You may have heard that the Satanic Temple wants to donate a monument to the Oklahoma Capitol Building to accompany its Ten Commandments display.
As it stands they haven’t been approved by legislators… but they’d like to forge ahead and create the monument, anyway. So they’ve taken to Indiegogo to raise the funds:
We are keenly attune to the need for a public-friendly design and plan is to make our monument an object of play for young children. The Satanic Temple is accepting donations toward the production and placement of this historic and important monument to religious diversity.
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… All funds will go toward the cost of constructing and erecting the monument. Donors must be aware of the possibility that the monument offer may be rejected or refused by the Oklahoma City Council prior to any construction. If Oklahoma City refuses to allow us to donate a monument, all funds will go toward efforts to appeal or contest the rejection, and/or place another Satanic monument in another relevant location.
Merry Christmas, Oklahoma 🙂
I’ve reached out to Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves for additional information about what kind of monument they plan to build and I’ll update this post if/when I hear back.
***Update***: Greaves responded to my questions (via email):
What is the reason for the launch of the IndieGogo campaign?
The Indiegogo campaign was launched to give our supporters an avenue through which they could contribute to the funding of our proposed Satanic monument in Oklahoma City that is meant to complement and contrast the existing Ten Commandments monument on display there now.
Originally, our thinking was that we would not set up a crowd-sourcing option until we had explicit monument designs available for public scrutiny, but the response to our proposal has been so overwhelmingly positive, and so many people have been emailing asking how to contribute, that we decided to set up the Indiegogo page for their convenience.
The crowd-sourcing option also serves to demonstrate that hundreds — maybe thousands — of people feel strongly enough about our message of equity and religious plurality that they are willing to pitch in to help see the construction of this monument happen. Not only does Indiegogo display the total amount contributed to the project, it displays the number of contributors to the project. While certain critics have speculated that we hold a view that is too far in the minority to deserve representation, the growing number of open supporters indicates that our message clearly deserves a voice.
Will you be able to install the monument once you have it or is that still not approved?
We have not yet submitted our monument design for approval. We are now working with artists to cohere a design worthy of this momentous project, and we are certain that nobody will be disappointed when we unveil the plans. The general design has been worked out. We are just finalizing details. We want this monument to be an object that people are compelled to travel to see. We are taking our time until we are certain it is ready. That said, we have little doubt that the drawings will be ready for submission by the end of the month. The early press helped us to get an impression of exactly what the State of Oklahoma would be looking for in our submission, and I think we’ve lived up to their expectations.
What if you don’t raise the funds necessary to build the monument? Where will the money go?
Assuming we are approved, every dollar raised will go towards the creation monument, and the monument will be made whether we reach the 20k goal on Indiegogo or not. We will make up the difference by any means necessary — whether by benefactors, loans, or sale of my own kidney — the monument will be made and we will never relent in our effort to give it its proper place, displayed publicly in complementary contrast to the 10 Commandments.
This is something we profoundly believe in, this is an effort that helps define us. We have gained the attention of the world, and many people are desperately hopeful that our efforts will be successful. We intend to make them proud, no matter how difficult this effort may become. We are fully prepared — and have been prepared from the start — to battle whatever obstacles are put before us, and our resolve is unshakable.
That said, reaching the stated goal of twenty thousand in crowdsourcing would be an enormous burden lifted from The Satanic Temple, and it would assure our fast entry into other areas in the United States where representation is appropriate. Already, Satanic Temple members in Georgia are reaching out to us hoping we can gather the resources for a monument there if the current efforts to place the Ten Commandments on public grounds prove fruitful. If, against all constitutional legal sense, the state of Oklahoma rejects our monument, clearly defining themselves as a First Amendment-free state, the monument offer will be provided to any of the various other public spaces throughout the US that have permit religious displays in their public squares.
