A bill advanced on Thursday in the Arizona Senate that would prohibit the display of Satanic displays on public property in the state. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), warns that satanism should not have a place on public property as the “antithesis of religion.”
Hoffman celebrated after SB 1279 passed a committee vote in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
On social media, Hoffman referenced his earlier statement, when he declared, “It is legally [and] constitutionally suspect to argue that Satan, someone universally known to be an explicit enemy of God, is somehow a religion.”
Hoffman added that his bill “would ban ‘satanic memorials, statues, altars, or displays, or any other method of representing or honoring Satan’ on public property.”
The Reject Escalating Satanism by Preserving Essential Core Traditions, or RESPECT Act, would ban “satanic memorials, statues, altars, or displays, or any other method of representing or honoring Satan” on public property.
— Jake Hoffman (@JakeHoffmanAZ) February 9, 2024
In remarks reported by Cronkite News, Hoffman declared, “We have more respect for our public property and for the people who call Arizona home than to have Satanic altars and displays on public property.”
Hoffman, responding to Satanist critics who argued his legislation restricts their ability to practice their religion, the senator declared Satanism “is not a religion.”
“It is the antithesis to religion. The antithesis of God is Satan,” said Hoffman, according to the outlet, which also reported that Hoffman insisted Satanists “would still enjoy the right to worship under the bill” but “would not be able to erect displays of it on public property.”
Public displays of Satanism drew headlines and widespread criticism in 2023, when in June the Satanic Temple announced a “Let Us Burn” tour with its “experimental avant industrial band” to promote “religious liberty” and “pluralism.”
The tour came months after advocates warned of the growth in “After-School Satan Club” chapters spreading in public schools across the United States, which is another initiative by the Satanic Temple.
In December, a Christian U.S. Navy veteran destroyed a statue of Satan erected in the Iowa State Capitol building, and in January it was announced the man will face hate crime charges from the Polk County Attorney’s office, with authorities citing his reported admission to destroying the statue “because of the victim’s religion.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “The Satanic Temple Outdoor Event” by The Satanic Temple.
