Dear Otus,
Did I read that Secretary of State Mark Martin has agreed to allow those religious monuments to be built on the Capitol grounds?
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In my opinion, that's really opening a can of worms. Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
-- Leland Gaunt,
Eureka Springs
Dear Leland,
It was wholly a pleasure to hear from you and to be able to take a stab at explaining this Gordian knot of a situation that, in its attempt to please everyone, may not please anybody.
First of all, yes, Martin has agreed to allow the monuments. He didn't have much choice.
As required by law, Martin dumped the conundrum into the laps of the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission. Usually only concerned with separating the contentious iris vs. rose elements of the Master Gardeners Society, the commission members reveled in their newfound notoriety. Oddly, they decided to take their job seriously.
There are currently 15 statues, monuments and memorials on the Capitol grounds, including statues honoring Confederate soldiers and women, an Eternal Flame, a couple of giant boulders, and statues of the Little Rock Nine.
The commission had to deal with four petitions to erect new monuments on the Capitol grounds, two of which (the Ten Commandments and Satanic statues) are causing all the fuss.
First problem: Where to put them?
The initial proposal to move the prominent Confederate statues to an inconspicuous location was a unanimous decision. They'll move to the lawn of the Capitol Zoning Commission building on South Battery Street. Longtime readers recall the building as the residence and party house of flamboyant Secretary of State Bill McCuen.
On the extreme northwestern edge of the Capitol grounds, the Confederate monuments at the Sugarshack will be far removed from those who are offended by such a prominent location in front of the Capitol. Relocation begins Nov. 7.
Given short shrift was the request by the Saline Atheist & Skeptic Society (SASS) to build a "decorative brick wall" to hide the religious statues from the Capitol building.
The wall, which would have to be 42 feet high, "would not meet aesthetic requirements," according to the commission. Besides, the two statues will be 633.6 feet apart, requiring the wall to block the front steps.
A more deserving request for a Gold Star Family monument has been deferred to a later time.
That brings us to the two competing statues -- the Ten Commandments and Baphomet, a divine androgyne, goat-faced, winged creature, often associated with the occult. Baphomet, with two adoring children at his knees, is depicted giving the international Cub Scout salute (see photo).
The bill to erect a Ten Commandments monument was sponsored by Sen. Jason Stanley, R-Pocahontas, and sailed through the House and Senate to be signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
In their myopic zeal to put a little good old-fashioned godliness on the Capitol grounds, the legislators and governor conveniently overlooked the First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Dang it.
Wait! Proponents say (with a straight face) the monument doesn't endorse a specific (such as the Judeo-Christian) religion. Au contraire, Stanley adamantly claims (with a straight face), the monument is intended "to honor the historical moral foundation of law which has contributed to American jurisprudence."
When the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional that state's Ten Commandments monument, the crafty Arkansas proponents quickly hedged their bets by changing the Ten Commandments design to a bronze statue honoring Charlton Heston, who once visited Arkansas.
By serendipitous happenstance, the pose chosen for the 15-foot statue was Heston's portrayal of Moses holding aloft the stone tablets.
Neither mollified nor deterred, the litigious New York-based Satanic Temple sued to erect its own 16-foot bronze statue of Baphomet. Cowed, the commission caved and awarded Baphomet the northeast location on Woodlane Street near Fourth Street. Heston will have the southeast pedestal near Sixth Street.
Until next time, Kalaka reminds you ribbon cutting for both statues will be at noon Jan. 1. Watch daily construction progress at CapitolCam.ar.
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HomeStyle on 10/22/2016