Near the city Christmas tree and a nativity scene, a new holiday display now stands in the city plaza in front of the State House.
The Satanic Temple has installed its own holiday monument in front of the State House, unveiled Saturday evening.
As a group gathered there shouted “Hail Satan!”, a black tarp was pulled from atop the statue, revealing a black Baphomet with bright yellow eyes. In its right hand, the statue grasps a bouquet of lilacs, and in its left, an apple sits in its palm, representing “a quest for knowledge, defiance in the face of arbitrary authority, and our commitment to self-determination,” according to Orpheus Gaur, a minister with the temple’s New Hampshire and Vermont congregation, and also a director of the Satanic Representation Campaign, during the display’s reveal, which was streamed live on Facebook. He also designed the statue, according to a press release.
The goat-headed statue appears to be clad in an ankle-length black robe with a rope belt knotted around its waist. Around its shoulders, a dark purple stole features The Satanic Temple’s symbol plus a pair of black, upside-down crosses. At its foot, a slab lists the temple’s Seven Fundamental Tenets. To Baphomet’s left, a black and white flag.
“My constituents and I felt that it was very important, in order to keep with the constitutional principle that government should not give preference to one religion, to see equal representation among faiths in front of the State House,” said state Representative Ellen Read, a Newmarket Democrat, in a press release. “It is hard for anyone to find fault with the TST seven tenets, and they are completely in keeping with the holiday spirit of all faiths.”
Whether any holiday display will grace the plaza next year is unclear.
“Under the First Amendment and to avoid litigation, the City needed to choose whether to ban all holiday displays installed by other groups, or otherwise, to allow it,” a post on the City of Concord’s Facebook page said. “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. It is anticipated that City Council will review next year whether permits for unattended holiday displays should be allowed at City Plaza.”