After vandalism, a new Satanic display is up outside the New Hampshire Capitol
"Un-Concord" Baphomet has been resurrected
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Days after a Baphomet statue was vandalized outside the New Hampshire Capitol, a campaign by several local artists has turned that destruction into a Satanic scene people can’t ignore.
I mentioned last week that that The Satanic Temple had erected the display in response to a Nativity scene. It featured Baphomet holding an apple and flowers, with a plaque of the Seven Fundamental Tenets at the bottom.
But hours after that statue was unveiled, it had been ripped apart and damaged. State Rep. Ellen Read, who was instrumental in making the Satanic display happen, took this picture on Tuesday morning:
Read called on the police to investigate the matter and told me there were cameras in the area that may have documented the actual destruction. A spokesperson for the police said they “could be investigating the incident as a hate crime” since this is, in fact, an attack against a particular belief.
It’s also worth mentioning that Concord Mayor Byron Champlin took a decidedly anti-Constitutional approach to this matter. Instead of doing the responsible thing and decrying the vandalism against a religious minority, he celebrated the destruction and said he never would have given Satanists a permit at all:
“My preference was to deny the permit and accept the risk of the threatened lawsuit,” Champlin said at the end of the City Council meeting Monday night. “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.”
That’s how you know he doesn’t understand the law. He doesn’t get to be the arbiter of which religions count. If a group he deems “anti-religious” wants to put up a display honoring their beliefs, and assuming there’s an open forum and they adhere to all the rules, there’s no good (much less legal) reason to deny them the permit.
Not only is that how the First Amendment works, Champlin is under the false assumption that Nativity scenes are always put up without an agenda. We know that’s not true. Sometimes, those Christian displays are erected precisely because conservatives want the community to know that only one religion—their religion—matters.
If he didn’t understand all that before, though, he’s about to get another opportunity. That’s because a group of local artists just resurrected the display.
The Concord Area Artist Coalition for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion—a newly formed group with members who wished to remain anonymous—said in a statement that they wanted to “rebuild the holiday display that was destroyed.”
What does that mean, exactly?
Well, this is the new Baphomet statue they erected in the same location this morning:
They’re calling it "Un-Concord" Baphomet. (Get it?)
It’s unclear what other precautions they’ve taken in case this one is also destroyed, but I have to think they’re aware of that possibility…
Minister Orpheus Gaur, the co-director of the Satanic Representation Campaign, told me “The original broken granite tenets were used with the hopes it would be a testament to our resiliency and a brief reminder of our struggle for religious equality.”
We owe an overwhelming amount of thanks to the Coalition, Representative Ellen Read, and the many residents of the greater Concord area who have voiced their support for our display and the free exercise of our First Amendment rights.
We are no strangers to having our beliefs undermined and always welcome civil discussions about them. Yet, rather than engaging with our tenets or seeking understanding, the response was destruction—a testament to the intolerance we seek to challenge.
We’ll see how long this one stays up, but it’s a testament to the artists and the community that the destruction of the original display isn’t going to be the final word.
Every time Christians destroy a completely inoffensive Satanic display they somehow feel threatened by, they merely reveal their own personal weaknesses and the failings of their religion.
When was the last time anyone heard of a Nativity creche being vandalized/destroyed by atheists or anyone from TST? I can tell you when: NEVER. And if it had happened, hypocritical Christians would've screamed so loud, they could've been heard on the ISS.
No, destruction is a thing for the people touting the Ten Commandments, not for those following the Seven Fundamental Tenets.
I congratulate The Satanic Temple on not backing down over their right to display an image of their faith in the public square. And I thank the artists of the Concord Area Artist Coalition for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion for contributing their talents to reinstalling the exhibit. No one should tolerate religious bigotry. We need to push back, HARD, on any infringement of religious rights, especially those of vulnerable, minority religions.