An apparent fetishization of religious "diversity" had officials in an Iowa city permit a satanic invocation prior to conducting official business on Tuesday. While many at the meeting appeared willing to put up with the infernal appeal, one Christian man stood up and spoke out.
How it started
Ottumwa, a city in Southeast Iowa, adopted a policy on Jan. 20 allowing for invocations to be given at the start of official city council meetings.
'That's not welcome here.'
"This policy is intended to acknowledge and express the City Council's respect for the diversity of both organized and unorganized religious denominations, as well as other faiths, belief systems, or the lack thereof, represented and practiced among the citizens of the City of Ottumwa," the policy states.
Per the policy, invocational speakers are to be "selected without preference to any specific religion, belief, faith, or ideology, from amongst a diverse pool of Ottumwa citizens" and are asked not to proselytize, disparage other beliefs, and to keep their invocation under two minutes in length.
Summoning the devil
Matthew Dalbey, a former Ottumwa city council member, seized upon the opportunity not only to offer a prayer down to the devil but to violate the city's policy by taking a general dig at the beliefs of others.
"Let us pray," started Dalbey. "Dear dark father, let us stand now unbowed and unfettered by arcane doctrines born of fearful minds in darkened times. Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old."
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Dalbey is a member of the Iowa chapter of the Satanic Temple. While Dalbey told KTVO-TV that he and other members of the Satanic Temple don't actually believe in Satan or worship him, the anti-Christian group and its members certainly behave as though they do.
After all, in recent years, the Satanic Temple has erected statues of Baphomet on government property around Christmastime; offered expectant mothers telehealth abortion services and promoted an "abortion ritual"; challenged pro-life legislation; distributed satanic literature to children; publicly performed "unbaptisms"; held a demonization ceremony in protest of the canonization of the Catholic Spanish priest Junípero Serra; and promoted euthanasia and pornography.
After imploring the devil to help the Iowans present to turn against ancient beliefs and deriding "arbitrary social norms," Dalbey championed "agnosticism in all things" and called for opposition against any "arbitrary authority that threatens the personal sovereignty of one or all."
The radical concluded his prayer with "hail Satan."
Righteous indignation
New Life Center Pastor Rick Bick refused to let the satanic prayer go unchecked.
Bick — who made an invocation prior to a council meeting earlier this year and is set to do so again in December — declared, "Let's just reverse that curse that was just put on our city."
"That ending with, 'hail Satan' and 'hail dark god'?" continued the pastor. "That's not welcome here."
'I am a Christian man with Christian values so I chose not to participate.'
Bick reiterated that the satanic prayer was a curse on this city and noted, "Most of you know that, and we just need to stop and reverse it."
Ottumwa Mayor Benjamin Foote attempted to defuse the situation by calling for a "moment of silence to reflect on whatever it is we need to reflect on at this time."
Cara Galloway, the council member who cast the lone vote against the invocation policy in January and reportedly warned about the inevitability of a satanic prayer, noted at the end of the meeting on Tuesday that selectively objecting to invocations now may expose taxpayers to legal liability.
The City of Ottumwa issued a statement on Tuesday, noting, "It is very clear that many of you have watched at least the first two minutes of the October 6 City Council meeting."
The city underscored that it "cannot discriminate against a denomination and everyone that is invited to perform the invocation has followed the correct protocol."
Councilman Bill Hoffman told Blaze News, "We as elected officials are not aware of the content before hand. In my opinion, I do not believe this one invocation expresses the beliefs of most of Ottumwa."
"Personally as a councilman, I only speak for myself, I did not stay in the room during the invocation as I do not agree with the content," continued Hoffman. "I am a Christian man with Christian values so I chose not to participate, and I stepped into the hallway and did a personal prayer to God for strength and wisdom for myself and to watch over our city."
Other members of the council and Mayor Foote did not immediately respond to Blaze News' requests for comment.
The satanic invocation has prompted widespread outrage.
"WTF," tweeted BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales.
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines wrote, "Jesus, come back now."
BlazeTV host Steve Deace suggested, however, that it is par for the course in the Hawkeye State: "To be fair, Democrat candidate for congress @SarahforIowa does preside over Satanic weddings."
Sarah Trone Garriott, a leftist Lutheran minister who is presently running against Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, has helped oversee at least one "wedding" for satanists. In 2023, she discussed her efforts to accommodate disciples of the fallen on their big day, going so far as to consider readings about the devil "to make them feel more comfortable."
As of Thursday morning, Blaze News' Poll Watch has Nunn with a 6-point lead.
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[H/T Blaze Media]
