Atheists in Boca Raton, Florida – USA, are planning to erect a six-feet tall monument in a city park this December in an effort to express their opposition to Christianity and related displays regarding the birth of Christ.
Legally, there is little to do. City officials say even though the Satanic monument is offensive, the group is free to display it, sources report.
“This is not consistent with my particular values, but free speech means people have an opportunity to express themselves, whether government likes it or not or whether individuals like it or not,” local official, Scott Singer told WPEC CBS12 News.
Led by one Professor Preston Smith, who says he likes the monument because it represents “the polar opposite of everything that the Church stands for,” the group under umbrella organisation Freedom From Religion filed a petition with the city hall to install this metal pentagram, 2 meters high and about 150 pounds.
Smith said: “Satan and God are clearly both fictional characters devoid of any verifiable peer-reviewed scientific evidence.”
According to Christian News Network, in the center of this monument is an image of Bafomete, a figure with a goat’s head and a human body. Above and below, phrases such as ‘We trust in Satan,’ ‘A nation under the antichrist,’ and ‘Let the children salute Satan.’
Sources maintain that Smith’s plans outraged local Christians, and that one pastor, Mark Boykin of Church of All Nations, promised to destroy the display with a sledgehammer should Smith dare to put it up and entice children to Satanism.
Last year, Freedom From Religion put a slightly smaller pentagram in place, but it was vandalized and eventually withdrawn.
By Paul Dennis.
