The family that donated a 6-foot-tall Ten Commandments statue to the Oklahoma Capitol will replace the statue after it was destroyed by a mentally ill man who claimed to be a satanist in late October.
Last month, an unnamed man in Oklahoma went and drove their car over the Ten Commandments statue on the statehouse lawn, destroying it and claiming that Satan had instructed him to do it.
The US secret service said the suspect showed up at a federal building in Oklahoma City, rambling and talking about how much he hates Obama.:
“He claimed he got out of his car, urinated on the monument, and then ran over it and destroyed it,” said secret service agent David Allison in Oklahoma City. “He said Satan told him to do it, and that he was a satanist.”
The vandal was taken to a mental health facility in Oklahoma County, and has not been charged. It’s not clear if he was released or not.
When the statue was intially destroyed, State Rep. Mike Ritze, the Republican legislator whose family spent the $10,000 to buy and place the statue threw a hissy fit. “We consider this an act of violence against the state of Oklahoma.”
Now Ritze says he has ordered an identical Ten Commandments monument that is currently under construction and, like the first one, will be built entirely with private funds.
“We can’t repair the old one, so we have ordered another monument identical to the one that was torn down,” said Ritze. “The fundraising is ongoing.”
An Oklahoma County judge ruled in September that the monument serves a secular — not religious — purpose and does not violate the state constitution and therefore does not violate the separation of church and state.
Other groups have unveiled their own proposals to have statues erected on the capitol grounds that correspond to their religions, including a satanic monument that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard, and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit on behalf of Norman minister Bruce Prescott, is appealing the ruling to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
[Image Credit: The Guardian]
I’m not necessarily a religious person but I am glad to see that this will be replaced. I don’t really think it is okay, in all aspects, to destroy something like this. I wouldn’t be okay if it was from any religion or belief either.
How is it RIGHT to be on the grounds of the CAPITAL OF THE STATE?
Separation of church and state is anathema to these dimwitted hatemongering jackasses.
There is not a single christian in the steaming pile of dungpoo that is our legislative delegation to the state and to the nation.
NOT A SINGLE ONE.
“We consider this an act of violence against the state of Oklahoma.” That statement is a hissy fit? Hissy fit is kind of sexist isn’t it? Sort of like “bossy”.
No one has a right to destroy private or public property. I am glad that the statue is going to be replaced. I hope the man who did this get the psychological help that he needs.
Why not just jump right in and tell the real truth – you think we are in desperate need of a church-run country?
OBVIOUSLY you believe that ONLY CHRISTIAN lies are the way to run a government.
I am also not a religious person, but no one has the right to destroy someone else’s property, even if you don’t believe in their way of life. It’s good to know that the statue is going to be replaced, and I hope that nothing like this will happen to it again.