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Satanic Monument Expected To Be Installed In Veterans Park

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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A veterans memorial park in Belle Plaine, Minn. will install a satanic monument among other statutory homages.

The Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts is behind the memorial and it is expected to be in the park next month.

According to the Associated Press, the decision came after the Freedom from Religion Foundation threatened to file a lawsuit over another tribute showing a soldier kneeling over a grave marked with a cross.

Doug Mesner, founder of the Satanic Temple and its nonprofit group Reason Alliance, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the group doesn’t worship Satan, but is a non-theistic, religious group.

“It’s certainly better to preserve the First Amendment than to preserve your notions of religious supremacy on public grounds. That’s certainly not what America was founded on and certainly not what our soldiers fought for,” he said.

The city removed the cross at first when the issue was brought to their attention, but locals demanded the cross be returned.

City Administrator Mike Votca told the AP the city had to include all faiths and non-faiths alike, so it established a free speech zone for everybody. All the tributes, however, must honor veterans.

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