The Satanic Temple plans to sue the state of Mississippi if its new flag includes a reference to God but not to Satan.
In a letter to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Marc J. Randazza, attorney for the Satanic Temple, wrote the plan for the new state flag to replace the image of the Confederate flag with the phrase, “In God We Trust,” would be the equivalent of “removing one divisive symbol of exclusion only to replace it with a divisive phrase of exclusion.”
Such a plan, the letter read, “does not eliminate exclusion, but rather moves it from one group to a collection of others.”
The Satanic Temple, Randazza continued, “would like to suggest that if Mississippi is going to place a religious phrase on its flag, it should include reference to Satan.”
The attorney goes on to list the “seven tenets of the Satanic Temple,” suggesting they are “more consistent with Mississippi values than even the Ten Commandments.”
The third tenet is “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone,” a statement the Satanic Temple often uses to promote abortion on demand, a practice that would seem inconsistent with the values of a state such as Mississippi, in which the governor just signed a bill into law banning abortions based on sex, race, or disability.
“[W]e can imagine that there would be some Mississippians who would be a bit put off by the words ‘In Satan we Trust’ on the state flag,” the letter continued. “We trust that you will take our request under advisement. However, should the state of Mississippi insist on placing this exclusionary religious phrase on its flag, we do intend to file suit and seek injunctive relief against this act.”
Country singer and Mississippi native Faith Hill urged her home state to revise its flag, claiming the symbol of the Confederacy is “a direct symbol of terror for our Black brothers and sisters.”
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