In England in the 1500’s, a group of Christian believers (Calvinists, actually), were being persecuted for their religious beliefs, which were different than the accepted practices in the Church of England. They were being legally forced to worship God the way that the Church of England wanted them to, or face real, life-changing consequences. So they left England and fled to Holland and then to Plymouth, MA. After much hardship, they finally found what they were looking for: a place to worship God according to the Bible and the dictates of their consciences. They understood that, just as Joshua says in Joshua 24:15, each person must choose to serve the Lord for himself or herself. Worship of God cannot be forced.

This principle was foundational for the United States and is enshrined in the first amendment to the Constitution, the first words of the Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” In other words, the government is not allowed to create a state religion that forces everyone to legally worship a certain way or to be a certain religion. And the government cannot keep you from the free exercise of your personal religion.” This has been the bedrock religious law of our nation for 234 years.

Fast forward to this year. The Iowa Legislature allows various groups to erect displays in the capitol rotunda if they fill out the proper forms. This year there were several displays including a nativity scene, a Christmas tree, a wish for “Happy Holidays” from the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers, and yes, a display from the Satanic Temple with a statue of Baphomet.

The display got people upset, which I believe was its intended purpose. People have been arguing with each other about it for over a week. Religious leaders spoke out against it. Finally, Michael Cassidy, a Christian who objected to the display, drove to Des Moines and destroyed it in an act of what he called “Christian civil disobedience.” Such men as John MacArthur and Ron DeSantis have even called for the display to be disallowed. I normally agree with these guys, but not today. 

The question here does not concern the legitimacy or correctness of any particular religion, but is simply one of freedom: do non-Christians (including Satanists) have the freedom to express themselves religiously and worship as they see fit (so long as it doesn’t harm others)? I believe they do.

Does this mean I agree with non-Christians? Absolutely not. I firmly believe that humanity can be divided into two distinct groups: those who have trusted in the death of Jesus Christ the Messiah of God for salvation, and those who have not. The “those who have not” consists of people of varying religious views such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Atheism, Satanism, Mormonism, Judaism, Islam, Shintoism, etc.

The proper response (as evidenced by the Lord Jesus and the apostles) to seeing someone worshipping someone or something other than God is to share the truth with them and leave it at that. We are not called to run around destroying other people’s temples, we are called to be witnesses.

Do I LIKE a Satanic display? Absolutely not. But the goal of Christians is not correction but conversion. We should not be attempting to make sinners less sinful, keeping them from expressing their erroneous faiths, but to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with them so that they become converted and reject their erroneous faith themselves. Destroying a display does not achieve this goal, it only makes Christians look bad.