By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
Concord police are investigating two vandalism incidents to a permitted statue placed Saturday near the nativity scene on city property in front of the State House by the Satanic Temple Congregation for New Hampshire and Vermont.
Deputy Concord Police Chief John Thomas said police received two calls of vandalism, one Monday at 4 p.m. when the tablet, which was part of the holiday installation, was broken and another at 7 p.m. when the statue was broken in half.
He said the organization had a city permit to place it there. On Tuesday, Mayor Byron Champlin, who opposed the permit, said an ad hoc committee would be formed to review the permitting process for unattended installations in the future.
Cloaked in a black robe, a mannequin with a goat’s head mask was smashed to the ground in the photo above. It is supposed to be a likeness of Baphomet, according to state Rep. Ellen Read, D-Newmarket, who picked up the broken statue and returned it to a Satanic Temple leader.
On Tuesday, Read said she would help put it back on city property to help the organization which she joined online a few years ago because she supports their beliefs.
In fact it was Read who reached out to the Satanic Temple to encourage them to place a holiday statue there to encourage diversity.
Champlin had opposed the permit, but said it was legally obtained.
“First of all vandalism is unconscionable,” Champlin said. It’s inappropriate and Champlin believes people should be able to civilly disagree. It’s also a crime, he said.
He said he hopes the perpetrators will be found and prosecuted.
“I’m concerned that this was all prompted by a State Rep. from Newmarket who took it upon herself to reach out to the organization in Salem, Mass.,” Champlin said referring to Rep. Read.
The other holiday displays on city property were from local people going through the process to get a permit, he said.
The Satanic Temple portrays itself as a religion on its website, but promotes secularism, he said.
Champlin said he has received emails from people who didn’t want to bring their children downtown because of the “deliberately provocative” statue.
Champlin said the permit runs through Dec. 28 so the dispute may not be over.
Read said she reached out to the The Satanic Temple for more equal representation of different beliefs in the holiday installations.
“I do believe in the tenets of The Satanic Temple,” Read said.
They are reasonable and she respects the work done by The Satanic Temple. They include striving to act with compassion and empathy, struggling for justice, one’s body is inviolable, the freedoms of others should be respected and people are fallible.
She said the Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in Satan.
“The Satanic Temple has a scientific understanding of the world,” is moral and overall a good belief system, Read said.
Baphomet was created in the medieval period and she described it as a mascot to the Satanic Temple.
“I’m not superactive, but thought it would be nice to have more representation,” Read said. “So much uproar over a mannequin with a goat’s mask from Amazon.”
She said she would like to see such an uproar over the treatment of poor people, the treatment of the homeless and other important issues.
