The State of Mississippi has found itself facing the prospects of a lawsuit from the Satanic Temple after it voiced its displeasure over a certain element in the state's new flag.
As The Hill points out, the former state flag, which featured the Confederate symbol, was recently retired amid the ongoing "nationwide push to remove symbols of the Civil War-era pro-slavery cause".
The new flag's design is expected to include the phrase "In God We Trust", which apparently did not sit well with the Satanic Temple who penned a letter to state Attorney General of Mississippi Lynn Fitch, arguing that "removing one divisive symbol of exclusion only to replace it with a divisive phrase of exclusion does not eliminate exclusion, but rather moves it from one group to a collection of others."
"On the other hand, we can imagine that there would be some Mississippians who would be a bit put off by the words ‘In Satan we Trust’ on the state flag," the letter notes. "If you can imagine that, then you might imagine how atheists, Satanists, and other people of nontheistic faiths could feel excluded by the addition of ‘In God we Trust’ to the state flag."
The group also warned that "should the state of Mississippi insist on placing this exclusionary religious phrase on its flag", they intend to "file suit and seek injunctive relief against this act."
News of this development left many social media users visibly amused, with some musing about the apparent weirdness of the current year.
This is going to be fun to watch pic.twitter.com/gerpDuhbg0
— TrashRat (@trashytrashrat) July 9, 2020
I guess you could call their attorney the devil’s advocate.
— A. Q. McCool (@AQMcCool) July 9, 2020
Welcome to 2020,the weirdest year ever
— tristan (@tweetentristan) July 9, 2020
— Diana M North (@DianaMNorth1) July 9, 2020
