Do you think the image above is a Christian cross? Think again. According to seven justices of the supreme court this is a secular symbol honoring veterans of all faiths and no faith. The majority opinion states that “The Bladensburg Cross has come to represent … a place for the community to gather and honor all veterans and their sacrifices for this Nation.” So, it is now basically a giant lower-case t without religious connotations.
In order to celebrate the new inclusiveness of this secular monument The Satanic Temple (TST) is going to take symbolic control over the monument and rename it “The Bladensburg Satanic Peace Cross” while hosting a (livestreamed) ritual there on July 10 to honor all Satanist war veterans. The accompanying press release states:
“TST takes [the SCOTUS decision] to mean that the Supreme Court is inviting TST to memorialize Satanist veterans through this “community” based monument … As a symbol for all veterans, the Cross represents Satanist veterans who we are honoring in our ceremony. The Satanic Temple will refer to the memorial as the Bladensburg Satanic Peace Cross. We expect the celebration of this Satanic icon will be a recurring event, and we encourage Satanists everywhere to make pilgrimages to Bladensburg. Outside of Salem, MA, we expect Bladensburg will become known internationally as a destination for Satanists … consistent with the Supreme Court ruling, Bladensburg, MD, is the first city to actually have a Satanic monument on state property.”
The Satanic Temple’s spokesperson Lucien Greaves said the following when asked about the event:
“… that ruling explicitly stripped the cross of any religious context, robbed it of sacred purpose, and imbued it with mixed religious meaning, which is surely nothing short of blasphemy to any serious practitioners of the Christian faith. So go ahead and celebrate that the cross remains on public grounds blissfully ignorant to what you have lost. As Satanism is a religion that truly values pluralism and inclusiveness, the codified and judicially affirmed redefinition of the Bladensburg Cross in particular makes it more Satanic than Christian.”
The (conservative) Christians who successfully argued with SCOTUS that The Bladensburg Cross is a secular monument in order to have it remain standing on public ground are hardly in a position to protest this move by The Satanic Temple.
Questions:
- What do you think of this move by The Satanic Temple?
- Christians and their territorial pissing… what’s up with that really?