Satanic Temple's Iowa capitol display allegedly vandalized amid religious display debate
DES MOINES, Iowa (KGAN) — The Satanic Temple of Iowa said a statue in its Iowa capitol display was destroyed "beyond repair."
The group posted a message to its Facebook page on Thursday.
This morning, we were informed by authorities that the Baphomet statue in our holiday display was destroyed beyond repair. We are proud to continue our holiday display for the next few days that we have been allotted," according to the post."We ask that for safety, visitors travel together and use the 7 Tenets as a reminder for empathy, in the knowledge that justice is being pursued the correct way, through legal means," the post continued. "Solve et Coagula! Happy Holidays! Hail Satan!”
The display made headlines this week when an Iowa state lawmaker Brad Sherman called for the governor to remove it, calling the display "blasphemous."
He wants to see legislation banning Satanic Temples on state property, and required displays of the Ten Commandments in the capitol, all state owned buildings, and public schools.
State Representative and current pastor Jon Dunwell also condemned the display.
"So, the reality is, I don't like the display. It's not something I support," Dunwell said. "I actually believe it represents something evil."
However, he doesn't believe the Iowa government should be dictating which religions are acceptable.
"As a representative who believes in the constitution, I don't want government being the arbitrator of what is an appropriate religious expression and what is not appropriate," Dunwell said. "I think government needs to be about creating freedom for all religious expressions."
Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a statement saying, "In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech."
Debate over the display sparked lots of opinions on how religious displays should be governed in Iowa.
During an interview with CNN, Lucien Greaves, who is the co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, described the alleged vandalism as "a real act of cowardice ... It’s cowardice dressed up as heroism."
The Satanic Temple said in a Facebook post, "We are proud to continue our holiday display for the next few days that we have been allotted. We ask that for safety, visitors travel together and use the 7 Tenets as a reminder for empathy, in the knowledge that justice is being pursued the correct way, through legal means."
ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmp5mknryvedaoqaWcX6iuta3NoppmrJWiva2x0magqK%2BRYrCivMitpqVllJ7AsbjAsmSapJyatKawy7Jkr5mema6ttdmem2aZnZ6xbr7EpaCgoZ%2BqwG6wyKynpZmpYrGmrsCtnGaakaW1sLnErWSsrJGpwqZ5w56ZmqyVYrK3tctmnqiulae7sL6MpKCmZaKaxq%2B7y52qZqaRqba3tdOyZKyblaOybrbErKysZZOdv6q%2F02aaoaqZqMGqrc2iq7Jlk52%2Fqr%2FTppisZZikuaqwwLI%3D