(Radio Iowa) – Republican leaders aren’t sure whether the 2024 legislature will set new rules for Iowa Capitol displays after the controversy surrounding this month’s Satanic Temple of Iowa display. House Speaker Pat Grassley says the topic was discussed earlier this month during a private meeting of House Republicans.

“Quite frankly, when we brought it up within our caucus…it’s something that we we do not support. It’s not anything we really want to see around here, however as elected representatives we also have to respect First Amendment rights,” Grassley says. “That group, even if I don’t agree with anything they stand for, did follow the process.”

The Satanic Temple of Iowa applied for and received a permit from the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to set up its display in the Capitol rotunda for two weeks. “It’s a really tough issue and it’s gotten a lot of people pretty fired up about it,” Grassley says, “but at the end of the day we have to follow the Constitution and we smart about what we’re doing and not just be reactive because we completely disagree with what’s displayed.”

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says he and other G-O-P senators are reviewing the current rules for Capitol displays. “I don’t know what that means for next year if we pass a bill or what that looks like,” Whitver says, “but there are a lot of people that are disgusted about it.”

A man from Mississippi has been charged with vandalizing the statue in the Satanic Temple’s display. A nativity scene also was displayed in the Iowa Capitol this year, along with a banner from the Iowa Atheist and Free Thinkers and a display by the national Freedom from Religion Foundation.

Early this month Governor Reynolds issued a written statement, saying in a free society the best response to objectionable speech is more speech and she invited like-minded Iowans to join her in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the nativity scene on display in the rotunda.