The group is perhaps best known for attempts to have the statue positioned next to monuments to the Bible’s Ten Commandments in Oklahoma and Arkansas, in a protest to perceived state support for one religion over another. Officials in those states fought off the efforts.
There were also historical exhibits at the Temple, including a documentary chronicling incidents of people being persecuted throughout the ages as alleged devil worshippers.
The Satanic Temple does not promote devil worship as described in the Bible, and says its mission is to reinforce the separation of church and state, encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, and promote “practical common sense and justice”.
Director Nera Specter said the group has been in Salem for several months, working to set up its headquarters. She said people in the city had been largely welcoming, so far. She noted that at public events, activists and community members had invoked the violence of Salem’s past to express solidarity with gays, who commonly face intolerance, threats and violence over their sexuality.
“Everything that has been reiterated is learning from our mistakes and not pointing and screaming ‘witch’ or ‘devil’,” she said.
Officials and residents in Salem had so far expressed few objections to the Satanic Temple centre.
“It’s not really that big a deal. We’ve had weirder things pretty much on every other street corner,” said Salem City Council President Josh Turiel.
The seaside community about 20 miles (32 km) north of Boston has taken to playing up the darker aspects of its history. Its downtown has the Salem Witch Museum and occult shops, which draw tourists ahead of Halloween on October 31.
