Satanists disrupt a group of Christians who have earlier set up a Nativity scene at the Illinois State Capitol prompting the latter to respond through prayer.
Photojournalist Justin Fowler tweeted on Tuesday a video containing what seemed to be a competition between the forces of darkness and the forces of goodness, except that it wasn’t an animated one or a clip from a movie but something that actually took place at the Illinois State Capitol.
“The scene at the Illinois State Capitol where the Satanic Temple of Illinois is installing the ‘satanic deity’ Baphomet as the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property recite the Rosary,” Fowler tweeted.
The video showed men in black praising Satan in front of a mockery of the Nativity Scene with Baphomet lying on the manger. The video pans and shows a group of Christians on their knees in prayer on the other side of the very room the satanists are in. What separates the group of Christians from the satanists is their display for Christmas that included a Christmas tree and the true Nativity scene.
The Gateway Pundit reported that the group of satanists belong to the Satanic Temple of Illinois who purposely traveled to the Capitol to setup their satanic display alongside the Christian display which was set up first. The satanists reasoned that their display recognizes the Sol Invictus holiday, which is grounded in ancient Roman and Greek polytheism. However, those holidays do not have any relation to Baphomet, which the satanists used as a baby in their manger.
The satanists chanted, “Hail Satan,” and could be heard stating, “We invite you today to bring wisdom, justice, rationality…equality, tolerance, and passion…”, a few seconds in the opening of Fowler’s uploaded video.
Their satanic worship was countered by the Christians with two tarpaulins that said, “Satan has NO rights!” and “Begone Satan! Mary Crushes the Serpent,” held by other members who stood up like barricades of protection against the satanists. While the majority of the Christians were praying the rosary.
In Diocese of Springfield Bishop Thomas John Paprocki decried the satanic display, which he said “should have no place in this Capitol or any other place.” A spokesman of the Diocese said the satanic display is a mockery of Christians with a political protest as its purpose. The spokesman said that the display’s intent to cause division is very apparent.
“Mocking the millions of Christians in the state of Illinois and billions around the world by depicting the baby Jesus this Christmas with the ‘satanic deity’ Baphomet is the very definition of evil and causing division, but that is to be expected from an organization that is in existence to troll people of faith,” Big League Politics quoted the Diocese’s spokesman in saying.
Responding to the criticism, the state of Illinois placed a sign in its rotunda, where the two displays are found, to clarify its stand for allowing the satanic exhibit. The state of Illinois cited the First Amendment that allows for such public display with no speech regulation.
“The State of Illinois is required by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to allow temporary, public display 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 of speech or displays. The United States Supreme Court has held that public officials may legally impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions regarding displays and speech, but no regulation can be based on the content of the speech,” the states’ signage read.
