Baphomet Coming to Little Rock?

The Satanic Temple has officially asked the state of Arkansas to add a statue of Baphomet, the goat-headed devil, to the grounds of the state Capitol — right next to a monument of the Ten Commandments.

The New York-based “religious” group sent a letter on Tuesday to the Arkansas Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission in Little Rock, asking to allow the statue, which depicts Satan with horns, hooves, a beard and the wings of an angel.

The satanists argue that their legal basis for this request is manifest in the legislation passed in April by Arkansas permitting the Ten Commandments’ statue. The law states that “the placement of the monument under this section shall not be construed to mean that the State of Arkansas favors any particular religion or denomination over others.”

The Satanic Temple argues they already meet the legal criteria to put the devil statue up on federal property.

Still, the law says the Ten Commandments “are an important component of the moral foundation of the laws and legal system of the United States of America and of the State of Arkansas.”

The Satanic Temple argues that they already meet the legal criteria to put the devil statue up on federal property. Spokesman Lucien Greaves claims that the Temple “is prepared to pursue legal options if their application is rejected or ignored. The Arkansas legislature unwittingly opened the door for our monument to be erected at Little Rock, while they clearly believed they could preference the Ten Commandments.”

In fact, Greaves argued that “the legislature doesn’t need to approve our monument, as the approval of the Ten Commandments already established the parameters by which monuments are allowed on Capitol grounds. We clearly meet all their criteria with Baphomet.”

Just last month, the half-man, half-goat Baphomet statue was installed prominently in Detroit. This particular bronze, 9-foot sculpture was originally meant for Oklahoma, where the Satanic Temple attempted to put it next to a Ten Commandments statue there.

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When the installation was rejected in Oklahoma, Jex Blackmore, director of the Detroit Chapter of the Satanic Temple, set his sights on Arkansas.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has come out against the Satanic Temple, and a Hindu group petitioning to add its own statue to the grounds has already been shot down.

“We don’t want just every group putting a statue on the Capitol grounds. We want it to be exclusive. We want it to be reasoned. We want it to be reflective,” Hutchinson told reporters in July.