Satanic Temple to sue Mississippi if God is printed on redesigned state flag

First Amendment lawyer Marc J. Randazza of Randazza legal group stated in a letter that his client, The Satanic Temple, "has asked us to bring as issue of constitutional importance to your attention," according to the Daily Wire.

"We understand that your state is planning to take the very positive step of removing the Confederate battle flag from the Mississippi state flag. However, it is our understanding that the proposal calls for it to be replaced with 'In God we Trust', a proposal you seem to endorse."

"While the Satanic Temple supports the removal of the Confederate flag, 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."

This comes as Republican Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed legislation in June, creating a nine-member commission to redesign the state flag with the phrase "In God We Trust" excluding the Confederate flag.

Randazza added that if any religious phrase were printed on the new flag, mention of Satan should also be included. "Before you hand wave this idea away, I would like to draw your attention to the seven tenets of the Satanic Temple."

Randazza has also represented Alex Jones and The Daily Stormer—a neo-Nazi website. He had previously represented The Satanic Temple in 2018 against Twitter, charging the social media platform with religious discrimination.

He added that The Satanic Temple's tenets seem to be more "consistent with Mississippian values than even the Ten Commandments."

He concluded by saying that "should the state of Mississippi insist on placing this exclusionary religious phrase on its flag, we do intend to file suit and seek injunctive relief against it."

Though The Satanic Temple does not believe in a personal Satan, it instead holds that "to embrace the name Satan is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions."