Separation of church and state has been one of the founding principles of the United States. However, religion continues to find itself crossing over the fine threshold. The opposition defends this practice by stating as long as there is equal representation of all religions, it is not unconstitutional—but this is often not the case.
Last year, Arkansas’ State Senator Jason Rapert signed into law to install a monument of the Ten Commandment on public ground at Arkansas State Capitol. Rapert said of the monument, “[It] shall not be construed to mean that the State of Arkansas favors any particular religion or denomination over others.”
The Satanic Temple, an activist group that supports egalitarianism and separation of church and state, attended a meeting last month to have a Baphomet statue, a symbol of Satanism, beside the Ten Commandment monument.
“It’s not like we’re anti-Christian or anti-religion. We’re just against having the government shove religion down our throats,” says Anthony Owen, a supporter of The Satanic Temple. “I don’t want my son growing up in a world filled with narrow-minded dogmatic views.”
State Senator Rapert said on Twitter, “There will never be a statue installed by the Satanic Temple on our Capitol grounds.”
Then, there should not be a Ten Commandments monument either.
Installing a Ten Commandments monument sets precedent that any religious group is allowed to have their own monument on the ground. If this is not the case, the courts will most likely rule it unconstitutional because there must be equal representation of religion by law.
Rapert’s earlier statement on how the monument does not show a favor to any particular religion is not true. The Ten Commandments, a wholly Christian document, opens up with, “I am the Lord, thy God,” and goes onto state, “Thou shalt have no other gods.” These lines alone seem to favor Christianity above all other religions, especially when Rapert, the one who wrote and signed the monument’s bill into law, already denied another religion to have their place on Capitol grounds.
The Capitol grounds currently various monuments and memorials, but they all honor veterans, law enforcement, and civil rights leaders, representing parts of the state’s history—none of which are religiously based. This religious documents undermines the established theme at the Capitol ground, one where religion has no place.
“I think if this monument was 100 years old, it might be a different story,” says Owen. “In that case, I might consider the historical value of such a monument. This is not that. This is something brand new and does not belong here.”
Back in 2005, the McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. The ACLU sued three counties in Kentucky about the wall displays of religious documents, including the Ten Commandments, at public schools and courts. In a 5-4 majority, the Supreme Court ruled the displays unconstitutional, in part because the documents were in isolation and, thus, promoted religion.
Oklahoma had a similar issue that Arkansas faces presently. It was a single monumental display of the Ten Commandments on public property installed in 2012. The Satanic Temple, again, requested to have the statue of Baphomet installed. After news of this request got around, local Pastafarians, followers to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (yes, you read that correctly), demanded a monument of their own to be installed. In 2015, the Ten Commandments monument was removed.
-Founding Fathers beliefs
-Dangers of religion crossing over into government; politicians pander; discrimination/ prejudice