Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
The Satanic Temple staged a secret “unveiling” of a 2,000-pound statue of Satan in Detroit on Saturday night, sparking a protest of angry Christians who are refusing to turn their city over to Satan.
FoxNews.com is reporting on the unveiling which took place at an undisclosed location in Detroit. An estimated 700 attendees danced to “dark punk” bands which were staged beneath a lighted upside-down crucifix in an unknown venue. Spokespersons from the activist group known as The Satanic Temple delivered speeches while a pair of bare-chested men held candles on either side of the draped image.
After the event, the statue was taken to a secret location where it will be kept until a permanent home can be found for it.
The owner of first venue chosen for the event, Bert Dearing of Bert’s Marketplace, decided to return the group’s $3,000 rental fee he learned who booked the place and what they were planning to unveil.
The statue is a nine-foot tall image of Baphomet, a goat-headed occult idol, with two children gazing up at him in worship. It’s the same statue the group planned to erect at the Oklahoma State Capitol grounds where the Ten Commandments is currently on display in spite of a court order to remove it.
Meanwhile, the Christian community learned about the event, which was open only to ticketed attendees, and staged a protest on Saturday outside the original venue at Bert’s Marketplace.
“This unveiling will not happen in the City of Detroit on my watch,” said Bishop Corletta Vaughn of the Holy Ghost Cathedral, to the Detroit Free Press. “I’m here to stand against this being in the City of Detroit. We will not turn over our city to Satanists. It’s a violent spirit that’s moving to the city and infiltrating that place. We will drive them out of Dodge.”
“Satan has no place in this city, or any other city,” said another protester named James Bluford.
Renla Session of Detroit came carrying a placard that said: “SATAN can not exist where there is truth and JESUS is the TRUTH.”
Martin C. Tutwiler of Oak Park said the statue is disrespectful of the City of Detroit and said the Satanic Temple was forcing the statute on the city because “they think we’re down as a city.”
The Satanic Temple insists that it does not worship Satan but exists to “encourage benevolence and empathy among all people.”
By staging events beneath upside-down-crucifixes and hosting black masses that are deeply offensive to millions?
The ham-fisted actions of this clumsy group speak louder than words. To anyone with even a perfunctory knowledge of Scripture, it’s obvious who is really orchestrating their antics.
“When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
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