The Satanic Temple wants to raise a flag outside Boston City Hall in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that ruled city officials violated free speech rights by refusing to fly a Christian group’s banner.
The city was sued after refusing to fly the flag of Camp Constitution on the third pole at City Hall Plaza in 2017, with Boston’s Property Management Department arguing that flying a religious flag could violate rules against the government establishing an official religion.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday, the Satanic Temple says it now wants the same freedom to fly its own banner.
“Religious liberty is a bedrock principle in a democracy, and religious liberty is dependent upon government viewpoint neutrality,” Lucien Greaves, cofounder of the Satanic Temple said in a statement.
“When public officials are allowed to preference certain religious viewpoints over others, we do not have religious liberty, we have theocracy.”
Boston has allowed groups to fly a range of flags, and court papers in the case said that between 2005 and 2017, 50 flags were allowed to fly for 284 ceremonies.
A majority of the flags were for foreign countries, but some were associated with groups or particular causes, such as the Pride flag.
The Supreme Court ruled that Boston could not discriminate against the religious group without violating the Constitution.
The Satanic Temple says they do not view Satan as an evil figure, but one who challenged authority.
The organisation advocates for the separation of church and state and has previously tried to get its goat-headed statue placed next to a 10 Commandments monument on public land in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Mr Greaves said that the group is not sure yet which of their flags they want to raise.
“We have several flag designs that have already been in production, and have not yet discussed which might be best for this specific purpose,” he said.
