A satanic statue displayed outside the New Hampshire State House was vandalized soon after it was unveiled. Photos of the scene show the statue of the pagan deity Baphomet in pieces after it had been toppled by an unknown individual, presumably out of protest toward the display of Satanism. Police are still investigating the incident, which is believed to have occurred late last weekend.
The statue was championed by State Rep. Ellen Read, a supporter of leftist causes, who ttinvited the Satanic Temple located in Salem, Massachusetts, to erect the statue alongside a Christmas nativity scene. The display featured a tablet espousing the organization’s values alongside an apple meant to pay respect to Isaac Newton and science. However, only the torso of the statue remains after it was toppled, breaking into pieces.
According to Rep. Read, she felt compelled to have the statue erected after seeing other religious displays in the Christmas holiday outside the New Hampshire House. “I approached them as a person who cares about equal representation on public grounds for religions,” she said. However, some of her colleagues opposed the idea, seeing it as intentional mockery.
“I opposed 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 political agenda,” Mayor Byron Champlin weighed in. However, city officials cited the First Amendment, claiming that all religious displays should be allowed or none at all. “The First Amendment doesn’t mean anything unless we’re actually making it work,” Read said. “The reaction seems so emotional, so knee-jerk, that the idea that a mannequin and a goat mask would create all of this animosity,” she added.
Users on social media reacted to the incident, many celebrating the seeming act of protest. “This absolutely was meant to mock the Christian religion. It’s holding an apple in 1 hand & the other NH state flower insinuating NH being in Satan’s hand. The 1st amendment it doesn’t allow for 1 religion to mock another. Thanks to whoever took the trash out,” one person commented on X.
One person cited the biblical account in 1 Samuel where the Ark of the Covenant was capture by the Philistines and placed beside their pagan deity Dagon. Subsequently, the statue of the Philistine God was destroyed in which scripture describes as being quite similar to what unfolded outside of the the New Hampshire State House.
They wrote, “1 Samuel 5:4 ESV But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. *** Maybe it was vandalism. Maybe not😁. God isn’t a big fan of demon worship.”
1 Samuel 5 : 2-4 reads, “5 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
Watch footage of the statue below:
The Satanic Temple put up a Baphomet display at New Hampshire State Capitol.
How it started vs. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/iWplk4pv4P
— Protestia (@Protestia) December 14, 2024
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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