On Monday night, a satanic statue erected by the Temple of Satan outside the New Hampshire State House was destroyed. The monument was smashed less than 2 days after it was erected in Concord, the capital of the state. Police are investigating the incident. The Temple of Satan has made a holiday tradition of placing statues of the demon Baphomet beside traditional nativity scenes in the capital.
The statue depicts the demon clutching a bouquet of purple lilacs in its right hand, symbolizing the state flower of New Hampshire. The sculpture features tablets listing the seven tenets of The Satanic Temple and a black and white satanic flag. Baphomet is wrapped with a cloth emblazoned with the goat’s head of the TST logo, two inverted crosses, and an inverted pentagram.
During the installation, Satanists chanted ” Hail Satan.” According to a minister of the Church of Satan, Orpheus Gaur, the apple in the figure’s left hand symbolized “our quest for knowledge, defiance in the face of arbitrary authority and our commitment to self-determination.” The Co-founder of the TST complained about what happened to the effigy “They attack our property, threaten us over social media, destroy our displays, then bewail the violence they imagine we did them.”
State Rep. Ellen Read, a Democrat from Newmarket who organized the display, believes Christians are to blame. She bemoaned the existence of people who “could not tolerate a simple expression of beliefs by a group that doesn’t believe as they do.” Read states that she found Christian symbols at the scene. The Democrat has introduced legislation to strip all mentions of God from state oaths.
The City of Concord was loath to grant the Church of Satan a permit but did so under threat of legal action. The Mayor of Concord, Byron Champlin, explained “My preference was to deny the permit and accept the risk of the threatened lawsuit. I oppose the permit because I believe the request was made not in the interest of promoting religious equity but in order to drive an anti-religious agenda.”
Cornerstone, a Christian group, provided additional context. “The Satanic Temple are not Satanists. They have no religious belief in any Satan figure. They are normal, atheist feminists who use Satanic imagery as a legal tactic, to fundraise through media exposure, and because offending Christian grandmothers brings a sense of meaning to their sad lives” they explained.
Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem) also weighed in on the issue. “…This is another step … to undermine the values that make our state special, and to make you feel offended and turned off from getting involved. From offensive displays to legislation that challenges our way of life, New Hampshire Democrats have aligned themselves with the extremism that threatens Granite Staters’ families and freedoms.”
Today’s photos of the Satanic Temple’s holiday display in Concord, NH 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/agk8n544cf
— OneOutOfFour (@OneOutof4) December 10, 2024
Lucian Grey, whose real name is Douglas Mesner, still holds that displays like this are important. “Hopefully, for some, our limited presence and perseverance will prove inspirational in demonstrating that freedom of religion — the ability to believe or disbelieve as we see fit without consequence to our civic capacities — is still alive, and more in need of defending now than at any other time in our lives,” he said.