A statue of the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres, sat atop the Missouri State Capitol building for nearly a century before it was taken down last November for “remodeling and renovation.” The plan has always been for the statue to return to the building as soon as it’s ready, and that day is scheduled to be next Monday.
But State Rep. Mike Moon is trying to put a stop to it. The Republican sent a letter to Gov. Mike Parson urging him to keep the statue off the building for good because he sees it as a religious relic.
Which is a fancy way of saying he thinks it’s anti-Christian.
… If we chose to erect a statue of Jesus on, or in, some state property, there would likely be an outcry from those who disagree with our choice. Those who would oppose the statue of Jesus are the same who would argue in support of placing a false god on our Capitol’s dome. Should we not stand firm in our beliefs as well by refusing to honor a pagan god?
He also urged Parson to “not return the false god Ceres, the Roman goddess, to the top of the Capitol dome.”
There are some obvious differences that Moon neglects to mention, like the fact that virtually no one worships Ceres as they do Jesus — so this is hardly an establishment of religion — and the fact that even ostensibly Christian monuments erected by the government have now been deemed legal by the Supreme Court as long as they’ve been up for a long time. You don’t have to agree with that decision (I don’t), But it means that even under a rule that benefits Christians, the statue of Ceres wouldn’t be a problem.
Moon’s complete ignorance on this topic doesn’t come as a surprise. We first posted about him two years ago, when he posted a video on Facebook slaughtering a chicken, then pulling out its heart for viewers, all to make some point about abortion. He lacked basic decency then, and he lacks all common sense now.
Moon didn’t reply to a request for the full text of the letter. But hopefully it won’t get anywhere. This wasn’t a controversy before. It isn’t now. Moon just can’t stand it when the government isn’t actively promoting Christianity.
(Screenshot via YouTube. Thanks to Nikki for the link)