When it comes to the folks involved with The Satanic Temple, it’s hard to get mad (unless you’re wholly against them and what you think they stand for). They know the right buttons to push usually and their antics are only flipping established rules and norms the majority of the time. This time around, they unveiled their newest Baphomet statue in Detroit on Saturday night to a fairly civil crowd of onlookers.
It’s the same type of statue that was revealed in Oklahoma and is set to be placed at the Arkansas state capitol to coincide with their other religious icons on display. The unveiling in Detroit was threatened by protestors who disagreed with the “church’s” beliefs, but as you can tell from the response in the video, they didn’t get a chance to show. According to Patheos, The Satanic Temple laid out a series of rules for people to follow in order to make their way to the event:
According to TST spokesperson Lucien Greaves, attendees for the event had to go through the following process:
1) Show up at the location stated on the e-ticket.
2) Go through a security checkpoint there.
3) Sign a contract transferring their souls to Satan.
4) Get the real location for the event, which was miles away.It worked. The event went off without a hitch.
I think they could have just stuck with 1,2 and 4 there and people would have given up, but I like the idea of the contract. It’s that black bit of humor that really drives home the silliness of it all. Here’s the full contents of the pact the folks in attendance would have signed before getting their pass:
I agree that by signing this document under any name, given or adopted, actual or pseudonymous, I am hereby avowing my soul to Satan (aka Abbadon, aka Lucifer, aka Beelzebub, aka The Antichrist). I do so knowing that He (aka The Fallen One, aka The Father of Lies) or any of His representatives may choose to collect my eternal soul at any time, with or without notice. I understand that my signature or mark representing any name, real or made up, upon these papers constitutes a lasting and eternal contract, and that there will be no further negotiations on the matter of my eternal soul.
Joke’s on them because some of us have already given our souls up when we signed up for Plenty Of Fish. Read the fine print, idiots.
(Via Patheos / Boing Boing)