Twitter Reacts To Destruction Of Arkansas Ten Commandments Monument

GettyImages-53156723 — A Ten Commandments monument stands outside the Texas State Capitol June 27, 2005 in Austin, Texas. A sharply divided Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government land, but drew the line on displays inside courthouses, saying they violated the doctrine of separation of church and state. Jana Birchum/Getty Images

A monument of the Ten Commandments was destroyed early Wednesday morning in Little Rock, Arkansas, when a vehicle ran into it less than 24 hours after it was erected in front of the state capitol. The controversial monument's destruction spurred a debate on Twitter about the separation between religion and government.

Arkansas' Ten Commandments Monument Lasted Less Than 24 Hours) Dekalb Chronicle - https://t.co/VroAJ0Uw75 pic.twitter.com/1AGENFOImV
— Dekalb Chronicle (@dekalbchronicle) June 28, 2017

The conversation was prompted by the former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who called the destroyer of the monument an "idiot."

"Some idiot in my home state broke all 10 commandments at the same time," Huckabee wrote Wednesday. "He wasn't Moses and it wasn't Mt. Sinai."

Some idiot in my home state broke all 10 commandments at the same time. He wasn't Moses and it wasn't Mt. Sinai. https://t.co/r8hXrJ32JZ
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) June 28, 2017

The reaction was a mixture of condemnation against attack and backlash against monument's presence in front of the Capitol building. The argument's central themes were whether or not the Ten Commandments monument constituted religious supremacy and challenged the separation of church and state, or if the destruction of the monument was an attack on Christianity as a belief system.

They did a good job. Religious BS like this shouldn't be on public display.
— eroyor king (@eroyor) June 28, 2017

How it religious BS? The 10 commandments are good thing to model your life after Christian or not.
— DemiGodSquad (@NotSkeeter) June 28, 2017

From her religious supremacist view that is hating Christianity because in her version of the faith that's what they're supposed to do.
— GlennHawkinsWriter (@GlennTheWriter) June 28, 2017

Actually no. Your comment is spiteful. If Christians did something to you, then they're not Christ like. It happens. God will judge them.
— Jetsetter (@WorldEqualsArt) June 28, 2017

Secretary of state's spokesman Chris Powell said Capitol Police arrested 32-year-old Michael Tate Reed, who shot a video of himself running his car through the six-foot granite statue at around 5:15 am, according to CBS Little Rock affiliate KTHV-TV. He was booked into Pulaski County jail Wednesday on preliminary charges of defacing objects of public interest, criminal trespass, and first-degree criminal mischief.

The video was streamed on Facebook live to Reed's account yelling, "Oh my goodness. Freedom!" before crashing into the monument.

Others on Twitter argued about the legality of the monument's presence, the "slippery slope" that the monument represented, while others said that this was an indication that the country is "headed in the wrong direction."

Let's leave it to the law instead.

Law the erection of this monument was in clear violation of.
— Richard Desjardin (@Rddesjardin) June 28, 2017

Next, it's a sharia law statue instead of your god's #TenCommandments. If the state allows for one, it must allow for all, a slippery slope.
— Kimberly (@EnglProfsr) June 28, 2017

It amazes me how something as simple as 10 Commandments can cause such hatred. This country is definitely headed in the Wrong direction!
— Richard C Hendry (@richc580) June 28, 2017

Before the monument was put up, it had already stirred up controversy. The Satanic Temple and the American Civil Liberties Union already said they planned on suing the state of Arkansas over the promotion of Christianity, according to CNN Tuesday.

Religion Twitter