Satanic Organization Moves to Salem, MA

64 Bridge Street in Salem, once an old Victorian house, once a funeral home, will soon be the new headquarters for "The Satanic Temple."

64 Bridge Street in Salem, once an old Victorian house, once a funeral home, will soon be the new headquarters for "The Satanic Temple."

According to their website, they are a nationally recognized religious and political group.

"I think it's a little unsettling," says Janine Dos Santos, a resident of the area.

Other neighbors in the city, famous for its witch trials, say they don't know how they feel.

"I think it's going to cause problems in the neighborhood. People that have lived here for years, and they probably don't want that around here," says Michael Lucius, a Salem resident.

In addition, the Satanic Temple's website says they will open their doors as an art gallery and witch hunt museum, focusing on the satanic panic. The headquarters will also display a one and a half ton bronze statue of the satanic image Baphomet.

Lucien Greaves, a spokesperson for the organization says they won't be going door to door and won't affect neighbors’ daily lives. "We intend to be good neighbors and if people disagree with any of our points of view there's no reason we have to have a direct dialogue about it at all." 

Greaves says having a new home in Salem is a testament to the progressive mentality of the people here.

The organization believes in the separation of church and state, and has most recently been in the news for advocating for a Baphomet statue to be placed next to a Ten Commandments display at the capitol in Arkansas.

Their website also promotes an after school Satan campaign for children, they say, to protect religious pluralism. Greaves says all can come to the new headquarters. "Nobody has to subscribe to any particular belief system to be there, I think our displays will mostly be artistic and academic."

City officials only say they've received one complaint objecting to "The Satanic Temple" opening next Friday in Salem, Massachusetts.

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