"Satanology" activist challenges cities that raised Christian flags

Chaz Stevens is testing his First Amendment rights after Hartford's controversial flag decision

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I recently wrote about how the city of Hartford, Connecticut had flown a Christian flag outside City Hall just before Easter. Two members of the city council warned their colleagues that this counted as a city-endorsed message (a potential First Amendment violation) and opened the door to other groups that may want to fly their own flags outside the building. They were unfortunately outnumbered 7-2.

Now activist Chaz Stevens is prepared to put Hartford—and several other cities—to the test by asking them to fly one of his flags endorsing “The Church of Satanology and Perpetual Soirée.”

He’s already made requests in other cities that have hoisted a religious symbol, including Bridgeport (CT), Merced (California), Johnson City (Tennessee), Lock Haven (Pennsylvania), and Manteca (California).

“I'm an atheist. I don't believe in Satan, but it's to draw an uncomfortable attention to something. So, it's pushback, the fact that there's flags up -- a Christian flags or religious flags at City Hall and public space that's uncomfortable to a lot of us,” said Chaz Stevens, of the Church of Satanology. “[The flag] says Satan loves the first amendment. It's not profane. It's not. It's not vulgar. There's nothing about this flag that should raise an eyebrow. If you put the cross up, which is a symbol of their beliefs, you should put up my flag.”

…

“When they put up the Christian flag, they made the flagpole a public forum and a public forum, you have to have the free flow of information. You can't pick and choose,” Stevens added.

When I spoke to Stevens on Monday, he said he was planning to send letters to many, many more cities.

That argument that the flagpole would be seen as a public forum is precisely why Hartford City Council member John Gale argued against raising a religious flag in the first place. (A city ordinance says the flagpole is not a “forum for free expression,” which made the raising of a Christian flag all the more egregious.)

Stevens, who hopes to create other activists just like him through his website REVOLT Training, said in an email to the leaders of the various cities he’s targeting, “You’ve opened the door. I’m simply walking through it—with horns held high, and very very sharp elbows… I’m not here to provoke—I’m here to participate. But I won’t be denied the rights you’ve granted others.”

Chaz Stevens (provided by Stevens)

The irony is that the very argument he’s using to raise his flag in these cities is the one pushed by conservative Christians to fly their flag in Boston. The Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the city couldn’t deny a man’s request to raise a Christian flag outside City Hall when they created an open forum for speech.

The Christian flag (via Adobe Spark)

The push to get Stevens’ flags up is already having the intended effect.

On Saturday, a story about Stevens’ efforts made the front page of the Hartford Courant. (The above-the-fold story included his line, “If you play a stupid game, you are going to win stupid prizes.”)

In yet another story (behind a paywall), Stevens laid out his case for making these cities uncomfortable:

“I don't care about clicks, I don't care about followers. I don't have a great social media presence. None of that matters to me. What matters to me is change,” Stevens said Friday morning. “I do this because the government overreaches, and I turn the mirror. I turn 180 degrees. I make them swerve as they have to apply the laws that they wrote for others, and they have to apply it to themselves. This is all about the First Amendment.”

One of the things Stevens mentions in his letters to all these city officials is that he’s been successful in making these kind of requests.

When the Broward County Public Schools in Florida allowed churches to buy advertising outside its buildings, he asked for the same permission… only to be denied. He then sued the district. Even though the legal battle didn’t go his way, he won the war because the school district changed its policies to explicitly ban all religious and political messages. (That, of course, creates a different legal problem that a well-funded right-wing group could exploit if it wanted to...)

Will Stevens be successful? So far, most of the cities where he’s made these requests have not responded. But there have been two very interesting reactions. One came from Hartford’s Joshua Michtom, one of the city council members who voted against the Christian flag in part because he worried it would lead to this very situation.

“It seems like this letter [from Stevens] was sent to poke the city in the eye for its poor choices previously and it seems like he knows how to do that,” Michtom said. “Certainly, the law is on his side. I will vote against the religious flag, and I vote against raising his flag for the same reason. But it seems to me what he is going to do is sue us to force us to raise his flag and he would be right to do so. Maybe we will learn a lesson that’s not usually what city council does but maybe this will be the special occasion.”

Another came from the city of New Britain, Connecticut, which said to a reporter that they rejected the proposal because all flag requests have to come from local residents, and Stevens lives in Florida. (If anyone in New Britain wants to raise the Satanology flag, I’m sure Stevens would love to hear from you.)

That city’s flag policies, however, are questionable because they say they will “not fly flags considered to be inappropriate, offensive, discriminatory or controversial” and that they have the right to do that “to maintain peace and public safety.”

But what counts as “controversial”? That’s obviously subjective. I find the Christian flag offensive, so would they allow that one to be raised? Would they deny Stevens’ flag for being inappropriate while permitting one that endorses Christianity? Who gets to decide?

Stevens said in an email that he considers that policy “selective censorship cloaked in bureaucratic overreach.” If cities that have a public forum for flags don’t raise his, he plans to go after them.

He also told me the best way for people to help would be to donate to his cause, raising funds that would allow him to sue these cities if they ultimately reject his proposals. “Help me stop unfair religious favoritism and hold officials accountable,” Stevens said. “Your donation supports public records requests, legal fights, and powerful public actions. Let's make it clear: free speech is not up for debate.”

He added: “Satan loves you, as do I.”

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