For Religious Freedom Day, Satanic Goat Monster Baphomet Sculpture Goes on Tour

A bronze statue of the satanic goat monster Baphomet was unveiled earlier tis month at the Arkansas Capitol building, reports the Washington Post. The concept of the idol began with an occultist author who made it up in the 19th century. It’s unclear whether Satanists actually worship the creature but, as a sculpture, Baphomet was forged in Detroit.

According to the Post, “The Satanic Temple’s one-ton bronze-coated rendering left off Baphomet’s traditional hermaphroditic breasts and added two little kids at his side to make the statue more publicly palatable.” Aaah, that’s sweet.

The Satanists were hoping to install the sculpture next to Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma Capitol. But Oklahoma folks are clever— the state Supreme Court ordered the Ten Commandments taken down because the monument violated state laws on the separation of church and state. So, Baphomet had no place there either.

Next stop: Arkansas. The state legislature had just passed a bill to erect a Ten Commandments monument in Little Rock, so the Satanic Temple jumped right on it. But an emergency-session bill that required all monuments have legislative sponsorship. Next stop: The Satanic Temple started a crowd funding campaign for $20,000 and easily raised the funds. The site plan was approved, but the temple has since removed to an undisclosed location.

As stated earlier, it’s unclear whether Satanists even worship Baphomet, since it is not even a requirement to believe to believe in Satan to join the temple. As the Post states:

[T]he temple is a group of atheists, humanists and free-speech activists. They tend to use satanic imagery to mess with governments they feel are violating the separation of church and state.