For the first time, a public Satanic Temple monument will be coming to the United States. A small town in mid-west America will have the honor of receiving this dark gift from the worshipers of all that is fire and brimstone.
The story behind the monument
Our dark tale starts out in the small city of Belle Plaine, Minnesota, with an incident from the summer of 2016. It was then that someone decided to put up a metal silhouette of an infantryman kneeling in front of a cross in the town's Veterans Memorial Park. One of the residents in the town opposed this, arguing that it was a religious symbol.
They said that it violated the founding principle of the separation between church and state in America.
This led to months of back and forth arguments in the town. So, the city decided to end all the arguments by making a section of the park a "public forum." This meant that the area was basically open to any group that wanted to honor the town's veterans in some way, regardless of their beliefs. It was then that the Satanic Temple decided to take up Belle Plaine on their new offer.
What is this Satanic Temple monument going to be?
According to Lucien Greaves, spokesman for the organization, this is the first time that the Satanic Temple has succeeded in having a monument place on public land.
The Salem, Massachusetts-based group gave the town of Belle Plaine credit for not offering any resistance. The group made the official announcement last Friday that they were approved to install their monument.
The monument (pictured above) is in production and expected to be ready in a couple of months. It will be a charcoal black cube, with upside-down pentagrams on all sides.
On top will be an upturned soldier's helmet. The monument will be alongside others in the Veterans Memorial Park, like a marble plaque engraved with soldiers names and a retired UH-1H Iroquois "Huey" helicopter.
The ongoing battle over freedom of religion
This small Minnesota town and its soon to be Satanic Temple monument are only the latest symbols of the battle in America over freedom of religion.
In recent years, there has been a heated debate over religious freedom and the rights those of faith have. This has been especially so among conservative Christians, battling over abortion, birth control and same-sex marriage.
Graves said that his organization does not actually worship the devil, despite its name. He said that they are a "non-theistic religious organization" that is dedicated to individuality, art and free speech. The group is doing this to show how expanding religious liberties can have unintended consequences.
