“I am disappointed that the city did in fact support issuing a permit to The Satanic Temple for this holiday display, though I understand the reasoning of the council on this issue,” Champlin said. “As the council knows, my preference was to deny the permit and accept the risk of the threatened lawsuit.”
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Champlin said that he opposed the permit because he believes “the request was made not in the interest of promoting religious equity but in order to drive an anti-religious political agenda.”
Champlin added that he does not “respond well to legal extortion.”
While some have celebrated the display as a win for religious liberty, Champlin said, “I disagree with this.”
“This is about an out-of-state organization cynically promoting its national agenda at the expense of the Concord community,” Champlin said.
Nevertheless, other local politicians have expressed greater sympathy for TST, including state Rep. Ellen Read, who told Catholic News Agency that TST should be allowed to replace its vandalized display.
“I think they probably should because I think the vandalism and the hatefulness shouldn’t go without a response,” Read said. “But it’s up to them.”
Read also criticized Champlin’s “narrow-mindedness” and inability to understand that the TST display “represents a large percentage of the community and its beliefs.”
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“Most people walking by realize that this is not an attack on Christianity, just as most people walking by the nativity scene realize it’s not an attack on non-Christians,” she said. “In both cases, it’s people expressing their beliefs, as is their First Amendment right.”
 only briefly stood outside the New Hampshire State House, as vandals quickly broke the display into pieces. The broken display was later removed.){kind=link}