Cheers of 'Hail Satan' As Satanic Temple Unveils Baphomet Monument in Detroit

Baphomet, a larger-than-life bronze statue, was originally intended for the Oklahoma state Capitol grounds as a counter message to a Ten Commandments monument. That state’s supreme court later banned all religious displays from the Capitol grounds. (Photo via Facebook)

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The devil, they say, is in the details.

A controversial 9-foot, 1½ ton Baphomet was unveiled in Detroit Saturday, but whether the goat-headed sculpture is a monument to darkness or a celebration of religious liberty and plurality depends on who you ask.

Ask Matthew Pearson, who hefted a large sculpture of St. Michael the Archangel into the bed of his pickup truck and chased the unveiling ceremony to various decoy locations around Detroit Saturday. He will say that just as St. Michael kicked Satan out of Heaven, he and other members of the churchmilitant.com group plan to run the devil out of Detroit.

But members of the Satanic Temple’s Detroit chapter say their aim is misunderstood, and their goal is to counter improper religious influence on governments and promote religious plurality. The same group erected a “snaketivity” display on the state capitol grounds in Lansing last Christmas as a counter message to a Nativity scene.

The Satanic Temple originally wanted to erect Baphomet on the Oklahoma state capitol grounds as an in-your-face rebuttal to the Ten Commandments monument, a request predictably denied by government officials along with requests by a Hindu leader in Nevada, an animal rights group and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Oklahoma Supreme Court later banned all religious monuments, including the one of Ten Commandments, from the Capitol grounds. That left Baphomet without a home.

The Detroit unveiling of the $100,000 sculpture – which depicts Satan with horns, hooves, wings and a beard; is backed by an inverted pentagram; and is flanked by two young children, who appear to be gazing adoringly at the creature – wasn’t without controversy, either.

The ceremony was initially planned in the Eastern Market area, but the group had to scuttle that plan when the owner of the restaurant backed out after receiving threats the venue would be burned. The 700 people who attended the unveiling learned of the location in an email sent just hours before the ceremony began.

It was unveiled just before 11:30 p.m. at a warehouse near the Detroit River. Supporters cheered “Hail Satan,” according to a Reuters report, and posed for pictures with Baphomet.

Earlier in the day, about 100 people demonstrated in the Eastern Market area, denouncing the goat-headed monument and praying for the city.

“Satan has no place in this city, or any other city,” James Bluford, of Rochester Hills, told the Detroit Free Press.

Related:

• Dedication of Satanic Statue Forced Underground
• Satanists: ‘Snaketivity’ Not About Killing Christmas
• Jesus Beats the Devil to the State Capitol

Bishop Corletta Vaughn of the Holy Ghost Cathedral in Detroit vowed that the statue unveiling would “not happen in the city of Detroit on my watch.”

“I’m here to stand against this being in the city of Detroit,” he said. “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.”

“The last thing we need in Detroit is having a welcome home party for evil,” said the Rev. Dave Bullock, a pastor for the Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church in Highland Park.

More than 200 people attended a Holy Mass and and Holy Hour of Reparation and Prayer for the city of Detroit held at St. Joseph Church.

“It’s a show of faith,” Michael Voris, senior executive producer for churchmilitant.com, told The Detroit News. The Satanic Temple has “a very anti-religion philosophy,” he said. “It’s important for people of religion to counter that.”

The controversial sculpture may not remain in Detroit forever.

Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the group, said it could be installed in Arkansas in response to a bill that would authorize the display of the Ten Commandments along with 15 other monuments on the Capitol complex grounds in Little Rock.

“It was always our intention to take this wherever it was relevant, wherever it was necessary, and wherever that dialogue needed to take place,” Greaves told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A state senator there pledged a fight if the Satanic Temple applies for exhibit space.

“The Satanist Temple, or whoever these pagans are, are simply trying to draw attention to themselves and it’s simply an outrageous gesture that flies in the face of the sensitivities of the people of the state of Arkansas,” Sen. Jason Rapert said. “In my opinion, a lot of what they stand for is detestable to the everyday American and definitely to the everyday Arkansan.”