Several secularist groups, including the Satanic Temple, have expressed plans to sue Arkansas over the placement of a new Ten Commandments monument at the state Capitol.
The monument was unveiled on the Capitol grounds on Thursday, nearly a year after a man destroyed the first version of the display by ramming it with his car.
Sen. Jason Rapert, who introduced the legislation that allowed the installation of the monument on public grounds, argued that the display was not intended to promote a religion, but to serve as a reminder of America's history.
"The sole reason that we donated this monument to the state of Arkansas is because the Ten Commandments are an important component to the foundation of the laws and the legal system of the United States of America and of the state of Arkansas," Rapert said during the dedication ceremony, according to Arkansas Times.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arkansas, as well as the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, have expressed plans to challenge the installation of the monument in court.
The Satanic Temple has also stated its intention to file a lawsuit, but the group plans to intervene in the suits of the other two organizations rather than join them because it does not want to remove the display.
"Even though the facts are the same ... our claim is different, in that we're not asking for that to come down," Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves said, referring to the Ten Commandments monument, according to the Arkansas Times. "We're just saying that if it's going to be there, it's illegal for them to deny our monument to be on the Capitol grounds as well".
The Temple is planning to install a 10-foot Baphomet statue on Capitol grounds, similar to the display that it proposed in Oklahoma before the State Supreme Court declared the Ten Commandments monument there to be unconstitutional.
"It's ready to go. Ready to be placed," Greaves said noting that the statue is currently stored at the Temple's headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts.
Rapert, who also headed American History and Heritage Foundation, which raised private funds for the monument, contended that the placing of the Ten Commandments display does not violate the constitution.
"The [U.S.] Supreme Court has determined that privately funded, passive displays of the Ten Commandments are constitutional," he argued, noting that he visited similar monuments on public grounds at state capitols in Phoenix, Denver and Austin.
The senator said that he was not concerned about the potential costs of the legal challenges to the monument, because his legislation, Act 1231, allows the legislature to direct the costs to the Texas-based firm First Liberty Institute.
