FAITH UNDER FIRE

'MINION OF SATAN' PRESSURES OFFICIALS FOR INVOCATION

'We're not going to spread devil-worshiping in our chamber'

Douglas Ernst

A 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling is being used to justify a request to give a satanic invocation at a future Florida county commission meeting.

Elected officials from Florida’s Lake County Commission have fielded a request by atheist Chaz Stevens, 51, to allow him to ask Satan to bless the county. The self-described “minion of Satan” said it was part of a “Satan or Silence Project” aimed at ending prayer before meetings.

“At best, it [the invocation] is going to be solemn and right to the occasion, but it might very well raise the dead. I mean think about it. We’re talking about Satan,” Stevens told the Orlando Sentinel Thursday.

Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea have collaborated to create “Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians,” which confirms that groups like Pew Research, Newsweek and The Economist also identify Christians as “the world’s most widely persecuted religious group.”

A May 5, 2014, U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Town of Greece, New York, v Galloway) found the U.S. Constitution allows for sectarian prayer at government meetings. Atheist groups from the Central Florida Freethought Community have taken advantage of the justices’ appeal for communities to be reasonably inclusive at invocations, the newspaper said.

Commission Chairman Jimmy Conner deemed Stevens request “over-the-top.”

“There won’t be any satanic prayers while I’m chairman. The man isn’t going to bully me. If he hates God, he can do that. But we’re not going to spread devil-worshiping in our chamber,” Conner said Thursday.

Stevens told the Orlando Sentinel he may sue if his request is denied.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/minion-of-satan-pressures-officials-for-invocation/#zc7yUArJK5HOK2vp.99

My comments: In an Unbelieving Nation, on what basis can these "Satanists" be denied giving an Invocation before the County Commission?