The Michigan State Capitol is now home to a new “holiday” display, courtesy of the Satanic Temple, who claims that the altars are meant to promote “religious diversity.” This comes on the heels of a similar display being beheaded in the Iowa State Capitol by Michael Cassidy, a Christian and former military officer.
According to a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the Satanic organization wrote, “TST members across Michigan united to create their State Capitol holiday display. Lansing’s TST Candidate congregation crafted the goat with help from TST West Michigan and TST Detroit. Stop by the Capitol to view our Michigan congregations’ display!”
The new display at the Michigan State Capitol features two Nordic Pagan “yule goats,” one of which is adorned with a goat skull. Traditionally, the goat is burned as part of a ceremony “to alleviate pain and suffering.” Members of the Satanic Temple gathered at the state capitol for the unveiling, with Minister of Satan Bender Bones expressing his excitement for the opportunity to celebrate religious plurality.
The controversy surrounding the Satanic Temple displays doesn’t stop there. $20,000 was raised in just three hours to cover legal fees for Cassidy after he tore down the Iowa display, which featured a goat’s head on a red-caped mannequin holding an inverted pentagram wreath. Speaking to The Sentinel, Cassidy said he had beheaded the statue in order to “awaken Christians to the anti-Christian acts promoted by our government.”
Cassidy further spoke out about the display, stating, “The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment. Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water.”
It seems that the Satanic Temple’s displays continue to ignite controversy and provoke strong reactions from individuals such as Cassidy. The question remains whether the promotion of “religious diversity” will prevail in the face of such opposition. As the debate rages on, one thing is clear: the Satanic Temple is leaving its mark on state capitols across the country.
