Demonic statue outside NH State House destroyed within 48 hours: 'Santa wouldn't do this'
The demonic statue erected near a Nativity scene outside the New Hampshire State House in Concord last Saturday was destroyed Monday night, prompting an ongoing police investigation less than 48 hours after it was put up.
"Santa wouldn't do this," Concord Deputy Police Chief John Thomas told NHJournal. "Santa loves everybody."
Today’s photos of the Satanic Temple's holiday display in Concord, NH ???????????? pic.twitter.com/agk8n544cf
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The Satanic Temple continued its annual holiday tradition of erecting satanic displays near Nativity scenes on government property last weekend by unveiling a statue of the demon Baphomet at the New Hampshire State House, according to a live feed of the ceremony that aired on Facebook.
The statue depicted a black-clad statue of Baphomet with glowing eyes clutching a bouquet of purple lilacs in its right hand, symbolizing the state flower of New Hampshire. It was also adorned with a purple stole emblazoned with the inverted pentagram, goat's head of the TST logo, and two inverted crosses.
At the base of the statue was a tablet listing the seven tenets of The Satanic Temple, and to its left was a black and white satanic flag.
Orpheus Gaur, a minister of TST's New Hampshire and Vermont congregation, said during the live feed that the apple in the figure's left hand symbolized "our quest for knowledge, defiance in the face of arbitrary authority and our commitment to self-determination."
The statue of Baphomet — an androgynous demonic entity that first appeared in writings during the 11th century and featured in the rituals of prominent occultists such as Aleister Crowley — was destroyed Monday night, according to NHJournal.
State Rep. Ellen Read, a Democrat from Newmarket who invited the display, claimed that symbols of Christianity were left at the scene, according to the Friendly Atheist, a Substack maintained by atheist Hemant Mehta.
Someone left a Santa hat, a cross and a Christmas ornament on the statue, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
Read, who introduced legislation to strip God from the state oath of office and to ban circumcision from state Medicaid coverage, appeared to be emotional as she was photographed picking up the remains of Baphomet and placing its legs in a car, according to photos published by NHJournal.
Read, who describes herself as agnostic, suggested that religious people were behind the vandalism and attacked them in comments to Mehta. She reportedly expressed sadness that whoever destroyed the statue "could not tolerate a simple expression of beliefs by a group that doesn't believe as they do."
The City of Concord released a statement last week noting that they approved the permit for the statue to "avoid litigation."
Mayor Byron Champlin, a Democrat, expressed dismay during a recent city council meeting that the Baphomet statue had been put up at all, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
"My preference was to deny the permit and accept the risk of the threatened lawsuit," he said. "I oppose the permit because I believe the request was made not in the interest of promoting religious equity but in order to drive an anti-religious agenda."
TST co-founder Lucien Greaves, whose real name is Douglas Mesner, told Mehta that vandalism of satanic displays on government property has "become as much of a holiday tradition as trampled grandmothers in a Black Friday stampede."
"They attack our property, threaten us over social media, destroy our displays, then bewail the violence they imagine we did them," Mesner continued.
"But hopefully, for some, our limited presence and perseverance will prove inspirational in demonstrating that freedom of religion — the ability to believe or disbelieve as we see fit without consequence to our civic capacities — is still alive, and more in need of defending now than at any other time in our lives."
Last year, a satanic display in the Iowa state Capitol that also featured Baphomet made headlines when U.S. Navy veteran and former Mississippi House of Representatives candidate Michael Cassidy was charged with a felony hate crime for toppling the statue and tossing its silver ram's head in the trash.
Cassidy pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in May in exchange for having the hate crime charge against him dropped.
During an interview with The Christian Post last December, Cassidy maintained that he did the right thing and that legislators are overcomplicating evil by suggesting that the U.S. Constitution protects devil worship on government property.
"The people who wrote our Constitution would be shocked to think of defending Satan as consistent with their beliefs when they wrote the laws that govern our nation," he said.
"People start overcomplicating the truth, which is that God is great and should be honored, and the devil is evil and should not be honored," he said. "I think people are tying themselves in knots trying to justify it, and it's really a lot simpler than that."
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
