On Satanic Idols and Free Speech

The legal principle is simple: My right to speak does not include a right to destroy another person’s speech. There is little doubt that the Satanic Temple’s display is constitutionally protected. Supreme Court jurisprudence prohibits state governments from privileging one religion over another in access to state facilities. Given that the Iowa State Capitol had allowed other groups to set up religious displays, they were required by law to let the Satanic Temple set one up too — indeed, the temple explained it had placed the statue as a symbol of their right to religious freedom. It’s easy not to take the Satanists seriously — the temple doesn’t even really believe in Satan, calling him a “mythological framework” — but the free-speech principle here is no joke. None of this is radical or new. It’s been settled constitutional law for decades. You don’t have a true free speech regime if the law doesn’t protect the speech of ideological or religious minorities.