By CHARLES KACHIKOTI –

IN January this year, a satanic group unveiled designs for a 7-foot-tall statue of Satan which it intends to put at the Oklahoma State Capitol in the United States, where a Ten Commandments monument was placed in 2012.
Sean Murphy of the Associated Press reported on January 7 that the New York-based Satanic Temple formally submitted its application to a panel that oversees the Capitol grounds, including an artist’s rendering that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard that’s often used as a symbol of the occult.
In the rendering, Satan is sitting in a pentagram-adorned throne with smiling children at his sides.
“The monument has been designed to reflect the views of Satanists in Oklahoma City and beyond,” temple spokesman Lucien Greaves said in a statement. “The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation.”
The Satanic Temple maintains that the Oklahoma Legislature’s decision to authorize a privately funded Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol opened the door for its statue.
The Ten Commandments monument was placed on the north steps of the building in 2012, and the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sued to have it removed.
Similar requests for monuments have been made by a Hindu leader in Nevada, an animal rights group and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
In response, the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission recently placed a moratorium on considering any new requests.
“Anybody can still make their request, but we’ll hold off on considering them until the lawsuit is adjudicated,” commission Chairperson Trait Thompson said.
The push by the Satanic Temple has rankled elected leaders in this conservative state known as the buckle of the Bible Belt, who say such a proposal would never be approved by the commission.
“I think you’ve got to remember where you are. This is Oklahoma, the middle of the heartland,” said Representative Don Armes, R-Faxon. “I think we need to be tolerant of people who think different than us, but this is Oklahoma, and that’s not going to fly here.”
While Greaves acknowledges the Satanic Temple’s effort is in part to highlight what it says is hypocrisy of state leaders in Oklahoma, he says the group is serious about having a monument placed there.
The report said the group already had by January raised nearly half of the $20,000 it says it needed to build the monument.
Precedent
The Satanic Temple has set a precedent, and once the application goes through, more statues of Lucifer will mushroom all over the US. This is a direct result of societies willfully and purposefully uprooting the Bible, plaques bearing Bible quotations and prayer from public places.
You cannot have such a statue appearing openly in your country and not be a Satanic Nation. And since the Baphomet depicts Satan on a throne, the message is that the devil is (at long last!) enthroned publicly in America.
Is it meaningless that some nations have constitutionally identified themselves as Islamic republics, some Buddhist, some post-secular and others voodoo states? No—crucial spiritual dynamics are at play.
But somehow, within the Body of Christ in Zambia many prefer to believe that a Christian Nation is a meaningless concept. Some pastors even teach that from church pulpits.
However, even in the eyes of the Satanic Temple of New York, whose members are specifically and directly opposed to Jesus Christ, the Christian Nation declaration is not meaningless. That is why they have moved in to see to it that any vestiges of America’s biblical heritage are expunged from public view.
In all sincerity, such national spiritual positions are not meaningless, because what is at stake is national character. Spiritual positions of nations, and even the absence of such positions, have an evident direct impact on national psyche and the entire socio-political and socio-economic ethos.
Somehow, when it comes to Zambia, it has to be meaningless that the country identifies itself with Jesus Christ even at constitutional level.
The Christian nation declaration is a vision statement and values statement all rolled into one.  It espouses a national vision, a people’s mission and family values as encapsulated in the lyrics of the National Anthem.
It is a statement of strategic intent. It is a rallying point giving credence to national development plans and bringing moral sensitivity into governance.
It is Zambia’s view of the future.
National character
Every nation has a soul, and that soul has to have character.
The declaration that Dr Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (FJT in short) made at State House in December 1991, covenanting the nation to the Most High, was a statement of goals and ideals. It is those goals and ideals that were, and still are, intended to give Zambia a national character.
Such a clause does not mean all Zambians are believers in Jesus Christ. Such a clause does not mean the State or the Church will force people to become believers in Christ. Such a clause does not mean people are compelled to ditch their religious beliefs and become Christians.
Crucially, that clause is not actionable in any legal process in Zambia.
What that clause means is that the polity and the entirety of governance ethos will measure itself against biblical standards.
This has been expressed from ancient times at every occasion when heads of state and government are sworn-in on the Bible.
In Zambia, presidents, Cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries, defence and security chiefs, judges and clergymen and women, are sworn-in on the Bible. Individuals of an Islamic or other persuasion have, here in Zambia, been sworn into high office on the basis of the Quran or other books sacred to them.
No individual, and likewise no nation, can exist and be defined without character.
In Zambia’s case, the cultural and traditional positions of the 73 tribes are in many places in agreement with biblical teaching: The Declaration did not come out of thin air.
For example the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman; the sanctity of chastity (prohibiting pre-marital or extra-marital sex); standards regarding the upbringing of children in a home; the sanctity and clarity of the positions and roles of husband and wife, and likewise mother and father, are all consistent in our ethnic groupings.
There is a drive worldwide to legalise certain aberrations that for good reasons were unlawful in society; and what is emerging is a contemporary global village of lawless thought and lawless culture.
Until 1967, when the first Satanist Church was built in San Francisco, US, and 1969 when the second one was built in California, US, there were no openly demon-worshipping establishments in the public domain.
Today witches are operating in the open and witchcraft, necromancy and many other previously intolerable abominations are now sang about in popular music, as well as taught in some American universities.
Until 1973, when the American Psychiatry Association changed its position, homosexuality was scientifically considered a result of a mental problem. Until 2013, when the USA legalised the use of marijuana for non-medical (leisure) purposes, the substance was considered harmful and illegal. The Dagga Party of South Africa is likewise campaigning for the legalisation of dagga.
All this is proof that a nation that neglects to set certain boundaries for its collective soul will interpret and legislate on the basis of human rights according to what every individual wants. That is the making of a society that is law-less.
Purpose
It is true that after FJT uttered the Christian nation declaration between the pillars of State House on the night of Sunday, December 29, 1991, he made several mistakes and blunders by which the declaration is often judged.
It is also true that when the declaration was made, a number of church leaders from various denominations mishandled the new dispensation and made pronouncements that caused embarrassment to the Body of Christ and divided believers. Pentecostal leaders are often cited as the worst culprits. It cannot be denied that the declaration’s essential purpose was lost in the hullabaloo that ensued.
No one can escape the truth that many church leaders exploited FJT instead of assisting him to rule in a manner demonstrating genuine Holy Spirit-inspired leadership.
The still outstanding reality of the declaration is that it holds depths of value in its purpose. Instead of fashioning new machetes to slay FJT, an already resting national icon, we will do well to read afresh the words of that declaration.
That night, President Chiluba stood between the northern pillars of State House in the same manner that King Josiah had stood in II Kings 23:3 and made the following Covenant before the Living God as the Old Testament king had done:
“As you might remember, my first function after I was sworn in as the President of Zambia was to pray to my Heavenly Father. That was not just a part of the ceremony, but it was a prayer of thankfulness born out of my personal convictions that the change we have witnessed in Zambia in 1991 has only been possible because of the grace of God.
“It is therefore only natural that we have this solemn occasion here today, whereby I—on behalf of the Zambian nation—enter into a covenant with the one true God, whose love and saving grace is revealed in God the Son, Jesus Christ. I personally testify to the mighty saving power of Jesus Christ, who said in John 14:6, ‘I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the father except through Me.’
“When we talk about entering into a covenant with God as a nation, then it is only possible because God took the first initiative by sending Jesus to die for the sins of the world. Jesus established a new covenant through the shedding of his blood. Jesus says in Luke 22:20, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’ It is only on the basis of the blood of Jesus atoning for our sins that we can approach God today.
“The Bible, which is the Word of God, abounds with proof that a nation is blessed, whenever it enters into a covenant with God and obeys the Word of God. The opposite is also true. Any nation that turns its back on God and turns to idolatry and wickedness will come under the judgment of God and suffer. God says in Jeremiah 7:23, ‘I gave Israel this command: Obey Me and I will be your God and you will be My people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.’
“My dear fellow Zambians, all God’s commandments in the Bible have this purpose: That it may go well with you. I sincerely wish that it may go well with every one of you individually and with all of us nationally. Therefore let us understand what is involved in keeping a covenant with God and let us decide to obey His commands.
“In a covenant there are certain things we have to do, and there are other things that God promises to do. We have to humble ourselves and repent from our wicked ways. Then God promises to forgive and heal the land. God told King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14, ‘If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
“During the time of elections many Christians were praying according to this Bible verse. The Church of Jesus Christ was praying like this both because of the desperate situation in the nation and because of the conviction that the initiative in national affairs is with God and His people.
“You have heard me before compare the nation with a sick person. I have said: ‘We are sick and weak, but we are still alive. And we are determined to get well again.’ Today I want to say to all of you: We need God to heal our land! I will therefore now do my part of the covenant, as I will identify myself with the Zambian nation in the following prayer:
“‘Dear God, as a nation we now come to Your Throne of Grace, and we humble ourselves and admit our guilt. We repent from all our wicked ways of idolatry, witchcraft, the occult, immorality, injustice and corruption and all other sins that have violated your righteous laws. We turn away from all this and renounce it all in Jesus’ Name.
“We ask for forgiveness and cleansing through the blood of Jesus. Therefore we thank You that You will heal our land. We pray that You will send healing, restoration, revival, blessing and prosperity to Zambia. Amen.’
“On behalf of the nation I have now entered into a covenant with the Living God, and therefore I want to make the following declaration:
“‘I declare today that I submit myself as President to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I likewise submit the Government and the entire nation of Zambia to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I further declare that Zambia is a Christian Nation, that will seek to be governed by the Righteous Principles of the Word of God. Righteousness and justice must prevail in all levels of authority, and then we will see the righteousness of God exalting Zambia.’
“‘My fellow Zambians, let this message reach all civil servants in all Government departments. The time of corruption and bribery is over. For too long these wicked practices have been destroying and tearing down the nation. Now the hour has come for building up. The hour has come for stability.
“Proverbs 29:4 declares that one who is greedy for bribes tears down the nation, but by justice a king—or a president—gives a country stability. The book of Romans 13:11, urges us to understand the present time as the hour has come for us to wake up from our slumber, because our salvation is near. The night is nearly over and the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.
“‘My fellow Zambians. A new dawn has come to Zambia. May God bless us and help us all to live according to his Righteous Law.’”