Satanists: 'Snaketivity' Not About Killing Christmas

The Satanic Temple of Detroit’s “Snaketivity” display at the state Capitol Dec. 21-13 caused a huge uproar among Christians. (Photo: Satanic Temple of Detroit)

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Even if you tried, you couldn’t come up with worse time than the celebration of the birth of the Christ child – except possibly Easter – to convince Christians that Satanism isn’t darkness to their light.

But what The Satanic Temple of Detroit may lack in marketing savoir faire, they claim to make up for in sincerity.

Yes, really.

Their “snaketivity scene” display on the state Capitol grounds in Lansing – a serpent entwined in a cross – wasn’t about stomping on Christmas, Satanic Temple of Detroit founder Jex Blackmore said, but about protesting the use of public property to promote a singular religious view.

Not that many people could hear that explanation, which was drowned out by a fierce outcry among Christians, who said the Satanists were trying to “steal” and “hijack” Christmas and mock their beliefs.

In the end, Jesus beat the devil to the Lansing by a couple of days.

Led by private-citizen-not-state-senator Rick Jones – a Grand Ledge Republican when he is serving in his official capacity – the “outraged” Christians made a pre-emptive scramble to the world-famous Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland, where a life-sized Nativity scene was plucked from a sea of decorations so vast that the entire town of Frankenmuth was one of America’s 17 most-amazing Christmas towns in the country. (That’s according to food, drink and all-things-cool arbiter Impulcity.)

That quasi-public negotiation with a business that emphasizes its religious leanings with “CHRISTmas” as part of its name may be beside the point, but it is a measure of how seriously Michiganders take Christmas traditions – and how deeply wounded many of them were at the notion that Satanism should get equal billing with the story of Christ’s birth.

And it makes the sell harder for Blackmore, who insists the whole thing has been misconstrued and blown out of proportion.

Related:

• Satanic Holiday Display Approved for Michigan Capitol Grounds
• Jesus Steals Christmas Back From Satan

Blackmore, the founder of The Satanic Temple of Detroit, told The Detroit News her group is just seeking “dialogue” with the public about why a decision by the Michigan State Capitol Commission to allow a Christian Nativity is “an example of privilege that is granted on public property for a single or popular belief.”

“Government shouldn’t be promoting a single religious view,” she said.

Besides adding diversity to spiritual messages on public property, the 25-50 members of The Satanic Temple wanted the display to voice their objections to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which sailed through a lame-duck session of the Michigan House of Representatives earlier this month.

The Senate, which earlier had passed the bill, declined to take up the modified version for reconsideration. Critics said it would have legalized discrimination on religious grounds.

Oh, and there’s one other thing Blackmore wants people to believe. She and the 25-50 active members of The Satanic Temple don’t sit around worshipping the devil or any other supernatural being, though members do practice some Satanic rights.

Members believe religion “should be disentangled from superstition,” she said.

Both displays, positioned within a short distance of one another, had a following. While people sang Christmas carols as they gathered around the Nativity, a couple of demonstrators waved signs – one of them proclaiming that “only a fool says there is no God” – near the snaketivity.

War veteran Martin Diller, 28, told The Lansing News/MLive that he went to see the display to see the principles and freedoms he’s been fighting for in action. Diller said he served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan with the Michigan National Guard.

He had just attended Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church last Sunday and went across town to see the display. “A few of my friends, we like to see the First Amendment in use,” Diller said. “We all went overseas, we fought for it, it’s kind of interesting to see it in action.”

Blackmore said there weren’t any disruptions when her group set up the display, which remained on the Capitol lawn through Tuesday of last week.

“Everyone seems to be peaceful and haven’t gotten any pushback,” she said. “We are really pleased to be part of what is perhaps a new holiday tradition at the Capitol.”

Given the tenor of the opposition, that may be a lot to hope for.

“Satanic people, every time they hear of a Nativity at a Capitol, they strike out, they want to hijack the Christmas season,” Jones said after the Nativity was assembled. “So they are as offensive as possible … that’s OK, we don’t care. I’m not afraid of the snake people and I’m sure Jesus Christ isn’t afraid.”

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