Founding Fathers, Meet the Pluralist Satan
Errors Abound Regarding the Founders’ Religious Liberty
In December 2023, fault lines emerged within the ranks of both conservative and evangelical leadership after a Navy pilot destroyed a Baphomet statue depicting Satan in the Iowa State Capitol building. The Iowa Legislature approved a request from the Satanic Temple to admit the figure in their holiday display under a commitment to include all religions. Jon Dunwell, A Christian and Missionary Alliance Pastor as well as an Iowa State Representative, became one of the first to publicly use the logic of religious neutrality to support the statue’s presence. Though he found the depiction personally objectionable, he did not want the “state evaluating and making determinations about religions.”[1. Rep. Jon Dunwell @jdunwell, ‘As Many of You Have Become Aware, Last Week a Display Was Erected at the Iowa Capitol by the Satanic Temple of Iowa. . .” Tweet, X, December 8, 2023, https://twitter.com/jdunwell/status/1733191110858559506.] Soon voices influential in evangelicalism echoed Dunwell’s sentiment.
Former Trump Administration lawyer and radio host Jenna Ellis wrote that “Destruction of property is not okay for the Christian who hates a satanic statue any more than it’s okay for the satanist who hates a nativity scene.”[2. Jenna Ellis @JennaEllisEsq, “I Respectfully Disagree. This Is Not the Way. . .” Tweet, X, December 15, 2023, https://twitter.com/JennaEllisEsq/status/1735716512885813587.] Author and speaker James Lindsay who, though an atheist, is frequently featured at Christian gatherings, posted a picture of the broken-down Baphoment blaming the rejection of “a Classically Liberal Society” in favor of “a Fascist Society” for its demise.[3. James Lindsay is frequently a speaker at Turning Point Pastor’s Conferences. He has also spoken at events with Christian audiences and dominated by Christian speakers from ministries like G3 and Founders; James Lindsay, epic manspreader @ConceptualJames, “A Moment Is Likely Coming, and May Have Already Passed, Where the Woke Winning Is Not a Thing That’s Going to Happen, in Which Case Our Possible Paths Diverge into a Classically Liberal Society or a Fascist Society That Destroys Them All, Root and Branch, without Apology.,” Tweet, X, December 14, 2023, https://twitter.com/ConceptualJames/status/1735419179057004697.] Presbyterian pastor and theologian R. Scott Clark stated Christians should not engage in iconoclasm and reasoned that since the Iowa State Capitol is a secular building no religious displays of any kind should be present there, including Nativity Scenes.[4. R. Scott Clark, “Heidelminicast Special: On Smashing Satanic Statues,” Heidelcast, December 16, 2023, https://heidelblog.net/2023/12/heidelminicast-special-on-smashing-satanic-statues/.]
Other prominent conservatives such as Michael Knowles, Charlie Kirk, and Ron Desantis argued that knocking the statue down was right since Satan was evil and religious protections should not apply to those who claim to follow him. Just as issues like same-sex marriage, preferred pronouns, and drag queen story hour challenged the political Right’s commitment to neutrality in areas of speech and social arrangement, the Satan display forced conservatives to decide the limits of religious liberty. According to the Satanic Temple, this was their purpose in the first place.
In Hail Satan, a 2019 documentary about the Satanic Temple, leaders in the movement explain their goal to use Satanism as a tool to fight for social justice and challenge “Christian privilege” in the culture wars. Many of their adherents are atheists who view Satan as a symbol of rebellion against God. Their requests to participate in public displays of worship helped place a satanic holiday exhibit in the Florida State Capitol, shut down invocations at the City of Phoenix Council meetings, and challenged the Oklahoma Ten Commandments statue in Federal court. They sponsor multiple after-school Satan clubs in public high schools and object to state-imposed abortion restrictions on religious grounds. Their strategy is to make civil magistrates choose between accommodating them or refusing to accommodate any religion. Municipalities that deny them access will likely face legal action.
The Satanic Temple essentially exploits America’s tradition of religious toleration while exposing the weakness of Republicans to do anything about it. Even though over three-quarters of Iowans identify as Christian and the State government is overwhelmingly controlled by Republicans, Governor Kim Reynolds signaled that the only acceptable recourse they had was to focus on the Nativity scene and pray over the Capitol.[5. “Religious Landscape Study,” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project , June 13, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/; Stephen Gruber-Miller, “Kim Reynolds Calls Iowa Capitol Satanic Display ‘objectionable,’ Encourages Iowans to Pray,” The Des Moines Register, 13 2023, https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/12/governor-kim-reynolds-criticizes-satanic-altar-at-iowa-capitol-asks-for-prayer/71891969007/.] According to Franklin Graham, this was enough to count as “opposing a satanic display.” Yet, the Iowa Legislature is able to “set the rules and standards for any display”[6. Franklin Graham @Franklin_Graham, ‘I Applaud @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds for Opposing a Satanic Display in Her State’s Capitol. Her Response Was to Hold a Nativity Prayer Meeting! I like It! The Nativity Represents the Greatest News the World Has Ever Known.” Tweet, X, December 16, 2023, https://twitter.com/Franklin_Graham/status/1736087773994435020.] and succeeded in prohibiting the Satanic Temple from using an actual goat head in theirs.[7. Jon Dunwell] Some opponents of the exhibit also pointed to the fact that the Iowa State Constitution’s primary purpose for the government was the furtherance of God-ordained blessing.[8. The preamble states: “We the people of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a free and independent government . . .”] A satanic symbol thus stood opposed to more than Christianity as a religion, but also the foundation of Iowa law. Republicans who favored religious neutrality were able to ignore these elements by deferring to a higher principle of religious freedom they believed was enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
For example, Jenna Ellis lashed out against Christian Nationalists for violating the First Amendment in order to “create a theocracy that doesn’t allow religious freedom.”[9. Jenna Ellis @JennaEllisEsq, “@njhochman @Newsweek The History of the First Amendment Says Otherwise. You’re Purposefully Confusing the Issue by Invoking Liberty vs License, While Ignoring the CN’s Intent to Create a Theocracy That Doesn’t Allow Religious Freedom.,” Tweet, X, December 17, 2023, https://twitter.com/JennaEllisEsq/status/1736473188261933411.] However, this understanding of the Founder’s purpose is relatively recent. In 1787, when the Federal Constitution was ratified, nine state constitutions included Christian religious test requirements for officeholders including adherence to doctrines such as the Trinity and the inspiration of scripture.[10. “Religious Tests and Oaths in State Constitutions, 1776-1784,” Center for the Study of the American Constitution, accessed December 20, 2023, https://csac.history.wisc.edu/document-collections/religion-and-the-ratification/religious-test-clause/religious-tests-and-oaths-in-state-constitutions-1776-1784/, Also: “Constitution of South Carolina,” March 19, 1778, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/sc02.asp#1.] The Four remaining states were governed by explicitly Christian Royal Charters or constitutions.[11. Rhode Island and Connecticut were the only two states still governed by their Royal Charters.]
New York, one of the states without a religious test, stated in her Constitution of 1777 that “free exercise . . . [of] worship” and “liberty of conscience . . . shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness.” The document limits its religious conception to Christian “ministers of the gospel” and priests “of any denomination.”[12. “The Constitution of New York,” April 20, 1787, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ny01.asp.] Ten years later, Virginia, which also precluded a religious test, stated in its Constitution that “the free exercise of religion” was governed by “the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forebearance, love, and charity towards each other.”[13. “The Constitution of Virginia,” 1776, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/the-constitution-of-virginia-1776/.] Not only did all thirteen states recognize God, but they exclusively preferred Christianity.
Even those advocating the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience intended its application for a broadly Christian conception of God.[14. This principle is reflected in early documents such as the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 and the New Hampshire Constitution of 1784. See: “Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” PA Constitution (blog), September 28, 1777, https://www.paconstitution.org/texts-of-the-constitution/1776-2/; “New Hampshire State Constitution – Bill of Rights,” June 2, 1784, https://www.nh.gov/glance/bill-of-rights.htm.] In pursuing the disestablishment of The Church of England in Virginia, James Madison appealed to this principle yet invoked a duty to “the Supreme Lawgiver of the Universe” who guided lawgivers according to His plan, trust, and blessing.[15. James Madison, “Founders Online: Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments” (University of Virginia Press, 1785), http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-08-02-0163.] In 1786, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson, passed the Virginia General Assembly. Though there were those like Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee before him, who extended freedom of conscience to non-Christian religions, the statute’s immediate impact was to foster greater peace between competing Christian denominations by ending compelled worship in the name of Almighty God. That same year, James Madison also introduced another bill authored by Thomas Jefferson that punished Sabbath-breakers. This showed that even the Founding Generation’s greatest champions for religious liberty did not see a conflict between freedom to worship and a legally upheld Christian civilization.[16. Thomas Jefferson, “A Bill for Punishing Disturbers of Religious Worship and Sabbath Breakers” (University of Virginia Press, June 18, 1779), http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-02-02-0132-0004-0084.]
This broad support for Christianity often manifested itself on the state level against undermining influences such as witchcraft, blasphemy, and Sabbath-breaking.[17. Here are a few examples: The English 1604 Act against Witchcraft and Conjuration, which prescribed the death penalty, was adopted by South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island between 1718 and 1728. See: Owen Davies, America Bewitched: The Story of Witchcraft After Salem (OUP Oxford, 2013), 45; Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey passed blasphemy laws in the 1780s-1790s though their State Constitutions contained religious freedom protections. See: Anna Price, “A History of Blasphemy Laws in the United States,” The Library of Congress (blog), December 19, 2023, //blogs.loc.gov/law/2023/12/a-history-of-blasphemy-laws-in-the-united-states.] Even if one assumes the Federal Constitution promoted secularism, it could do nothing to suppress these precedents since the First Amendment only prevented Congress, not States, from making laws “respecting an establishment of religion.”
However, it is worth noting that even Congress did not think they were in violation of this principle when in 1789 they appointed publicly-funded Protestant chaplains, passed the Judiciary Act which required Supreme Court justices to acknowledge God in their oath of office, renewed the Northwest Ordinance which encouraged “religion” in schools as “necessary to good government,” and issued overtly Christian Thanksgiving resolutions.[18. Barry Adamson, Freedom of Religion, the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court: How the Court Flunked History (Pelican Publishing, 2008), 139-148.] The Establishment Clause prevented the United States from erecting an official ecclesiastical body similar to The Church of England, but it did not prevent Congress from recognizing God or Christianity.
It was commonly acknowledged that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, were necessary for public morality and public morality was necessary for self-government. George Washington represented this sentiment well in his Farewell Address when he stated: “Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.”[19. George Washington, “Washington’s Farewell Address,” 1796, https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/washington-s-farewell-address-1796/.] While the Founders tolerated a small Jewish population that shared much in common with Christians, Judaism did not enjoy the same public accommodation as Christianity did. Outside of Christendom, there were no significant religions within the early American body politic. There is no evidence to suggest the men who crafted the Federal Constitution intended to accommodate something like a future image of Satan in the United States Capitol, let alone a state capitol. Yet, this is what some conservative leaders want us to believe.
One reason many modern conservatives are confused on this issue is because of the way courts contrived and applied the “incorporation doctrine” which, starting in the 1920s especially, used the “due process” clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to apply certain aspects of the Bill of Rights to the States. It was not until 1947, that the Supreme Court applied the Establishment Clause to a State in the Everson v. Board of Education decision. Chief Justice Hugo Black maintained in his majority opinion that states could not participate in or use tax revenue to support religious activities.[20. Hugo Black, Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947). (Supreme Court of the United States October 1946), 15.]
In the 1980s, the Supreme Court began to handle religious displays using this logic culminating in the County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union decision which disqualified a Nativity scene that included a banner that read: “Glory to God for the birth of Jesus Christ.” Local holiday displays were now unconstitutional if they endorsed religion, made someone feel like an outsider, or entangled the state in religious activities. In recent years, more conservative Supreme Court justices have utilized a competing standard that allows for religious displays if they are consistent with “historical practices and understandings.” Though the dust has not yet settled on this issue in modern legal terms, the fact of the matter is that a historically rooted understanding of civics which separates original intent from innovations of the Court would go a long way to clarify the issues concerning the Baphomet statue in Iowa.
Unfortunately, fidelity to a misunderstanding of the Founders is not the only thing motivating those who support religious neutrality. For years, elites on the Right developed a commitment to pluralistic democracy. Under this philosophy, things like blasphemy laws, sexual norms, and Confederate imagery conflict with the New America leaders in both parties are working to realize. As I type these words, a crew is removing the Arlington Reconciliation Monument with little fanfare from conservative media who also largely ignored the recent vandalizing and destruction of hundreds of similar statues.
It stands to reason that if actions like these are acceptable, then tearing down a statue of Satan would also be viewed favorably. Today’s political Right praises examples of civil disobedience from the past like the Boston Tea Party or Civil Right’s “sit-ins.” Yet, these examples are conceived as helping evolve society toward greater levels of freedom and autonomy. The modern conservative disposition increasingly tolerates evil while failing to defend good in hopes that a more equal society will emerge from the ruins. Yet, all around us things seem to be deteriorating. It is important to interpret the Baphomet statue’s demise in light of this.
People like Michael Cassidy, the Navy test pilot who knocked down the display, are losing confidence in their leadership. Cassidy was surprised “that the legislature allowed it up and that they didn’t do anything to take it down.” When he arrived at the Capitol “it touched a nerve” and in “righteous indignation” he practiced what he believed was “Christian civil disobedience.”[22. Michael Cassidy, Man who beheaded satanic statue at state capitol speaks out: “Righteous indignation,” interview by Jesse Waters, December 15, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOkpAR5VHOo.] After turning himself over to Capitol police it disappointed him that some “professing Christians” disapproved and seemed to want to “give equal time to evil as to good.” He told Tucker Carlson: “I love our country and I don’t want statues of Satan in our government buildings.”[23. Tucker Carlson @TuckerCarlson, “Liberal Mobs Have Torn down Countless Statues of Christians in This Country. But Topple a Monument to Satan, and CNN Will Denounce You as Dangerous. Https://T.Co/YboWAQBsXH,” Tweet, X, December 20, 2023, https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1737265376486891819.] This simple display of moral clarity and courage still resonates with many Americans who are not in the leadership class.
It did not take long for Christians who supported Cassidy to compare his actions to Gideon destroying the altar to Baal. Those who disapproved contrasted him with the Apostle Paul who did not rip down idols to pagan deities. Gideon and Paul both serve as positive examples for Christians, yet their contexts, callings, and purposes are distinct. Paul was an “apostle to the Gentiles” who introduced the gospel and built the church within pagan contexts. Gideon did not start out as a political leader, but he rose to the occasion and liberated Israel from a pagan nation in her time of need. If we are entering a time of social breakdown similar to that of Judges where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” Christians will likely need more men like Cassidy, not fewer.
It would have been preferable for someone who already held political office in Iowa to destroy the satanic image, but the political will did not exist. Satan worship is perhaps the highest form of blasphemy and a direct attack on Anglo-American law. The reason blasphemy was universally punished until recently is because the laws of a country flow from that country’s religion.[24. William Blackstone said: “Blasphemy against the Almighty, by denying his being or providence, or by contumelious reproaches of our Saviour Christ, as well as all profane scoffing at the holy Scripture, or exposing it to contempt and ridicule, are offences punishable at common law by fine and imprisonment, or other infamous corporal punishment; for Christianity is part of the laws of England.” See: John Henry Hopkins, The American Citizen: His Rights and Duties (Pudney & Russell, 1857), 84.] To attack the religion so aggressively is an attack on the people who live under its laws. In the words of George Washington: “Who, that is a sincere friend to [free government], can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?”
Instead of getting caught up in the minor details of whether Cassidy’s actions line up with rigid ideological commitments to free expression, private property, or civil disobedience, it is time for both evangelical and conservative leadership to examine the entire picture. The house is on fire and if elected officials refuse to put it out, someone else will, whether their bucket is to our liking or not. It would be better for all if civil magistrates under God’s authority simply did their job. If they do not, new leaders will be found.
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