Satanic Images, Public Buildings, and Christians

There has been a recent uproar as a satanic image had been placed in the Iowa Capital Building. Now Christians frequently describe things they don’t like as “satanic.” In this case it was a display erected by the Church of Satan and so was literally satanic.

Since then, a conservative Christians has destroyed the display.

There are probably many Christians who see this man as a hero. Destroying a satanic image sounds like taking a stand for God.

Why this display was a problem

Part of the reason many Christians had been calling for the removal if not destruction of the display was found in Old Testament stories of kings and prophets who were praised for destroying pagan sites of worship. If we are biblical, we should do the same.

Or should we?

There are a couple of things to consider. One is that those Old Testament passages assume a context of theocracy. The laws of the land were the laws of the Old Testament. There was no separation of church and state.

Now some of the Christians who were calling for the destruction of this display would see no problem with this. Many are Christian Nationalists would love to see the United States run as a theocracy. But this event reveals one of the problems with that idea.

Potential consequences of this behaviour

Going back to those Old Testament passages, they were not addressing the worship of Satan. In fact Satan hardly appears in the Old Testament and no one worshipped Satan. Those passages were addressing the worship of other gods, gods found in the religions of the neighbouring peoples.

If Christians tried to apply those passages today, it would have to address the displays put on by other religions. Are the people who cheered the destruction of the Satan display hoping something like this will be done to the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist displays as well. And if not, according to what logic.

Freedom of religious expression

This might sound like I am defending Satanism. First of all, the Church of Satan does not worship or even believe in Satan. That is a misconception. But the Church of Satan is a recognized religious organization. They fall under the general freedom of religious expression that all religions do. Including Christianity.

What many people do not realize is that the Christian freedom of religious expression is closely tied to the freedom enjoyed by other religions. If you think Christians will maintain their freedom as other religions lose theirs, you are mistaken. We either all enjoy the same freedom or none of us do.

What is the biblical response?

So what is a proper Christian response? One place to start is Paul’s visit to Athens in Acts 17. When Paul visits Athens, he takes time to tour the city. This includes seeing the various temples and idols. With his strong Jewish upbringing, Paul was personally deeply offended by them.

But when Paul had an opportunity to speak to the Athenians, he did not demand that they tear down the idols because of Paul’s strong feelings. Instead Paul used their interest in spiritual things to begin a faith conversation based on what they had in common.

What if Christians decided, instead of destroying the display in Iowa, to learn about the Church of Satan and initiate conversations with the people who belong to that organization? According to Acts 17, that would have been the biblical thing to do.

What has Athens to do with the USA?

Some might say that the difference is that Athens was a pagan city and the United States is a Christian nation. Well, sorry to disappoint but the United States is not a Christian nation.

While some of the Founding Fathers were Christian and at the time of the American Revolution, Christianity was the religion that most people identified with, things have changed. Now, in the United States as well as in my Canada, there are many people of different religions and many people of no religion. I would say the West is much more like first century Athens than people realize.

I can understand how destroying a display set up by the Church of Satan would make some people feel good. But what are the long lasting implications? What kinds of displays will we destroy? And what happens when someone wants to destroy Christian displays?

And if Christians really want other people to learn about Jesus, perhaps there are better ways of furthering that conversation than what has happened so far.

A book I would recommend is The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul’s Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World. (Amazon affiliate link)