The Satanic Temple Celebrates First Satanic Monument on Public Property

SALEM, Mass., July 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to a Supreme Court decision, The Satanic Temple has now designated the 40-foot-tall Bladensburg Peace Cross in Maryland to be a Satanic icon. TST has updated the name of the monument as "The Bladensburg Satanic Peace Cross" and hosted in honor of Satanist veterans at the Bladensburg site on Saturday, July 10. About 60 individuals attended and TST's veterans ceremony.

In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in American Legion v. American Humanist Association that maintaining the Peace Cross on public land does not violate the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution. Delivering the decision, Justice Alito wrote that "The Bladensburg Cross has come to represent… a place for the community to gather and honor all veterans and their sacrifices for this Nation..."

The TST members performing in the ceremony were greeted by counterprotesting Christian groups. Because the protesters were a couple hundred feet away from the ritual site and police officers arrived to maintain the safety of the event, ritual coordinator Eliphaz Costus indicated that the TST performers were unphased. He says, "The opposing energy from the counterprotesters across the road only fueled our resolve and validated the importance of our cause. We embraced the Cross's religious plurality status given to it by the Supreme Court so that it may be adopted by all faiths of the community. With that in mind, we celebrated this government-sanctioned monument in the name of Satan to honor the bravery and sacrifices of our veterans."

TST spokesman and co-founder Lucien Greaves notes, "Deciding that the Bladensburg Cross does not just represent Christians, but people of all faiths including Satanists, is a kind of blasphemy that is consistent with Satanism. As a symbol for all veterans, the Cross represents Satanist veterans who we are honoring in our ceremony."

About The Satanic Temple 
The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will.
www.thesatanictemple.com

SOURCE The Satanic Temple