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New Hampshire capital includes Satanists in Nativity scene ‘to avoid litigation’
Concord said “to avoid litigation,” they had to choose between banning all holiday displays installed or allowing the Satanist's monument.
New Hampshire’s capital city said it will allow the Satanic Temple to join their nativity scene this holiday season, in part “to avoid litigation.”
The City of Concord said in a statement that the temple, or TST, received a permit to place their monument during December near the city’s nativity scene near the New Hampshire Statehouse.
“The Satanic Temple has been making requests to install its monuments at holiday displays as part (of) a show of unity and religious pluralism,” the city said on Facebook. “Throughout the country, the Satanic Temple has both threatened and brought lawsuits under the First Amendment when excluded.”
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The Satanic Temple, which is based in Salem, Massachusetts, erected a statue of Baphomet, a deity and occult symbol with yellow eyes. The statue also wears a purple stole with upside crosses, and a tablet with the temple’s seven fundamental tenets sits before the statue.
Leaders with TST unveiled the statue Saturday night, where TST Minister for New Hampshire and Vermont Vivian Kelly praised the city’s decision to include them.
“It takes a lot of courage to stand up, and for someone to do so in politics really warms my heart,” Kelly said. “Just because we’re not large in numbers doesn’t mean our beliefs are less important than any of the other religions represented here.”
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The City of Concord said “under the First Amendment and to avoid litigation,” they had to choose between banning all holiday displays installed or allowing TST’s monument.
“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,” their statement read.
Concord Mayor Byron Champlin was critical of the display in an interview with The Boston Globe and said he will appoint a committee to evaluate the city’s options to regulate unattended displays.
“I opposed the permit on the basis that the request was not made in the interest of promoting religious equity, but to drive an anti-religious political agenda leveraging the attention one can receive during this time of year,” he told the Globe.
The Globe reported that within 48 hours, the tablet had been cracked and chunks of text were missing. TST did not return a request for comment Monday evening.
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