Iowa Lawmaker Calls For Governor to Remove SATANIC ‘Holiday Display’ From Capitol

Yep, you read the headline right.

Last week, a literal Satanic idol and altar was erected in the Iowa State Capitol.

Complete with a caped, ram-headed figure resembling Satanic idol Baphomet, candles, pentagrams, and other Satanic symbols, the display was set up on the first floor of the state’s Capitol building by a group calling themselves the Satanic Temple of Iowa.

Take a look at the horrendous Satanic altar here:

This is what @KimReynoldsIA has allowed to be installed in the Iowa State Capitol

It is a Satanic altar and idol pic.twitter.com/otgC4sKkC3

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 11, 2023

The Satanic Temple of Iowa installed a "holiday" display at the Iowa State Capitol and claims it must be permitted under religious liberty laws. pic.twitter.com/7EegFhVNwL

— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) December 12, 2023

Currently, anyone can apply to install a display in the Iowa Capitol building, and applications are not denied for religious reasons.

Apparently, the Satanic Temple had applied back in August to set up their evil ‘holiday display’ and were approved – with one adjustment. Originally, the Satan worshipers had wanted to use an ACTUAL goat head, but got that request denied.

For anyone wondering exactly how this was allowed in the first place, check out this post on X made by pastor and Iowa Rep. Jon Dunwell:

As many of you have become aware, last week a display was erected at the Iowa Capitol by the Satanic Temple of Iowa. As I have responded to concerns from Iowans about the display, I wanted to share with you how the display came to be and my response.

How did it happen?
• The… pic.twitter.com/8ODJXCxu9Y

— Rep. Jon Dunwell (@jdunwell) December 8, 2023

The fact that there is a Satanic altar proudly being displayed in one of our nation’s Capitol buildings is disturbing, period.

But, even more disturbing are lawmakers’ responses.

Under the guise of ‘protecting religious freedoms’ for Satanists and the First Amendment, many lawmakers and so-called Christians, like Rep. Dunwell in the above post, are refusing to take any action.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds hasn’t lifted a finger.

But at least one Eastern Iowa lawmaker is calling for Gov. Reynolds to have the disgusting altar to Satan taken down immediately.

Republican Rep. Brad Sherman, who is also a pastor, argues that the blasphemous display actually goes AGAINST the Iowa State Constitution.

He also wants legislation passed that bans Satanic displays from being installed in public spaces permanently AND that allows for the Ten Commandments to be put up in government-owned buildings and public school.

Here are Sherman’s demands, in his own words, from the latest edition of his newsletter:

It is a tortured and twisted interpretation of law that affords Satan, who is universally understood to be the enemy of God, religious expression equal to God in an institution of government that depends upon God for continued blessings. Such a legal view not only violates the very foundation of our State Constitution, but it offends the God upon whom we depend and undermines our wellbeing.

If we claim to believe in the One Supreme Being, the God of all creation, we cannot claim an exemption from obedience to Him in things relating to civil government. In fact, if we claim Him as our God, then we as legislators and government officials are His ministers. As such we must submit to Him in government as much as any other area of life. Either He is God or He is not.

For those who wish to worship Satan, they are free to do so on their private property.  But to allow satanic expression in the State Capitol and other public property is to surrender to Satan’s demands for equality with God which was his original sin: “I will be like the Most High” (see Isaiah 14:14).

Therefore, based on the laws of God and the Constitution of the State of Iowa, and for the purpose of securing the blessings of God upon our state:

• I am calling for our governor to have this blasphemous display removed immediately based on the grounds that it is unconstitutional and offends God upon whom the State of Iowa depends for blessings.
• I am calling for clarifying legislation to be adopted in accordance with our State Constitution that prohibits satanic displays in our Capitol building and on all state owned property.
• I am calling for legislation to be adopted that makes it legal to display the Ten Commandments in our Capitol, in all buildings owned by the state, and in our public schools.

If we want the blessings of God upon our state, we must demonstrate by our laws and actions that we are indeed depending upon Him and that we are opposed to Satan.

The Des Moines Register gave more details about the whole controversy:

A satanic display placed in the Iowa Capitol is unconstitutional, says an eastern Iowa lawmaker who is calling on Gov. Kim Reynolds to order its removal.

In the Dec. 8 edition of his Sherman Liberty Letter, Rep. Brad Sherman, whose district covers Iowa County and part of Johnson County, also calls “for clarifying legislation to be adopted in accordance with our State Constitution that prohibits satanic displays in our Capitol building and on all state owned property.”

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He proposes additional legislation to clear the way for displaying the Ten Commandments in all state buildings, including the Capitol, and in Iowa public schools.

But Sherman, a pastor, may not have wholehearted support of his initiative from other Republican legislators, some of whom say they would oppose the government limiting freedom of speech in reaction to the display, which will be in place for a total of two weeks.

The controversy began bubbling last week after a group that calls itself the Satanic Temple of Iowa, though it lists no physical location on its Facebook page, placed with state permission a small altar on the first floor of the Capitol. It displays what are described online as the “seven fundamental tenets” of Satanism, including the statement that “the freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend.”

Completing the display are the temple’s seal, electric candles and a caped figure representing the pagan idol Baphomet, holding a ribbon-bedecked pentangle and topped with a gilded ram’s head.

Sherman says the exhibit has drawn widespread “outrage and disgust” among Iowans, “but few people think there is much that can be legally done about it because of free speech and freedom of religion.”

“However,” he adds, “I disagree.”

He points to the preamble to the Iowa Constitution, which says, “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, by the name of the State of Iowa… .”

“According to these opening lines of our Constitution, the foundation for laws and continued blessing and success in Iowa is based on these points: 1. There is One Supreme God. 2. Blessings over this state come from the One Supreme God. 3. We must depend upon the One Supreme God if we want to enjoy continued blessings,” Sherman writes.

He says it is “a tortured and twisted interpretation of law that affords Satan, who is universally understood to be the enemy of God, religious expression equal to God in an institution of government that depends upon God for continued blessings.”