IL State Senator Calls For Satanist Display To Be Removed

SPRINGFIELD, IL — A Satanic display at the Illinois Capitol Rotunda is causing a stir, including Illinois Republican State Sen. Paul Schimpf's letter to the secretary of state. Schimpf, who represents the 58th District, called for the removal of the display.

The sculpture, sitting by a Christmas tree, nativity scene and menorah, is entitled "Knowledge is the Greatest Gift." It depicts a woman's left hand, wrapped in a snake, offering an apple to the viewer. "For it is knowledge that Satan gifted to Eve in the garden like Prometheus gifting fire to man," Lux Armiger, chairperson of the Satanic Temple's Chicago chapter, told Patch.

But Sen. Schimpf complained in a letter to Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White that the Satanist sculpture should be removed. "The Satanic display should not have been approved. It does not celebrate or recognize the observance of a religious holiday," Schimpf said in his letter.

However, Armiger says, celebrating holidays is not at all a requirement for displays in the rotunda. "No such specification exists," Armiger told Patch. "These displays are permitted by the Constitution, not because they are recognizing a holiday, but because the space is a public forum."

This is "something someone with a law degree like Sen. Schimpf should understand. If he does not, Southern Illinois University School of Law should consider rescinding his degree," Armiger added.

Permitting one group, and not another, to use the forum would be "government-imposed viewpoint discrimination," he said.

Some Illinois lawmakers are openly condemning Secretary of State Jesse White over allowing the display, according to a House resolution shared by the Satanic Temple's Chicago chapter.

Lucien Greaves, co-founder and national spokesperson for the Satanic Temple, had a simple response to Schimpf's letter: "No. In fact you aren't within your rights to deny a religious organization access to a forum for religious expression based simply on your assumptions regarding their intentions."

The State of Illinois is legally required to allow the Satanic display, just as it's required to allow the nativity scene and menorah. The First Amendment means they must "allow temporary, public displays in the state capitol so long as these displays are not paid for by taxpayer dollars," according to WBEZ.

Sen. Schimpf's office did not immediately reply to Patch's request for comment.

See more on Patch: Satanic Sculpture Joins Christian, Jewish Displays At IL Capitol

Here's the full text of Sen. Schimpf's Facebook post on his letter to Secretary of State Jesse White:

I've had a lot of questions about the satanic sculpture at the Capitol. Here's a letter I delivered to the Secretary of State's office today asking for the display to be removed:

Dear Secretary White,

I am writing to express my disappointment in your approval of a Satanic statue in the Illinois Capitol Rotunda.

As an attorney who evaluated the legality of religious displays in the United States Marine Corps, I appreciate the complexities associated with balancing the First Amendment with the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. In this situation, I believe you received poor legal advice recommending approval of the Satanic display.

The Satanic display should not have been approved. It does not celebrate or recognize the observance of a religious holiday. Instead, the display seeks to provoke and antagonize members of the Christian and Jewish faiths. As such, you would have been well within your discretion to deny that display request.

I respectfully request that you reconsider your decision and order the removal of the Satanic statue.

Sincerely,
Paul Schimpf
Senator, 58th Legislative District
Paul M. Schimpf

Photo credit: The Satanic Temple - Chicago Chapter, used with permission