The Monuments, Man by Jason Hines
The clash of dueling religious liberty perspectives made its way to Arkansas in August of this year. The seeds of the battle began approximately a year before when Republican State Senator Jason Rapert sponsored a bill to erect a Ten Commandments monument at the Arkansas State Capitol.[1] When The Satanic Temple was informed that the monument was being erected, they attempted to have a statute of Baphomet erected on the capitol grounds as well.[2] Their petition was unsuccessful because legislation of this type needed a politician to sponsor it and they could not find any state legislator who would support them. This statute has a somewhat storied history. The Satanic Temple planned to erect the statue in Oklahoma to accompany another Ten Commandments monument, but the plans were shelved when a court ruled the Ten Commandments monument unconstitutional. On August 16th they temporarily displayed the statute on the capitol grounds. The temple’s message was simple – either every monument should be allowed or no monuments should be allowed. Freedom of religion demands it. While they held their rally, they were counter-protested by Christians who waved signs with Bible verses and occasionally sang hymns.
Now, as a committed Christian, I am generally loathe to align myself with anything that includes the word “satanic,” but the Temple is absolutely correct here. They are certainly correct about the law. The jurisprudence of Establishment Clause law does not allow for religious monuments on state property unless it can definitively be proven that there was no religious impetus in erecting the monument and such a monument has a better chance of being allowed when it is surrounded by other monuments. And while monuments may seem to be a trivial thing, I think it is admirable that our nation remains so committed to both the letter and the spirit of the words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”[3] I would also argue that at the very least Protestants, if not all Christians, should also agree with them, especially as it pertains to the state control of religion. We worship a Messiah that seemed totally uninterested in acquiring earthly political power. As Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”[4] Historically the argument seems in favor of religious pluralism as well. This nation was founded in part by Protestant Christians who wanted to escape state-sponsored Christianity. How ironic that the Christian descendants of those pioneers want to have their religion sponsored by the state and seek to keep other religions out.
How is it that the public face of Christianity in this country fell so far from the ideals upon which the religion (and I would argue the nation) was founded? The most charitable explanation is the well-meaning, but misguided, notion that fashioning America into a Christian nation will help to save the people from their sins. The problem with that idea is that Christ has already taken care of salvation. Our job as Christians is to help to make disciples of Christ so that He might save them from their sins. When we seek to align ourselves with these earthly powers, we not only cheapen the cause of Christ, but undercut the very structure we claim to be advocating. For example, in one case Christians were forced to support an argument that the symbol of the cross was a secular symbol with no specific religious connotation.[5] There is no earthly monument that is worth the cheapening of the message that Christianity was built to bring – that there is a God who loves us and would be willing to give His life for us.
Jason Hines is a former attorney with a doctorate in Religion, Politics, and Society from the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University. He is also an assistant professor at Adventist University of Health Sciences. He blogs about religious liberty and other issues at www.TheHinesight.Blogspot.com.
[1] Side note: Less than 24 hours after the Ten Commandments monument was erected, a man ran it over with his car.
[2] Baphomet is a goat-headed, winged deity associated with satanic religions and rituals.
[3] United States Constitution, Am. 1. It should be noted that the ACLU recently filed a suit challenging the monument on First Amendment grounds.
[4] John 18:36.
[5] Salazar v. Buono, 559 U.S. 700 (2010).