From an application submitted by Lucien Greaves, the pseudonymous spokesperson of the Satanic Temple, a group based in New York City, to the Oklahoma State Capitol Preservation Commission for approval to install a statue outside the Oklahoma City capitol building. The Satanic Temple proposes to erect the statue near a monument to the Ten Commandments, which was placed on the capitol steps in 2012.

The statue has been designed to reflect the views of Satanists in Oklahoma City and beyond. It will serve as a beacon calling for compassion and empathy among all living creatures and will also have a functional purpose as a chair, where people of all ages may sit on the lap of the seven-foot-tall goat-headed Baphomet for inspiration and contemplation. Text on the statue shall read, from one of the tenets of the Satanic Temple: “The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice shall always prevail over the written or spoken word.” In addition, text on the back shall read a passage from Lord Byron’s dramatic work Cain: “Then who was the Demon? He / Who would not let ye live, or he who would / Have made ye live forever, in the joy / And power of knowledge?” There shall also be a quote from William Blake: “Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion.”