At least 100 people were invited to the recent unveiling of a Satanic statue featuring Baphomet being flanked by two children. The statue was originally supposed to be placed at the Oklahoma state capitol but may now become the core issue of efforts to have it placed next to a contentious religious monument in Arkansas.
Only recently, the Satanic Temple decided to unveil the Baphomet statue in Detroit, Michigan, saying that its good community of adherents in the city, with more than 200 members, would help make the event a night of noise, chaos and debauchery.
“Come dance with the Devil and experience history in the making,” its invitation read.
Expectedly, a group of pastors decided to protest against the event by contacting the owner of the chosen venue, Bert’s Warehouse, to ask him to cancel the scheduled unveiling. Owner Bert Dearing told the media that upon realizing which organization had booked his property and what exactly his facility was going to be used for, he returned to the Satanic Temple all the money they had deposited for the event.
Due to all the opposition, the Satanic Temple went on to plan the event at a secret venue in the city and issue special invitations to ensure it was not crashed by protesters. On the day of the unveiling, some guests dressed in black while others wore devil horns, as they waited to enter the venue in downtown Detroit. Reportedly, once the attendees entered the first venue, they were sent off to a second location to throw off protesters who had intended to create a commotion at the event. Still, some who took note of the secret venue managed to protest against it while driving by.
Online video footage captured the unveiling, which took place at 11:30 pm. Guests cheered with slogans such as “Hail Satan,” as two shirtless men took off the drape that covered the statue and went on to embrace one another and kiss before it.
In the meanwhile, a group of 50 people stood outside Bert’s Warehouse to pray against Satanism in the city.
“We’re fighting for the soul of America. We’re fighting for the soul of the City of Detroit,” David Bullock, pastor of Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church in Highland Park. “The last thing we should do in Detroit is have a welcome party for the Devil.”
Similarly, James Bluford of Rochester Hills prayed with his flock of followers, saying, “Satan has no place in this city, or any other city.”
As reported earlier, the Satanic Temple had raised money in 2013 to have the Baphomet statue designed and made in an effort to make a statement about the contentious Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma state capitol. It issued a statement about its true intentions after American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the state, explaining how a religious display on government property infringes upon the Establishment Clause of the American Constitution. The Satanic Temple said then that it would like the Baphomet statue to be placed next to the Ten Commandments monument in order to address ACLU’s valid concerns.
“The statue will serve as a beacon calling for compassion and empathy among all living creatures,” spokesperson Lucien Greaves explained in his application to the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission. “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.”
In May 2014, the Satanic Temple announced that the statue was almost complete and offered details about its appearance. Americans were scandalized to hear that the statue featured the goat-headed Baphomet sitting on a throne with a pentagram over its head, all of which serve as symbols for the occult. They were even more shocked to learn that the statue also featured children who have their eyes fixated on the deity.
In September last year, district court Judge Thomas Prince ruled that the Ten Commandments monument serves more of a historic purpose and less of a religious one, as it happens to be placed alongside 51 other similar monuments on the same plot of land. Obviously, the ruling was then challenged at the state’s Supreme Court, which ruled only last month that the religious structure does in fact violate Oklahoma’s prohibition on the use of government property for supporting any religion. The case continues to be appealed today. Even though the situation in Oklahoma led to the Satanic Temple stopping its plans of placing the Baphomet statue next to the Ten Commandments monument on the capitol grounds, the group has now said that it would try to place the structure next to a similar decalogue display in Arkansas.
The Satanic Temple insists that it is neither a devil-worshipping group nor an atheist group.
“We consider ourselves non-theistic Satanists,” Detroit spokesperson Jex Blackmore told the media. “Just as much as we get people who think that we’re into the biblical concept of Satan, we get people who think that we’re just posing as Satanists, and not truly Satanists or whatever you would say. Non-theistic Satanism is part of modern Satanism.”
Photo Credits: Public Broadcasting Service
