Members of the Satanic Temple asked participants in Sunday's unveiling of a goat-headed statue to sign away their souls in an effort to prevent protesters from sneaking in.
The group had planned to unveil the statue of Baphomet at Bert's Marketplace in Detroit, but the business owner backed out after Christian activists complained and threatened to shut down the event.
The unveiling was instead moved to a secret location, and Satanic Temple members required participants to purchase tickets online and go through a security checkpoint before they were directed to the event, which was miles away.
Participants were also required to sign a contract agreeing to abide by the group's rules and demands -- which included a provision intended to weed out undercover Christian protesters, reported The Friendly Atheist blog.
"I agree that by signing this document under any name, given or adopted, actual or pseudonymous, I am hereby avowing my soul to Satan (aka Abbadon,aka Lucifer, aka Beelzebub, aka The Antichrist)," the contract read. "I do so knowing that He (aka The Fallen One, aka The Father of Lies) or any of His representatives may choose to collect my eternal soul at any time, with or without notice. I understand that my signature or mark representing any name, real or made up, upon these papers constitutes a lasting and eternal contract, and that there will be no further negotiations on the matter of my eternal soul."
The group's spokesman, Lucien Greaves, said the event went off as scheduled with no disruptions.
A video from the unveiling showed two men, stripped to the waist and wearing black leather pants, rip off a cover from the statue before embracing and then kissing one another.
The Baphomet statue was originally intended for placement at the Oklahoma statehouse to protest a Ten Commandment monument set up on government property, but the group changed its plans after the state Supreme Court ruled that religious displays could not be set up on public property.
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