LANSING, Mich. — Saturday marked an important day for The Satanic Temple followers.
They displayed their yule goat in a special ceremony outside of the Lansing State Capitol building to honor their religion.
Members say if other religions are allowed to display their holiday symbols or scenes, then every religion should be able to despite what people may think.
"With beliefs comes conflict and there's nothing you can do about it other than go through it," said Marr Duck, Media Liaison for The Satanic Temple.
That's the stance most religions are taking on a procedure that prevents them from putting up religious displays.
Earlier this week, Mayor Andy Schor was asked to take down a menorah at the Capitol because it violated the separation of church and state, but there are ways to display religious mementos without breaking any rules.
The ceremony included residents of Lansing and nearby cities, some of which were anointed at the ceremony.
"Today is the winter solstice and originally when this nativity went up years ago it was on the winter solstice and that's a tradition we've tried to carry forward," said member Renard Seir.
This is why the Satanic Temple gathered in front of the Capitol building to begin their 7-day observance of the yule goat.
By law, the religious representation can only be held on public property for seven days and it must come down at night.
"We don't practice in and idolize the Satan that is presented in the Bible. We go by a literary version," said Seir.
The group says they want people to learn more about their religion and approach them with respectable questions to learn more about it.
"We deal with people who don't completely understand what it is we stand for all the time so we always try to be charitable and speak to people whether it's here or anywhere else," Marr Duck says.
The yule goat can't be on display overnight, but religious organizers will put it back up in the morning and take it down each night for the next six days this holiday season.
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