Distractions of the devil

Satan has had an awfully good 2014.

He might get a statue on the grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol. Actually, he probably won’t, but the New York-based Satanic Temple has proposed to have the goat-headed image of Baphomet built so that it can be seen by all visitors to the state’s seat of government. And they also want people to be able to sit in his lap for meditation, and presumably to give him the list of toys they want for the next high unholy day.  

The Oklahoma judicial system created a legal headache for themselves when they allowed a monument to the Ten Commandments to appear on Capitol grounds. How exactly can they say no to this new proposal? The religious right shifted its tactics over the last decade or so, moving away from the “we are a Judeo-Christian nation” boilerplate and attempting to use a religious pluralism argument to force Christian symbolism into the state sphere. Perhaps they should have been prepared for a poison pill such as this Satan-shaped one.