In what is becoming an unfortunate annual practice, Satanists in two states have again tested the First Amendment by setting up Satanic Christmas displays on city property.
Naturally, the displays, one in Concord, New Hampshire, and the other in St. Paul, Minnesota, have been met with widespread disdain and disapproval.
The Concord display—a statue of the demon Baphomet erected by the Satanic Temple (TST) near the State Capitol— was in fact vandalized within hours of its assembly.
TST members claim to not believe in a supernatural God or devil, but instead view Satan as a literary symbol representing “the eternal rebel” against authority and social norms. Despite their alleged lack of belief, the Satanic Temple has argued successfully in court that the government cannot pick and choose which religions are sincere and legitimate.
NH State Rep. Ellen Read (D), a self-professed member of the Satanic Temple, told the Catholic News Agency that she came up with the festive Baphomet idea, arguing that a Catholic groups’ Nativity scene should not be the only Christmas decoration there.
Read’s proposal was met with significant pushback from local officials.
“I opposed 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 political agenda, and because I do not respond well to legal extortion, the threat of litigation,” Concord Mayor Byron Champlin said during the council’s meeting last Monday. “Some on social media have celebrated the Satanic Temple’s display as a victory for religious pluralism and a reflection of our growing diversity as a community. I disagree with this. This is about an out-of-state organization cynically promoting its national agenda at the expense of the Concord community.”
Ultimately, however, the Concord City Council approved the organization’s permit in order to avoid a legal dispute.
The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion and prohibits the government from establishing a state religion. Courts have interpreted this to mean that even the most fringe, and in the case of TST, disingenuous “religions,” must be treated the same as all other religions.
The city put out a statement saying that because of the First Amendment and the potential for a lawsuit, it was forced to choose between banning all holiday displays or allowing demon statue. The city indicated that it would consider an ordinance next year banning “unattended holiday displays” at the city plaza.
“After reviewing its legal options, the City ultimately decided to continue the policy of allowing unattended displays at City Plaza during this holiday season and to allow the statue,” the city said in a statement. “It is anticipated that the City Council will review next year whether permits for unattended holiday displays should be allowed at City Plaza.”
Rep. Read slammed the mayor, suggesting that the Baphomet statue represented the beliefs of “a large percentage” of the public. “I think it’s the narrow-mindedness of the mayor, who can’t seem to wrap his head around that this represents a large percentage of the community and its beliefs,” she told the Catholic News Agency.
The display, which centered on a black statue of a pagan god, was initially attacked Saturday night shortly after it was erected while organizers were eating dinner across the street after the ceremony, she said.
Read said she believes it was attacked at least twice after that, leaving the statue in pieces and the marble base cracked. The remnants of the display were removed Tuesday, three days after it went up.
After the statue was destroyed, Read said that the Satanists “probably should” erect a new display in its place.
“I think they probably should, because I think the vandalism and the hatefulness shouldn’t go without a response. But it’s up to them,” she said.
According to its website, TST’s mission “Is To Encourage Benevolence And Empathy, Reject Tyrannical Authority, Advocate Practical Common Sense, Oppose Injustice, And Undertake Noble Pursuits.”
“We have publicly confronted hate groups, fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in public schools, applied for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property, provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict people’s reproductive autonomy, exposed harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners in mental health care, organized clubs alongside other religious after-school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations, and engaged in other advocacy in accordance with our tenets,” the website states.
Satanic displays have also erected at state capitols in Illinois and Iowa in recent years.
In a video posted to Facebook last Monday, two TST representatives unveiled the statue as one chanted “Hail Satan!”
Satanists were also allowed to set up a holiday display at the Minnesota State Capitol over the weekend. The display features a phoenix and text from the Satanic Mass of the Phoenix. The inverted Catholic rite features a practitioner consuming a “cake of light,” which is “a wafer made from meal, honey, olive oil, oil of Abramelin, and blood, semen, or both” and an evil prayer that mocks the “Our Father.”
The Minnesota Satanists proudly heralded on Facebook that they had assembled their first-ever holiday Satanic display at the Capitol building in St. Paul.
“Thanks to all the hard work from our Congregation, especially Calcifer, for helping us set up Minnesota Satanist’s first ever holiday display at the State Capital in Saint Paul!
HAIL RELIGIOUS PLURALITY!!! HAIL SATAN!!!” the Facebook message reads.
The Minnesota Satanists formed in 2017 and became affiliated with the Satanic Temple in 2019, according to the group’s website. However, they severed all ties with TST in May of 2024 to become “an independent Satanic organization.”
The MN Satanists claim to be “nontheistic Satanists,” meaning they practice Satanism without necessarily believing in the existence of a supernatural Satan.
“We champion the symbol of Lucifer as one of revolt against arbitrary authority and advocacy for the pursuit of knowledge,” the group says on its website. “Spreading The Good News Of The Dark Lord.”
The Satanic display provoked outrage from Republicans toward Democrat Governor and failed vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, Newsweek reported:
Representative Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican: “Is there anything Tim Walz won’t do to insult Minnesotans?
Representative Pete Stauber, a Minnesota Republican: “When you get a DFL [Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party] trifecta, you get a Satanic display at our state Capitol. During the holidays… what a disgrace. Only in Walz’s Minnesota.”
Andrew T. Walker, associate professor of Christian ethics and public theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: “It was wrong when Iowa Satanists did this and it is wrong when Minnesota Satanists do this, too. This obscenity is not what our founders envisioned for religious liberty protections.”
Despite the backlash, Walz has not issued a public comment on the Satanist holiday display in St. Paul.