First Satanists, now Hindus want a statue at Oklahoma State Capitol

[Tyrath]

Shitstorm brewing in OK. First satanists, now Hindus.

http://www.news9.com/story/24176535/...-state-capitol

Satanic Temple Wants Monument At Oklahoma State Capitol

OKLAHOMA CITY -

A satanic monument next to the Ten Commandments. That could happen on the steps of the Oklahoma state capitol.

The New York based Satanic Temple notified the Capitol Preservation Commission it wants a monument and wants to submit the plans soon.

Erected just over a year ago, the Ten Commandments monument at the north end of the capitol stands alone. But a satanic temple wants equality at these steps.

According to the Associated Press, a representative of the Satanic temple said the Oklahoma government brought this on itself by erecting the Ten Commandments monument.

Brady Henderson with the Oklahoma ACLU agrees that if the state allows one religious expression, another has to be allowed as well.

Currently the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the Capitol Preservation Commission saying the Ten Commandments Monument is in direct violation of Article 2 Section 5 in the state constitution, which states, "No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion."

"If that monument is allowed to stay, then we don't see how the state cannot allow other religions whether is Satanism, Catholicism, Hindu... we don't think the state can pick and choose." Henderson said in response to the lawsuit.

Now, there were two other Supreme Court cases in which a church challenged the government over religious monuments. The court ruled in favor of the government. But the Oklahoma ACLU said it has a case because it's based on the state constitution.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagela...9bb30f31a.html

Hindu group wants statue at state Capitol



Just days after the news broke that a Satanic Temple in New York City is seeking to build a monument to Satan on the grounds of the Oklahoma Capitol, a Hindu organization announced this week that it, too, would like to build a monument there, to one of its chief deities.

Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, emailed his request to the Oklahoma State Capitol Preservation Commission.

Zed, of Nevada, said in a press release that Hindus want to erect a statue of Lord Hanuman, a Hindu deity “who was greatly revered and worshipped and known for incredible strength and was (a) perfect grammarian.”

He said the statue would raise awareness of Oklahomans about Hinduism.

Commission Chairman Trait Thompson, who also is a senior policy adviser for Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman, said he had received the request from Zed and had referred him to the website, which has all the application forms.

“I suppose when one group gets some publicity, everyone else wants to make their point,” he said.

Is there any chance a Hindu statue will be built at the Capitol?

“I can’t speak for the commission,” Thompson said.

“If they follow through and put forth a good application, it will be voted on. It’s hard to say. There are a lot of factors.”

The commission was formed in 1982 to oversee the preservation and restoration of the Oklahoma State Capitol building, and later, the Governor’s Mansion. As controller of the public display of art objects there, it recently oversaw the installation of a Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol.

Hari Musapeta, spokesman for the Hindu Temple of Greater Tulsa, said he had not heard of Zed or the Universal Society of Hinduism.

He said he would “need to learn about the man and the organization,” before commenting on the application.

He was familiar, however, with Lord Hanuman, which he described as “a powerful god, the No. 1 Hindu deity after Lord Rama.”

He said Tulsa has some 5,000 to 8,000 Hindu families, many of them professional people from India.

Zed declined an interview, and said everything he was prepared to say was in the press release.

According to his website, he is an Indo-American and Hindu statesman who gave the first Hindu opening prayer in the U.S. Senate, was invited by the president of the European Parliament to a meeting in Brussels to discuss Hindu issues, and has delivered prayers at several state legislatures.

Several Oklahoma lawmakers responded negatively to the request by a Satanic Temple to put a monument to Satan at the Capitol. The request apparently was in response to the recent installation of the Ten Commandments monument.

They opened a can of worms by allowing the 10 commandments on public property. Gonna be interesting to see how they handle this situation now that multiple groups want it. If they want to deny a group they have to deny all of them because the government can't sponsor one religion.

/popcorn

[Lucavi]

That's a seriously fat can of worms, and its good for both parties to make their points. I'm interested in seeing how this all plays out.

[Kaslo]

We also just had State legislators introduce "Merry Christmas" legislation because "WAR ON CHRISTMAS" (which if one exists, Christmas is clearly winning)

This state is seriously overrun with big energy and tea party crazies.

[ringthree]

Why is this a can of worms? You are using logic against people that don't understand the concept. The 10 commandments are fine, Satanists and Hindus are not. Plain and simple.

[Mina]

Spaghetti Monster monument go.

I would like to see how this all ends.

[Kaslo]

Spaghetti Monster monument go.

Thats been my comment on facebook lol

[RKenshin]

Part of me would love to see this continue to a point where they end up with a giant spread of statues of various religions/beliefs, just for the amazing troll quality potential.

[Serra]

“If they follow through and put forth a good application, it will be voted on. It’s hard to say. There are a lot of factors.”

The commission was formed in 1982 to oversee the preservation and restoration of the Oklahoma State Capitol building, and later, the Governor’s Mansion. As controller of the public display of art objects there, it recently oversaw the installation of a Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol.

These two parts I think will prevent it. Committee has to vote, and it's a committee in Oklahoma, so they'll vote no. Suing will occur, they'll say it's not a religious object but a piece of art and they voted down the other statues for their artistic merit, not for religious reasons. Then again, I could be (and hope I am) wrong so that RKenshin's distopian future where trolls erect states to everything under the sun comes to pass~

[Howie Roary]

Christianity will endure in the US, as always. Everything else will fail

[Waraji]

These two parts I think will prevent it. Committee has to vote, and it's a committee in Oklahoma, so they'll vote no. Suing will occur, they'll say it's not a religious object but a piece of art and they voted down the other statues for their artistic merit, not for religious reasons. Then again, I could be (and hope I am) wrong so that RKenshin's distopian future where trolls erect states to everything under the sun comes to pass~

Take it to higher court arguing the validity of the Art claim, art experts come in, luls ensue. War on Art all over Fox.

Next thing you know, we have Artistic representations of Boehner with giant dick coming out of his head on that Oklahoma Capital building.

[Moss]

Part of me would love to see this continue to a point where they end up with a giant spread of statues of various religions/beliefs, just for the amazing troll quality potential.

That would be a cool tourist attraction. I would go to see the Satanist monument.

[ronin sparthos]

Take em all down, put up the Golden Rule.

I'll take my check through PayPal please.

[Moss]

Platinum Rule > Golden Rule

[Ashmada]

Why is this a can of worms? You are using logic against people that don't understand the concept. The 10 commandments are fine, Satanists and Hindus are not. Plain and simple.

Exactly. It's not going to go anywhere, and in fact, the second article already mentions the Satanist monument was refused.
christians typically do not think beyond "we good, others evil!"

[Buffy]

Exactly. It's not going to go anywhere, and in fact, the second article already mentions the Satanist monument was refused.
christians typically do not think beyond "we good, others evil!"

Technically proper Christian theology would be "We're all evil, but we hopped about the J-train and we're good to go while you guys are screwed."

[Gwynplaine]

That would be a cool tourist attraction. I would go to see the Satanist monument.

Me too! It would be like the shrines in Skyrim.

[BaneTheBrawler]

armor doesn't weigh you down and +100 carry weight gooooooo

[Lucavi]

Platinum Rule > Golden Rule

Diamond Rule >> Platinum Rule. Don't you LoL tier, son?

[quannum]

Diamond Rule >> Platinum Rule. Don't you LoL tier, son?

Code S Rule > *, silly moba peasant.

[Silenka]

I like this. Even if these movements get burned to the ground (as they will because anything other than Christianity gets the witch treatment in America), maybe this is the kind of weird news that will get people looking at it and even maybe, *gasp* thinking logically. Why should a monument to Christianity be allowed while a monument to another religion isn't? Of course, Christians - or any religious person, really - has the mindset "because we're right and everyone else is wrong" but wouldn't it be nice if they could just think critically for a moment?