.

Well, Earl my friend here's a couple of things to consider.

1. You are not the arbiter of what is or is not a religion

2. Your implied premise that if you saw it as a religion it would then be OK to be on the Capitol Grounds is actually a bit too sad to be funny




5 comments:

Zachary Bartsch said...

Angus, do you then support the monument? Or do you support that the monument remain? I know what my argument is, but I'm interested in yours.

Zachary Bartsch said...

Angus, do you then support the monument? Or do you support that the monument remain? I know what my argument is, but I'm interested in yours.

John Thacker said...

I think technically the Church of Satan statue is not of Satan, but of Baphomet, since that's what the Satanists say. Incidentally, his name is a corruption of Mahomet (Mohammed), and thus was both a claim that Muslims were idolators who worshipped Mohammed, and that the Knights Templar were secret Muslims.

susupply said...

There are depictions of the ten commandments at the US Supreme Court. Both exterior and interior.

Tom said...

I wonder if Rep. Earl Seals will now be thankful that "prayer" is not allowed in the state run schools. Perhaps he is not that bright.

Be careful what you wish for, Statists!