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  • Ten Commandments Statue Must Be Removed, Oklahoma Officals Fight To Keep It On Capitol Grounds

    In a 7-2 ruling this Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court stood with its earlier decision of removing the Ten Commandments monument on Capitol grounds. The state’s top court deemed the erection of the statue unconstitutional.

    The statue was ordered to be removed last month, but the state’s Attorney General Scott Pruitt filed an appeal of reconsideration which did nothing but delay the inevitable. Pruitt was not buying the court’s decision stating that they “got it wrong.”

    Pruitt is currently reviewing the official order. The monument’s placement violates the state constitution’s ban on using state property to further religious agenda.

    The privately funded Ten Commandments monument that stands at six feet was first erected in 2012. It has garnered the support of lawmakers and politicians alike in the conservative state of Oklahoma, to the point of some of them threatening to remove the justices from their position and even amend the constitution.

    Governor Marry Fallin has been very vocal since the first order to remove the monument was announced.

    “During this process, which will involve both legal appeals and potential legislative and constitutional changes, the Ten Commandments monument will remain on the Capitol grounds,” Fallin said last month.

    Obviously, the state officials’ efforts were in vain following the controversial and still highly contended ruling.

    Justice Douglas L. Combs, one of the individuals of power against the decision, believes that the Ten Commandments monument was not intended to promote religion because of its placement in a less-trafficked area of the Capitol.

    Nevertheless, the decision of the Supreme Court stands, but the final order has to come from the district court. Until then, state lawmakers will still push for the monument’s preservation.

    “In the meantime, the state is reviewing what legal options are available for preserving the monument,” said Gov. Fallin’s spokesman.

  • Satan Statue Design: Proposal Sent to Oklahoma Officials

    A group of Satanists from a New York-based Satanic temple is pursuing the establishment of a monument in Oklahoma’s capitol.

    In an attempt to display their beliefs to the public, the group seeks to build a design outside of the Statehouse that would be positioned right next to a privately funded Ten Commandments statue.

    The Republican-controlled Legislature financed the construction of the Ten Commandments monument in 2009, but Oklahoma’s American Civil Liberties Union wants its removal. Lawsuits have been filed in regards to the monument’s constitutionality.

    Thus, the satanic group views the capitol’s present-day monument as a chance to share their own principals as well and apparently, it seems that they aren’t against the existence of a statute engraved with beliefs dissimilar to their own.

    In a letter to the Capitol Preservation Commission, spokesman Lucien Greaves affirms that the satanic temple would respect the guidelines enforced by the state.

    “We believe that all monuments should be in good taste and consistent with community standards. Our proposed monument, as an homage to the historic-literary Satan, will certainly abide by these guidelines,” he shared with officials.

    One lawmaker, who also advocated for the building of the Ten Commandments, has been reported as a supporter of the satanic monument.

    However, Republican Rep. Bobby Cleveland, who is also pushing forward a bill that would have a Judeo-Christian Temple built in the Capitol, obviously doesn’t view this proposal as a smart move.

    “I think these Satanists are a different group,” he told CBS News. “You put them under the nut category.”

    According to Greaves, the budget for the monument will approximately be around $20,000.  Ideas for the design vary from a pentagram to an interactive exhibit for children.

    If the proposal is approved, the group plans to send in design concepts to the Capitol Preservation Commission sometime this month.

    With that said, do you think Oklahoma should prohibit the creation of this monument?

    After all, the First Amendment does state:

    “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

    Here is a debate about the monument previously aired by Fox News:

    Image via Youtube, Oklahomanews

  • Atheist Monument Unveiled Next to Ten Commandments

    For years a battle has raged between people who maintain that the United States is a Christian nation, founded upon Biblical principles and specifically intended to be Christian, and those who say that the U.S. is and was always designed to be free from any religious sponsorship whatsoever. One of the key arguments that represent this debate is the posting of the Ten Commandments on public (government) property in the U.S., such as in courthouses or public school buildings. Some conservative Christian groups say that such postings, either as a simple framed poster or as a larger granite monument, is perfectly acceptable. Other people, whether atheists, people of other religions than Christian, or even Christians who oppose any blending of Church and State, say that such a posting is unconstitutional.

    One memorable example of this argument involves Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama, who had a monument including the Ten Commandments installed in Alabama’s supreme court building rotunda in 2001. After years of legal battles, the monument was found to be unconstitutional, violating the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees that no U.S. Government will directly or indirectly endorse or promote one religion over another. A U.S. District Court judge ordered the monument removed. Moore refused. He himself was removed from office for ethics violations and the monument was taken away. Moore has since won election back to his seat as Chief Justice in Alabama again.

    In other places, the fight against such monuments has not gone as well for their opponents. This was the case in Starke, Florida, at the Bradford County courthouse square. This Ten Commandments monument is outside. Since opponents have not been successful in having it removed, they decided to prove their points another way. They erected a monument of their own.

    The 1,500-pound granite structure was put in place by the organization American Atheists. It is structured as a functional bench, with several messages engraved on it. These include a breakdown of the punishments that were enumerated for violations of each of the Ten Commandments – most were punishable by death – as well as other quotes, including these:

    “‘… the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion …’ Article II, Treaty of Tripoli. The treaty as sent to the U.S. Senate, where it was read aloud in its entirety and approved unanimously. President John Adams signed it and proclaimed it to the nation on June 10, 1797.”

    “When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and when it can not support itself and God does not take care to support, so that its professors are obliged to call for the help of the civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of it’s being a bad one.” – Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Richard Price, October 1780

    At the unveiling ceremony for the monument, a Christian radio show host, Eric Hovind, jumped up on the monument to preach to the gathered crowd, mostly atheists. He was ignored and eventually left. David Silverman, president of American Atheists, officiated the dedication of the monument. He said, “[Hovind] tried to mute the success of the event, but succeeded only in reiterating the need to fight for equality and vapid opposition we receive when we assert our rightful place in society.”

    American Atheists say this is the first atheist monument allowed on government property in the United States.

    The group that put up the initial Ten Commandments monument just a few feet away put a statement on their own Facebook page about the atheist monument.

    “We want you all to remember that this issue was won on the basis of this being a free speech issue, so don’t be alarmed when the American Atheists want to erect their own sign or monument. It’s their right. As for us, we will continue to honor the Lord and that’s what matters.”