Satanic Temple installs holiday display in Illinois capitol next to Nativity scene, menorah

The Satanic Temple of Illinois installed a holiday display in the state’s capitol next to a Nativity scene and menorah to commemorate the group’s "satanic values."

"Let us stand now, unbowed and unfettered by arcane doctrines born of fearful minds. ... Let us demand that individuals be judged for their concrete actions, not their fealty to arbitrary social norms. ... Let us stand firm against any and all arbitrary authority that threatens personal sovereignty," Minister Adam of the Satanic Temple of Illinois said in the rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol last week, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"Hail Satan," Adam and other Satanic Temple members said after the invocation.

It is the fourth year since 2018 that the Satanic Temple installed a display in the state’s capitol at the holidays This year’s display features a snake crocheted by a satanist that is resting on a leather-bound copy of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’ 1543 book "On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres." 

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Most of the roughly 20 members who attended the event were dressed in black or deep red, according to the Chicago Tribune. The display commemorates Sol Invictus, which falls on Dec. 25 and celebrates "being unconquered by superstition and consistent in the pursuit and sharing of knowledge," according to the temple’s website. 

Other year’s displays for the Satanic Temple included a swaddled goat baby named Baphomet, or a pedestal with a hand offering an apple and an inscription reading: "Knowledge is the greatest gift." The Baphomet display received pushback and protests when it was installed last year. 

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"There is no devil worship here," Adam told the Chicago Tribune. "In fact, I’m insulted when people think of us as devil worshippers. Satan is more of a mascot and metaphor for us."

Adam told WCIA the display is a statement on banned books, citing that Copernicus’ book was banned by the Catholic Church in 1616. 

"The serpent of Genesis and the apples symbolizes that whole ‘forbidden knowledge’ sort of thing." Adam said. "The book, obviously, is one that was banned but also something that is really important to remember, which is that Copernicus himself was not actually persecuted by the church. Instead, he worked in harmony with them. And we like to see that this is an affirmation of our Satanic values by existing in harmony with other religions."

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The display is placed next to a two-story Christmas tree, a Nativity scene and a menorah.

A sign near the displays says, "The State of Illinois is required by the First Amendment to allow temporary, public displays in the state capitol so long as these displays are not paid for by taxpayer dollars."

"Because the first floor of the Capitol Rotunda is a public place, state officials cannot legally censor the content or speech of displays," the sign near the holiday displays continues.

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Springfield Diocese condemned the satanists’ display.

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"Christians look forward to eternal happiness with God in Heaven," the bishop told WCIA. "Those who worship Satan are doomed to suffer the pains of Hell with the evil one and his minions forever. People are free to choose. I pray for the conversion of sinners and their eternal salvation." He also called on people to "reject the devil’s lies and turn to Christ."