Michigan residents were dangerously close to looking at nothing but a satanic holiday display in front of the capitol when the plan was scrapped at the last minute, Fox News reported.
The Satanic Temple, which strives to ban religious displays from public spaces, previously secured a permit to install a serpent-themed display outside the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing.
"The Greatest Gift is Knowledge," reads a quote on the Temple's display.
An unnamed organization also wanted to put a Nativity scene in the same area. But the permit went to the Temple because they guaranteed the display would be taken down every night in accordance with regulations, Fox News reported.
The out-of-state group withdrew its application for the permit when it realized it would not be able to pack up the display by 11 p.m. as required by state rules, NPR reported.
Motivated by the fear of only looking at a satanic display on a Christian holiday, a group of people volunteered to take the display down each night before the deadline.
State Senator Rick Jones, who led the volunteer effort, was happy to announce the Nativity scene would be unveiled last Friday.
"I have had about 500 offers of help to put up and take down the display. Thank you!" Jones wrote on Facebook.
The serpent display will also go up on the same grounds, as the group still has a First Amendment right to do so. Members of the Satanic Temple's Detroit chapter said their display is to ensure religious freedom and to remind Michigan state not to promote one religion while excluding others.
"Where there is obstinate refusal to keep religious iconography off of public spaces, the least we can do is ensure that the Government is remaining neutral, respecting a diversity of religious views, with preference for, and exclusion of, none," Jex Blackmore, the chapter director, told Fox News.
The Satanic Temple, which has members across the nation, is also trying to erect a satanic display outside Oklahoma's statehouse.
As for the one in Michigan, Jones advised local residents to "simply ignore it."
