Orthodox Christian Proudly Admits To Smashing Satanic Display at New Hampshire State House
A New Hampshire man is claiming responsibility for smashing a Baphomet statute set by The Satanic Temple outside the NH State House, crediting his Orthodox beliefs for the impetus of its destruction. He writes on Facebook:
I don’t think anything will come of this legally, but if anything does I will be happy to state my case, and I pray it can provide a confession for Orthodoxy, which has the fullness of theology to explain why it is perfectly Christian to destroy an idol in front of the very State House. What does it say about us as a people if we allow such a filthy and hideous image to appear before God in our most basic societal representation?
Joshua Cummings, whose social media feed is full of Orthodox iconography, explains his motivation:
I live in Concord, New Hampshire. It was I who destroyed the Satan statue in front of the State House. Other people have destroyed it on several occasions. It has basically become open season on the stupid thing at this point, but I (have lost count but) did at least five times bash it on the head with my medieval mace in the middle of the night, and I was finally apprehended by police for it a few nights ago. I wasn’t arrested, only asked some basic questions and read my Miranda Rights; and I don’t think charges will be pressed, and if they are I’m sure I can cover the lawfare with some kind of crowdfunding. It’d probably quickly go viral the same way the news articles have.
What I said to the cops is the same thing I’d say before the press: that the presence of the statue hurts everyone in the city and even the whole state—that the spiritual principality is a higher order reality than the legal municipality. The cops were surprised by my answers and didn’t really know how to respond.
Online, some Protestants and Catholics in the comment sections of the widespread news articles have even defended the statue, saying that the 1st Amendment protects its being in front of the State House. I maintain my stance that we ought to have anti-blasphemy laws, and that it is unChristian to not destroy idolatrous statues, a fact witnessed to by the countless saints who did not hesitate to topple monuments to falsehood.
I know the Satanic Temple wants to catch me on a “hate crime” charge. On the night I was apprehended, the officer, after spending a few minutes at his vehicle, came up to me and said “So you did this because you hate the Satanic Temple?” Paraphrasing, I responded “I don’t hate anyone. The Satanic Temple are a bunch of idiots, but I pray they repent. I hate Satan.”
Again, I maintain that Satan is not who the Satanic Temple says he is—he is who he is—he has no humility and no love, and hates everyone, seeking their destruction. The “Seven Tenets” of Satanism (which the Temple regularly cites as the reason for making their cause attractive) have nothing to do with the actual agenda of Satan. God forbid the members of the Satanic Temple die in their delusion and realize their eternal disappointment: Satan doesn’t like you as much as you liked him!
I don’t think anything will come of this legally, but if anything does I will be happy to state my case, and I pray it can provide a confession for Orthodoxy, which has the fullness of theology to explain why it is perfectly Christian to destroy an idol in front of the very State House. What does it say about us as a people if we allow such a filthy and hideous image to appear before God in our most basic societal representation?
It was impossible that I would not do everything in my power to destroy that horrific statue standing in the very city in which I live, this city that I so dearly love, and I am grateful to God for giving me the gumption to do it. I regard it as one of the greatest things I’ve ever done, dust that it is. My conscience is clear, and should I be charged unfairly, then the crisis of conscience shall move laterally to my interlocutors. I may stand trial tomorrow, but we will all stand trial before the only Righteous Judge. Please pray for me, I’m not sure what is about to happen, but I maintain: Glory be to God for all things.
He later added in a video:
We last wrote about TST after they raffled off a free abortion to promote the organization’s religious abortion ritual, hosted SatanCon 2023′, billed as ‘The Largest Satanic Gathering in History,’ and opened up a new abortion clinic to murder babies in satanic ‘ritual.’
Last year, the Satanic Temple of Iowa, under the guidelines of the Iowa legislature, allowed Satanists to place an idol of Baphomet, a winged, goat-headed, trans-human figure, on display in the vicinity of nativity displays on the first floor of the Iowa Capitol.
The display drew the ire of many Christians, who lamented the blasphemy of placing an idol in the capitol as a sign of the impending judgment of God upon the nation. Some conservative Republicans, while lamenting the statue as blasphemous, defended the existence of the display on the grounds of constitutional freedom of religious expression.
On December 14, Cassidy walked into the Iowa capital building and smashed the Baphomet, decapitating the idol before stuffing its head into a nearby trashcan.
While Cassidy promptly turned himself in to capitol police and was initially charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, raising over $80,000 through crowdfunding for his defense, those charges were elevated to a more severe nature after Polk County prosecutors charged him with felony third-degree criminal mischief with a hate crime enhancement. He ultimately received a $855 fine, two years of probation, and undisclosed determination costs.
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Good man. There should be a line of people willing to do the same thing again and again.
Absolutely.