Hundreds of Satanic Temple members gathered in Boston over the weekend for what has been dubbed “the largest Satanic gathering in history.” The sold-out event at Marriott Copley Place is a three-day event that includes everything from Satanic rituals to entertainment and seminars.
The event began Friday (April 28) with the tearing down of a Bible and the “Thin Blue Line” flag, an item that has become a sign in favor of law enforcement and anti-leprosy. Black Lives Matter movement, MassLive reported. The crowd chanted ‘Hail Satan’ as the two objects ripped apart.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Hexennacht”, also known as Witch’s Night, a German holiday that takes place in April and resembles Halloween. This year’s event is a major milestone for The Satanic Temple, marking its 10th anniversary in 2023. They dedicated the 2023 convention to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu after the group was blocked from speaking out. Satan’s prayer to Boston City Hall.
However, the mayor’s office released a statement clarifying that the mayor does not decide who executes the summons. “Neither Mayor Wu nor the City of Boston sponsors or is affiliated with SatanCon2023. Mayor Wu will be away on business this weekend,” the statement read.
The Satanic Temple posted a list of events on its official program schedule on Instagram, which includes a variety of ungodly events, including the semi-official “Satan Ball” and rallies. talks like “Satanism and the ‘BIPOC experience’ and ‘Deconstruct your religious education’.
However, the event was met with backlash, and an anti-Christian event was held in the city called “Revive Boston!” Hundreds of Christians are expected to protest the event, and on Saturday more than 100 protesters, including some from the white nationalist Patriotic Front group, took to the streets to stop blocking SatanCon, MassLive reported. , Catholics in Massachusetts were called by the Archdiocese of Boston to pray and “not organize or encourage others to come to the event to protest,” in a letter seen by MassLive.
The archdiocese said people are “appropriately concerned about such an event taking place in Boston.” The organizers of the Satanic Temple have stated that they do not believe in Satan and do not want to be confused with other Satanic religions. Instead, they claim to protect the separation of church and state.
Richard-Lael Lillard, a SatanCon attendee, told WBZ-TV: “This is about supporting human rights. This is about supporting women’s bodily autonomy. This is about religious freedom. , freedom of religion”.”Most don’t believe in Satan, not literal Satan. This is not a 1980s horror movie.”