29-year-old Michael Reed urinated on and drove his car into a statue of the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Oct. 24, saying the devil himself instigated the act. Reed was taken to a mental health facility after walking into a federal building and making derogatory terms about President Obama and admitting to damaging the statue, the U.S. Secret Service told Associated Press. Oklahoma Governor, Mary Fallin called the destruction an “appalling” act and other authorities are furious.Republican State Representative, Mike Ritze and his family spent nearly $10,000 having the, now destroyed, Ten Commandments monument erected, said Associated Press, “We consider this an act of violence against the state of Oklahoma. We are obviously shocked and dismayed, but we’re not discouraged,” said Ritze, vowing to have the monument rebuilt.Rebuilding the statue might be hard to do though, according to Hannah Seurynck, a freshman from Idaho. Seurnyck said, “I read a similar story about a statue of the Ten Commandments in Idaho. People wanted to take it down.” Citizens felt the Ten Commandments statue was too religious for a government monument and demanded it be taken down, continued Seurnyck.Although some non-Christian citizens believe giving preference to Christian monuments is unfair and encroaching on the rights of freedom of religion, Seurnyck believes the monument “should be left up, though, because taking it down is also infringing on the rights of the people who put it up.” McKenna Hawkins, a freshman from Colorado, said, “I think this country was based on Christianity; I think it is our founding religion. People may disagree with me, but I think we founded this country off of the belief in God and I think it’s perfectly fine to have a monument of the Ten Commandments.” Oklahoma City’s Ten Commandments statue was under the same such attack as the Idaho monument Seurnyck described. The Oklahoma monument was erected in 2012, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma (ACLU) has been suing to have it removed. The group claims the monument violates the state’s constitution, and could be seen as a state endorsement of religion, said Associated Press. In the lawsuit that followed last month, an Oklahoma judge ruled the monument did not violate the Oklahoma constitution. However, ACLU attorneys filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court in another effort to get the Ten Commandments monument taken down, but Reed beat them to it.The Ten Commandments statue and other controversial, Christian religious monuments have led religious parties to seek their own monuments on government grounds. Requests have been made by a Hindu leader in Nevada and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster for their own monuments. One group, earlier this year, unveiled designs for a 7-foot-tall statue of Satan, said Associated Press, probably something of a victory for Reed, a self-described “Satanist.” While authorities have not ruled out Satan’s influence, Reed is reportedly still in the care of a mental health facility. “Maybe [Reed] didn’t take his medication, or maybe he had never been diagnosed or treated. Crashing his car might just be a snippet of a bigger picture, so we shouldn’t be quick to judge,” said Benjamin Thomas, a senior from Oregon majoring in graphic design.
Writer: Camron Stockford ~ Multimedia Journalist
