Iowa Demonstrates Why The Wall Between Church And State Must Stand
From Forbes, some implications of the Iowa Satan flap.
The Iowa State Capital accepts displays from the public during the holiday season, so the Satanic Temple of Iowa accepted the invitation and set up an altar. People are upset.
But proposed solutions are a reminder of why the wall was there in the first place.
Rep. Brad Sherman wants to see “clarifying legislation” to be adopted that will make it clear that satanic displays are prohibited in the capitol and other state-owned property. He would also like to see legislation adopted make it legal to display the Ten Commandments in government buildings and public schools.
In other words, he would like to see legislation explaining which religions the state of Iowa endorses and which it opposes.
GOP candidate Ron DeSantis went one step further. In trying to pin the controversy on the Trump administration, in a CNN town hall with Jake Tapper, DeSantis pointed to the IRS ruling that gave the Satanic Temple “a legal leg to stand on.” He added that this was not “the religion that the founding fathers were trying to create.” After Tapper clarified that the IRS did grant status, but that doesn’t mean that they support it, DeSantis replies:
Yeah, exactly, but they recognized it as a religion because otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to do it. I don’t think that was the right decision. We’re going to recognize Satan as a religion? That’s wrong.