Satanic Temple, Atheists Step up Attacks on Christian Prayer in Arizona

By Rachel Alexander Published on February 19, 2016

“Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old.” That’s a line from an invocation the Satanic Temple of Tucson wanted to give to open a meeting of the Phoenix City Council earlier this month. The prayer ended: “It is Done. Hail Satan.”

While they may not have been successful delivering the prayer, that wasn’t their primary goal, and now they’re taking that agenda to other city councils while an atheist legislator tries similar tactics at the state Capitol.

It was a pick-your-poison strategy: Either accept the Satanist prayer or strip regular prayers from the meetings altogether, one of their spokesman explained to The New York Daily News. “We got what we were going for,” she said. Two members applied to deliver the opening invocation and were approved by the left-leaning majority of council members and the Democrat mayor. The conservative minority on the council first tried to limit prayers to council members, but were eventually forced to agree to eliminate prayer completely.

The organization had threatened a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix if they were not allowed to deliver the prayer. Sal DiCiccio, one of the council members who opposed the group’s request,  called the ending of the council’s prayers a “big win” for the Satanic Temple, and vowed to bring a ballot initiative that would only permit people to give the invocation who have been invited by city officials. Chaz Stevens, the self-proclaimed bishop of the Church of Satanic Activism, sent DiCiccio a crude sex toy after the controversy with some profane remarks.

Emboldened, the group has now applied to give the opening invocation at city council meetings in four other large cities. Scottsdale has agreed to allow them, and reportedly both Tucson and Sahuarita have too. Chandler is likely to turn the organization down because its prayers are only given by council members.

The Satanic Temple has done this kind of thing before. In 2012, the group attempted to donate a statue of Baphomet — a horned goat god some occult groups claim to worship — to be displayed next to a monument of The Ten Commandments at the Oklahoma State Capitol. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the removal of the Ten Commandments. Two years later, the group threatened a lawsuit against the state of Florida if it was not permitted to include a holiday display at the state capitol featuring an angel dropping into a pit of flames. The state caved, and the display ran for a week.

The Satanic Temple now intends to get a statue of Baphomet placed at the Arkansas State Capitol, where a monument of The Ten Commandments is displayed.

Atheist Says He Wants to Pray

It’s not just the Satanic Temple. Also this month, an atheist state legislator asked to deliver the opening invocation to kick off the legislative session at the Arizona State Legislature, but was turned down. State Rep. Juan Mendez, a Democrat, had delivered House invocations in 2013 and 2014. This year, House Majority Leader Steve Montenegro, a Republican and a pastor, refused to grant him permission, saying the prayer must invoke a higher power.

Mendez instead offered a secular invocation during a period set aside for personal comments.

Arizona House of Representatives press secretary Stephanie Grisham cited the 2004 U.S. Supreme Court decision Greece v. Galloway as precedent for this. In that decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority, “Ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that, since this Nation was founded and until the present day, many Americans deem that their own existence must be understood by precepts far beyond the authority of government to alter or define and that willing participation in civic affairs can be consistent with a brief acknowledgment of their belief in a higher power, always with due respect for those who adhere to other beliefs.” Opponents contend the word “can” means belief in a higher power is only permissible, not required.

Montenegro issued a memo clarifying the policy. “As commonly understood and in the long-honored tradition of the Arizona House of Representatives,” he wrote, prayer “is a solemn request for guidance and help from God. A Member’s request to lead the prayer, or to invite a member of the clergy to lead the prayer, is an avowal that the request is for the stated purpose.  Members who wish to observe a moment of silence, recite a poem, express personal sentiments or speak rather than pray, should rise to a point of personal privilege to do so.”

Someone of any faith can give a prayer, the memo said, adding that the prayer “must not be exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other faith or belief.”

Christian Concerns

Christians in Arizona are concerned that the Satanic Temple and atheists like Mendez are not really interested in equal time for their own prayers, but in using the idea of religious liberty to push religion out of public life entirely. As their spokesman admitted after the council eliminated the opening prayer, “We got what we were going for.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Like the article? Share it with your friends! And use our social media pages to join or start the conversation! Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MeWe and Gab.

Inspiration
The Scarcity Mindset
Robert Morris
More from The Stream
Connect with Us