A group of Satanists cheered as two leaders opened SatanCon 2023 on Friday with a formal ceremony renouncing "symbols of oppression" by ripping up a Bible and a "Thin Blue Line" flag representing police.
"We stand here today in defiance of their siege and destroy their symbols of oppression," a female leader told the crowd before ripping pages out of the Bible and throwing them on the floor, video showed.
A male leader joined her in then tearing a "Thin Blue Line" flag in two, which they also tossed on the floor while the crowd cheered. Satanists in attendance later picked some of the ripped pages off the floor and posed with them for pictures.
"We must build true community outside of the virtual," the male leader also said before taking a hammer to a keyboard. "Rebelling comes in many forms to each and their own within their own capabilities and their own situation. For some of us, merely existing one more day is victory, but for those of us who can, we must stand up for those who cannot."