Visitors to Detroit, Michigan will have a new attraction to look at, and for the handful of Satanic followers in the region, pay homage to – a statue of Satan. Standing 8 ½ feet tall, weighing a ton and made of bronze, the goat-headed baphomet will be unveiled despite strong opposition from Christian groups. The site still has to be identified although there are reports it will be held in Motown. The original location, Bert’s Market Place, had to be scrapped after its owner Bert Dearing changed his mind and returned the rental fee upon learning about the group’s Satanic leanings.
The monument will be set up courtesy of The Satanic Temple, a New York-based religious group whose founder Lucien Greaves (real name: Doug Mesner) believes in the principle of plurality and the separation of church and state. The group set up its first chapter, The Satanic Temple in Detroit, outside its NY home base; this chapter is headed by Jex Blackmore (real name: Adrea Potti.) Greaves and Blackmore, both originally from Detroit, met at a lecture in Harvard and are rumored to be lovers. For security reasons, because they have received death threats, they are not using their birth names.
According to its website, the unveiling will take place on the night of July 25 and continue until the wee hours of the next day. Location is undisclosed and will be emailed to the ticket holders on the day itself to prevent gatecrashers and protestors, and possible violence. The site says it will be “a night of chaos, noise, and debauchery” and its “largest fight to date in the name of individual rights to free exercise against self-serving theocrats.” Blackmore says they chose Detroit for its first chapter because it has an active community of supporters. She claims a membership of 200, although some critics have put it at 20. Another factor for their choice is the city’s repute for supporting rebellious under-the-radar communities. The chapter opened in September 2014.
Protests from Christian groups have been loud and clear. Detroit is a deeply religious city, with more than 43% of the population practicing their faith. It also has one of the highest violent crime rates in the whole of the United States and a severely sagging economy. Bringing the devil into a scenario such as this will only aggravate the problems by polarizing the religious population. Pastor David Bullock of the St. Matthew Baptist Church has been very vocal in his opposition against the statue’s unveiling, saying they are mocking religion and destroying it.
Father Grzegorz Tokarski, pastor of the Divine Mercy Parish, a Roman Catholic church will hold a mass on the same day to pray for the city of Detroit. In a press conference of nine Christian heads of church, Pastor Don Shelby rallied the faithful to gather together and fight against the devil that is trying to invade the Motor City. Carl Gallups, a best-selling author and media personality, criticized the Satanic group’s use of children in its promotional tactics and says Satan is showing its true nature. The statue features two kids gazing up adoringly at the face of the deity and the group had distributed Satanic coloring books alongside a Bible distribution activity.
Amid all the protests, Greaves and Blackmore remain unfazed. They insist that theirs is a religion that advocates compassion, empathy, wisdom and justice. They are against the written word and are representative of the ultimate rebel against tyranny. They can take comfort from Bishop Charles Ellis 111, leader of Greater Grace Temple that has a 6,000 membership in Detroit. Ellis preached tolerance, saying if he wants other religions to be tolerant of theirs, he has to respect their religion, too.