An Arizona Senate committee gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill that would ban satanic displays on public grounds, following an often-testy debate over whether Satanism is a religion to be respected or a “desecration of public property.”
  An Arizona Senate committee gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill that would ban satanic displays on public grounds, following an often-testy debate over whether Satanism is a religion to be respected or a “desecration of public property.”
  • @pivot_root
    11•8 months ago

    What an infuriating read.

    The Reject Escalating Satanism by Preserving Essential Core Traditions, or RESPECT Act

    It’s right in the name: a bill designed to protect traditional religions.

    “It is a desecration of public property in Arizona,” said Hoffman, the lead sponsor of the bill. “We have more respect for our public property and for the people who call Arizona home than to have satanic altars and displays on public property.”

    Here’s an idea: respect people’s religious freedoms. The Sanatic Temple is a 501©(3) just like every other religion in the country, so why is its imagery and symbolism being singled out?

    [The lead sponsor of the bill] was backed by Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, who pointed to prohibitions on the Ten Commandments in some public buildings [as a prior example of similar restrictions].

    If this is the direction they’re planning on taking, the RESPECT Act should be followed up by a Religious Expression Equality Act, which bans the display of all religious symbolism on government owned property. But, of course, rules for thee and not for me.