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Black History Month; P.B. Randolph



Sunday, February 11, 2007
Paschal Beverly Randolph (P.B. Randolph) was a 19th Century magickian, a spiritualist and founder of the Rosicrucian movement in the United Sates.

Like Paul Lafargue he was a mulatto but one who initially denied his Negro roots.

( 8 Oct. 1825 - 29 July 1875 ), physician, philosopher, and author, was born in New York City , the son of William Beverly Randolph, a plantation owner, and Flora Beverly, a barmaid. At the age of five or seven Randolph lost his mother to smallpox, and with her the only love he had known. Randolph later stated, "I was born in love, of a loving mother, and what she felt, that I lived." His father's devotion is questionable. In 1873 Randolph hinted at his own illegitimacy, stating that his parents "did not stop to pay fees to the justice or to the priest."

Randolph 's mother possessed a strong temperament, unusual physical beauty, and intense passions, characteristics that Randolph inherited. Later many, especially his enemies, perceived Randolph as being of "Negro descent," which he denied. Sent to live with his half-sister, Randolph was ignored, unloved, and abused and eventually turned to begging on the streets.

Being born in New York to a 'free black' woman, his reluctance to be considered a Negro at the time is understandable. And since his upbringing was in the time and area of the Gangs of New York, plagued by nativism as it was, it is also understandable.

But by the time of the Civil War he was an outspoken advocate of Negro Rights.

Born poor and of mixed race in 1825 and raised (more or less) by prostitutes in the Five Points slum of New York, Randolph was self-educated and prickly proud. Creating himself, he picked and chose just how "black " to be. He could de-emphasize his African heritage in the face of prejudice--after his suicide, a newspaper said he was "part Spaniard, and inherited all the suspicious distrusting qualities of the people of that nationality. " At other times, he emphasized it, as during his Civil War Black Nationalist phase, when he worked briefly as a teacher for the short-lived Freedman 's Bureau, an agency designed to educate freed slaves but only halfheartedly supported by the federal government.

Yet when some Northerners advocated a scheme to ship freed slaves to Africa, Randolph, speaking for the slaves, emphasized "American: " "We men of color were born here; so were our fathers and mothers down a long line of ancestry....Are all our sufferings to be rewarded by our removal to African deserts and barbaric climes and places?...No! Never! Here is our home, and here we mean to stay, and on this soil will die, and in it be buried. "

And like Lafargue he was an internationalist, traveling and training as well as lecturing in Europe. As with many in the occult movement of the 19th Century he was a social reformer. And like his contemporary Virginia Woodhull, Mrs. Satan, he was an advocate of womens rights and Free Love.

Randolph is to be remembered for his philosophical works on love, marriage, and womanhood. He provided new and unique insight into the then taboo world of sexual love. He aided the education, rights, and equality of both women and blacks. He foresaw the evils of tobacco and drug abuse. Finally, Randolph, through his position as the Americas' first Supreme Grand Master of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, directly or indirectly touched the lives of more than 200,000 neophytes (students) comprising the Fraternitas and other Rosicrucian orders.

P.B. Randolph 's life story demonstrates also how reform-minded American Spiritualism turned into "occultism. " Spiritualism was well-intentioned, "scientific " but also passive, linked to social reform (early feminism, the abolition of slavery) but also to faddishness, most notably "free love, " which could, depending on who was talking, mean anything from a partnership of equals to mere spouse-swapping. ( "You and I were meant to be soul mates. ") Occultism, on the other hand, is individualistic, rooted in personal development and self-improvement, and generally not connected to any social or political philosophy.


With the democratic decline in Europe after the revolutions of 1848 and the Paris Commune secret societies were formed for the purposes of pursuing democratic as well as socialist revolution. In England and the Commonwealth they were formed for the purposes of pursuing trade unionism which had been banned as an illegal combination.

That secret societies should form for finding and revealing secret knowledge, was thus a natural outgrowth of this period and was coincidental with the growth and popularity of fraternal orders after the Civil War in America and across Europe.

His patron both in Spiritualism as well as getting him work with Lincoln was Colonel Ethan A. Hitchcock, a noted military officer as well as practicing alchemist. Like other occultists, John Dee comes to mind, he too was also a spy. The secrecy of the occult overlaps with the secret society of intelligence gathering. They share a similar cosmological outlook that is the search for hidden or secret knowledge.

As happens in the Occult community, as in the political one, sectarian differences are frequent and lead to rivalries and mutual denunciations. Such was the case with P. B. Randolph, who is credited with founding the Rosicrucian movement in the United States.

He faced attack by rivals for hegemony over the occult movement in America denouncing him for his Luciferian ideas from the likes of Madam Blavatsky and her Theosophists and from the white supremacist founder of the American Scottish Right of Freemasonry; Albert Pike. Ironic because both of them are also accused of being Luciferians.

Such is the case of 19th Century occult wars not only in America but in Europe where again competing orders of Rosicrucian's charged and counter charged each other as being in league with Lucifer.

The Luciferian charge comes about from Randolph's advocacy of free love, which was also embraced by American Anarchists at the time. His theories were outlined in his book Eulis and in his other famous treatise; Magia Sexualis

Today we would call his practices sex therapy, where he discussed sexual dysfunction with his patients, and as a Doctor he practiced mesermism, the passing of hands over the body to affect the magnetic energies. He also advocated the tantra practice of heightened sensuality by controlling the male orgasm and ejaculation.
 In 1870 he founded the Order of Eulis, which kept its teachings
secret because of the sex and drugs.  Some people must've talked,
though: H. P. Blavatsky denounced Randolph as immoral, a charge also
leveled at the Luciferian Freemason Sir Albert Pike.  An occult war
followed.  In 1872 his "Rosicrucian Rooms" were raided by police and
he was jailed for distributing "Free Love" literature.  Fires,
robberies, and disease followed, and on July 29, 1975, he shot
himself.  His friends and followers claimed that Blavatsky's curses
had nailed him.  Blavatsky founded the philosophical society the same
year.

By the 1870s many of Randolph's writings dealt with 
occult aspects of  love and sexuality.

Randolph, as a physician, also counseled many of his patients on matters of
family relations, marital bliss and the art of love. These acts of kindness and
concern were sometimes taken as conduct condoning "free love."

In February 1872, he was arrested and imprisoned for promoting
"free love" or immorality. Although acquitted of all charges, as it was discovered in
court that the indictment was merely a clever attempt by former
business partners (now enemies) to obtain his book copyrights, Randolph
never recovered from the humiliation of the proceeding.

Although dying at age 49, Randolph was a prolific writer, producing many books
and pamphlets on love, health, mysticism and the occult.

And further confusion was sown with his initiation into a mystical Gnostic cult from Syria/Iraq which mistakenly has been associated with the Yezedi.

The Yezedi created a sensation amongst some 19th Century scholars who had finally discovered a genuine devil worshiping cult. And the devil they worshiped was Lucifer.

Despite my best googling efforts the only references I could find to Ansaireh is that referred back to the region in Syria/Iraq which is named after a Mountain.

Gertrude Bell in her diary refers to visiting the region and the Yezedi who dwelled there. Which may have been the reason the author of the introduction to Magica Sexualis thought Randolph had been initiated into their religious teachings.

During his journeys to Paris, Pascal became aware of several works which were being published in France and Germany dealing with the Ansaireth or Nusairis of Syria. 25 There was much discussion, in the Rosicrucian circles that Randolph traveled in, of the purity and sublimity of the teachings of the Ansaireh. Books by Niebuhr, M. Catafago, Victor Langlois and others told of these mysterious hill dwellers in Northern Syria who were neither Jews, Christians or Muslims. They may well have been the people that modern anthropology has identified as the Yezidi, the devotees of the Peucock god, Melek Ta'aus.

PBR tells how the chief of the Ansaireth, Narek El Gebel, arrived at the Rosicrucian Third Dome in Paris with letters of introduction and then, recognizing Randolph's abilities and character, invited him to come to Syria and to study with the Ansaireth. Randolph went to Syria and was initiated into the Ansairetic Brotherhood. Upon his return to America, he established the Priesthood of Aeth based on the Ansairetic Mysteries

There were a variety of Christian and Islamic sects in the region. Including the Druze and Nusairis and one of the last surviving gnostic sects the Mandaens. As well as Kurds and Yezedi, Sabians all of whom faced persecution from the Turks for being dhimmis.

In another part of this Consular District there seems to have been little change from the old times of rapine and bloodshed in Turkey. I allude to the Ansaireh mountains, stretching from the valley of the Orontes to Mount Lebanon. On a late occasion a member of the Medjlis of Tripoli, passing through a Christian village in pursuit of the revolted Ansaireh, set fire to it, and, when the inhabitants conveyed their moveable property of value into their Church (…), it was broken open and plundered. This case, with many others equally abominable, of simultaneous occurrence, was laid before Her Majesty’s Consul General for Syria, the perpetrators of the outrages being under the jurisdiction of the Pasha of Beyrouth, and will thus have already come under Your Excellency’s notice. (Aleppo, 31st March, 1859; FO 78/1452 (No. 11), Skene to Bulwer, Constantinople)


The author of the introduction to Magica Sexualis is mistaken in associating the Ansairth with the Yezedi. As I said the Yezedi at the time had become somewhat of a sensation amongst certain Christian religious and historical scholars. And the Nusairis refer to an Islamic Shi'a Sunni sect.

Randolphs Rosicrucian Order and his fellow occultists of the time were fascinated with the recent discoveries of Gnosticism and the Gnostic's. Finding a living Gnostic religion which offered initiation would have been more in keeping with their occult traditions.

I suspect Randolph had been initiated into the the mystery religion of the Mandaens. Whose followers were in the same region of Syria at the time.

Within the Middle East, but outside of their community, the Mandaeans are more commonly known as the Ṣubba (singular Ṣubbī). Likewise, their Muslim neighbors will refer to them collectively as the Sabians (Arabic al-Ṣābiʾūn), in reference to the Ṣabians of the Qur'an. Occasionally, the Mandaeans are also called the "Christians of St. John" (a misnomer, since they are not Christians by any standard), based upon preliminary reports made by members of the Barefoot Carmelite mission in Basra during the 16th century.

Other groups which have been identified with the Mandaeans include the "Nasoraeans" described by Epiphanius and the Dositheans mentioned by Theodore Bar Kōnī in his Scholion. Ibn al-Nadim also mentions a group called the Mughtasila, "the self-ablutionists," who may be identified with one or the other of these groups. The members of this sect, like the Mandaeans, wore white and performed baptisms.


The similarity of beliefs about healthy living, not eating meat, avoiding tobacco, reincarnation and sexuality strike me as Mandaean rather than Yezedi.

According to E.S. Drower in the introduction to The Secret Adam, Mandaeans believe in marriage and procreation, and in the importance of leading an ethical and moral lifestyle in this world, placing a high priority upon family life. Consequently, Mandaeans do not practice celibacy or asceticism. Mandaeans will, however, abstain from strong drink and red meat. While they agree with other gnostic sects that the world is a prison governed by the planetary archons, they do not view it as a cruel and inhospitable one.



The Rosicrucian movement he founded still exists today publishing his works;

SEERSHIP; Guide to Soul Sight


The importance of Randolph cannot be underestimated. His works influenced later magickal and occult practitioners including Eliphas Levi as well as the Ordo Templi Orientis in particular Theodore Reuss and Aleister Crowley.
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Thursday, December 14, 2023

The Satanic Temple to launch ‘After School Satan Club’ at Memphis elementary school

Lawrencia Grose
Tue, December 12, 2023 



MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — The Satanic Temple plans to host its “After School Satan Club” at Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova.

The club will start the program on January 10 in the school’s library and run through the spring semester, according to an announcement posted on Facebook Tuesday morning.

The Satanic Temple claims to be a non-theistic religion that views Satan as a figure who represents “championing the human mind and spirit.” The group says the club does not attempt to convert children to any religious ideology. The clubs began nationwide in 2020.

They said there will be various activities centered around the Seven Fundamental Tenets, including science and community service projects, puzzles and games, nature activities, and arts and crafts.

After School Satan Clubs gain popularity amid legal victories





The news spread around local social media Tuesday, with some parents expressing concern.

” … can’t talk about god in school or pray but can have a satan in the school the worlds coming to an end y’all better get ready,” wrote Facebook user Barryand Ashley Busby.

Others were more supportive.

“I say this as an open-minded Christian, if they can have Bible Studies at the school, then they should be able to do this as well,” wrote Bee Givens.

Will the Memphis area get snow this year? Not likely, NWS says

Parents of students at Chimneyrock Elementary were alarmed and concerned after the flyer announcing the new after school club began making the rounds.

“If we don’t want God in schools, we definitely don’t need or want Satan in schools,” said Felicia Dennis. “Me and my whole family, we attend church. So this was a big shocker for me for this to be coming to my daughter’s school.”



It’s the organization’s fifth active club in the nation. Campaign Director June Everett said it started after she was contacted by MSCS parents expressing interest.

“Members of the satanic temple are not theistic satanists, so they don’t believe in an actual real satan,” Everett said.

She explained that the club can only operate in schools that have other religious clubs, so like-minded people can come together. She said they don’t actually discuss Satanic teachings, but they do activities that are inspired by Satanic beliefs.

“We can take Satan and view Satan as this creature and this character however we want. We don’t have to believe Satan as this evil deity. We can view Satan as we wish and that’s exactly what we do,” Everett said.

But parents like Dennis said they still aren’t comfortable.

“I feel that if possible, maybe a community center or something like that would be more fit. I don’t feel it should be in the scene where they learn. If they don’t want prayer in the schools, they shouldn’t have this satan club,” she said.

WREG reached out to Memphis-Shelby County Schools for a statement regarding the group’s attendance at Chimneyrock Elementary.


A district spokesperson said MSCS facilities are rented out to several organizations.

For instance, the Good News Club meets at Chimneyrock Elementary weekly, the spokesperson said. That group’s website describes the program as “a clear presentation of the Gospel and an opportunity for children to trust Jesus as savior.”

The following message was sent to parents by MSCS:

“We understand that some of you have questions regarding the recent approval of a facility rental to The Satanic Temple, a federally recognized non-profit organization.

As a public school district, we’re committed to upholding the principles of the First Amendment, which guarantees equal access to all non-profit organizations seeking to use our facilities after school hours. This means we cannot approve or deny an organization’s request based solely on its viewpoints or beliefs.

Board Policy 7002 outlines this commitment, allowing community groups and government entities to rent school property outside of school hours. These gatherings are not school-sponsored and are not endorsed or promoted by Memphis-Shelby County Schools.




The Satanic Temple, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity, falls under this policy and has the same legal rights to use our facilities after school hours as any other non-profit organization. It will be renting the facility in January, after school. You may read more about the organization in an online news story from the Washington Post.

We understand that this topic may raise questions. Thank you for your understanding and continued partnership.“

Some parents we spoke with discussed the possibility of removing their children from the district because of this.

Meanwhile, as the school mentioned, the club is protected under First Amendment rights, so they must allow it to move forward.




















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Kim Reynolds calls Iowa Capitol satanic display 'objectionable,' encourages Iowans to pray

Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register
Updated Wed, December 13, 2023 

Satanic Temple of Iowa display at the Iowa State Capitol.

Gov. Kim Reynolds is encouraging Iowans to pray over the Capitol building in response to a satanic display set up in the rotunda, which she called "absolutely objectionable."

"Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple’s display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable," Reynolds, a Republican, said in a statement Tuesday. "In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the Nativity scene that will be on display ― the true reason for the season."

The Satanic Temple of Iowa received permission to erect an altar on the first floor of the Capitol building, alongside other more traditional Nativity displays that groups can apply to set up in the building each year.

More: Iowa lawmaker calls for Gov. Kim Reynolds to remove satanic display from Capitol

The satanic display includes what are described online as the "seven fundamental tenets" of Satanism, including the statement that "the freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend."

Completing the display are the temple's seal, electric candles and a caped figure representing the pagan idol Baphomet, holding a ribbon-bedecked pentangle and topped with a gilded ram's head.

The display has sparked outrage from Republican lawmakers. State Rep. Brad Sherman, R-Williamsburg, called it unconstitutional and called for it to be taken down.


Satanic Temple of Iowa display at the Iowa State Capitol.

Others, like Rep. Jon Dunwell, R-Newton, said the display is objectionable but said "I don't want the state evaluating and making determinations about religions. I am guided by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."

Reynolds' statement calls on Iowans to recognize the Christian Nativity scene that has been put on display at the Capitol, calling it "the true reason for the season."

On Tuesday afternoon, Reynolds shared images on social media of herself and other Iowans praying in the Capitol rotunda near the Nativity scene.

"Today, faithful Iowans gathered in the Capitol rotunda to display the Nativity and pray for peace," she wrote on social media. "Free speech is a right afforded to all. But how we use it matters. Today’s event is proof that in the battle between good and evil, good will always prevail."



Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Kim Reynolds criticizes satanic altar at Iowa Capitol, asks for prayer



'Disgusting' Satanic Temple display at state capitol in Iowa sparks free speech battle

Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez and Noelle Alviz-Gransee, 
USA TODAY NETWORK
Updated Tue, December 12, 2023 

The controversy began bubbling last week after a group that calls itself the Satanic Temple of Iowa placed with state permission a small altar on the first floor of the Iowa State Capitol. It displays what are described online as the "seven fundamental tenets" of Satanism, including the statement that "the freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend."

Completing the display are the temple's seal, electric candles and a caped figure representing the pagan idol Baphomet, holding a ribbon-bedecked pentangle and topped with a gilded ram's head.

Outrage and demands for removal came swiftly.

Iowa state Rep. Brad Sherman said in the Dec. 8 edition of his Sherman Liberty Letter that the "disgusting display" should be removed immediately and called "for clarifying legislation to be adopted in accordance with our State Constitution that prohibits satanic displays in our Capitol building and on all state owned property."

He further proposed additional legislation to clear the way for displaying the Ten Commandments in all state buildings, including the Capitol, and in Iowa public schools.

The Satanic Temple of Iowa display at the Iowa Capitol.

Sherman says the exhibit has drawn widespread "outrage and disgust" among Iowans, "but few people think there is much that can be legally done about it because of free speech and freedom of religion."

"However," he adds, "I disagree."

Satanic Temple founder: Ignore display if it offends you

Lucien Greaves, spokesman and co-founder of the Satanic Temple, said it is always important for the group to seek equal representation in public forums that are open for religious displays.

"People assume that we're there to insult Christians and we're not," Greaves said. "And I would hope that even people who disagree with the symbolism behind our values, whether they know what those values (are) or not, would at least appreciate that it's certainly a greater evil to allow the government to pick and choose between forms of religious expression."

Greaves said individuals are not being forced to interact with the display and don't have to engage with it.


The Satanic Temple of Iowa display at the Iowa Capitol.

Sherman: Iowa Constitution endorses God, and Satan is his enemy

Sherman points to the preamble to the Iowa Constitution, which says, "WE THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF IOWA, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a free and independent government, by the name of the State of Iowa... ."

"According to these opening lines of our Constitution, the foundation for laws and continued blessing and success in Iowa is based on these points: 1. There is One Supreme God. 2. Blessings over this state come from the One Supreme God. 3. We must depend upon the One Supreme God if we want to enjoy continued blessings," Sherman writes.

He says it is "a tortured and twisted interpretation of law that affords Satan, who is universally understood to be the enemy of God, religious expression equal to God in an institution of government that depends upon God for continued blessings."

Sherman was joined in his opposition by some Iowans who have viewed the display.

"I'm here today because this is so anti-Christian, so anti-Iowa," Evelyn Nikkel, a Christian praying in the Capitol rotunda, said.

Nikkel said when a Nativity scene is installed in the Capitol this week, Iowans will be able to see the "real reason for the season."

Satanic display 'objectionable' but not illegal, some say

But Sherman, a pastor, may not have wholehearted support from other Republican legislators in Iowa, some of whom say they would oppose the government limiting freedom of speech in reaction to the display, which will be in place for a total of two weeks.

State Rep. Jon Dunwell, R-Newton, on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, and on Facebook has tried to explain why the display was allowed. He's experienced considerable blowback in response, though he says that as an ordained minister and "as a follower of Christ, I certainly find a display from the Satanic Temple objectionable."

He says those who put up the display followed all the rules required to do so, adding that "the current operating principle has been to either allow all displays or none."

The Legislature can try to change those rules, he says, but "my observation as an Iowan and a State Representative, I don’t want the state evaluating and making determinations about religions. I am guided by the First Amendment of the US Constitution."

"The display is an inanimate object that has no real power in and of itself. We have nothing to fear," he says, adding that "the primary response required is prayer."
'I think this is a test' of allegiance to free speech


State Rep. Brad Sherman, R-Williamsburg, speaks with state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, on the House floor at the Iowa Capitol.

Dunwell calls for reviewing the guidelines for displays "to ensure they represent our constitutional rights"; monitoring the number of organizations that request displays to prevent the Capitol from being "overwhelmed" by them; and continuing "to dialogue with other elected officials and Iowans on this issue."

Dunwell, in a posting Sunday, pushed back at responses condemning his position.

"I would rather have an evil blasphemous display or no display at all than have the state dictate what they think is appropriate," he says, adding he has been "SHOCKED so many want to give up their freedom, so they don’t have to see a display they disagree with."

Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Crawford County, said that while he agrees with Sherman on a philosophical level, he believes Iowans have the right to disagree about religion. In an interview, he said decisions about civil liberties can't just be based on the state constitution alone.

"We also have the federal constitution, we have the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, (which) are just foundational values of our country… So while I totally hold a total disdain anything that this organization stands for, I nonetheless believe they have the constitutionally protected right to put up the display," he said.

Holt said that in the time he has been in office, many atheist displays as well as Nativity scenes have been erected in the Capitol. Nativities periodically have been displayed in the Capitol at least since 2016, when the Freedom from Religion Foundation responded with a "Nativity" for the Bill of Rights.

"I think this is a test," Holt said of the current satanic display. "I think this is really a test of just how, how strong your allegiance is to the Constitution and the concepts of free speech and free religion. It's easy to say you believe in those things when the speech is not that objectionable to you. But when the speech is really, really highly objectionable and offensive, unless it otherwise breaks the law, are you going to stand up for the constitutional rights of others or are you not?"

Staff writer Katie Akin contributed to this article.

Noelle Alviz-Gransee is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her on X @NoelleHannika or email her at NAlvizGransee@registermedia.com. Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter. Reach her atvreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or on X @VictoriaReynaR.

More: Parents in a Connecticut town worry as 'After School Satan Club' plans meeting

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Satanic Temple display at state capitol sparks free speech debate

The Des Moines Register
Opinion

Letters: Satanic display at Iowa Capitol is inappropriate

The Register's readers
Wed, December 13, 2023 

Don’t let Iowa Republicans off the hook for relentlessly violating people’s rights

Recently there has been an uproar over a Satanic Temple display at the state Capitol by many Christians, up to and including responses from elected officials. Much of the discourse over the display has been around First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and religion, something that has brought about praise for a particular legislator when it comes to respecting those rights.

However, it should not be lost on the electorate how low the bar has come that an elected official, Rep. Jon Dunwell, is getting praise for respecting the First Amendment. Especially when all of the attacks on the civil and human rights of Iowans come from faith-based representatives, organizations, and arguments. It should also be noted that all the nasty attacks on this representative cited by the Register opinion editor were coming from those in his party that thought he should respect the First Amendment LESS, not more.

This same representative had no problem using his religious beliefs to attack the rights of women to access healthcare or vote to remove books from public schools, actions that have real consequences for Iowans, much more so than a display in the capitol rotunda. The separation of church and state and First Amendment protections are extremely important and shouldn’t just be bandied about when it looks good on Twitter. This is a very real and serious threat to our democracy.

Jason Benell, Des Moines, president of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers


Satanic display at Capitol is inappropriate

The Constitution says that Americans have the right to freedom of religion or no religion at all. It does not suggest or say that any religion must associate itself with or worship any divine being. Satanic worship has been practiced for a very long time.

The governor of Iowa has allowed satanic displays in the Iowa Capitol. At a time when many Americans are celebrating the birth of Christ, it seems a bit odd that the display of satanic figures is allowed at the same time. The month of October might be more appropriate for the display. I personally feel that it is not appropriate at any time.

Galen Bral, Manilla

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Letters: Satanic display at Capitol is inappropriate


Satanic Temple Altar At The Iowa State Capitol Has Republicans Seething


Kelby Vera
Wed, December 13, 2023 

Controversy has arisen in Iowa after the Satanic Temple was allowed to put up a display at the state Capitol building in Des Moines.

Outcry emerged after the un-Christian-like altar was erected on the first floor of the Iowa State Capitol earlier this month, prompting the public and lawmakers to call for its removal. Others have maintained keeping the shrine up is a matter of free speech and freedom of religion, however.

The display ― which will be up through the end of this week ― includes an altar with the “seven fundamental tenets” of the Satanic Temple and the group’s seal, surrounded by electric candles.

Behind the altarpiece stands an effigy of the goat-headed idol Baphomet, a pagan deity who is invoked in various occult practices and throughout pop culture.

A mirrored sculpture of a ram’s skull sits on top of the figure, which is cloaked in red velvet, holding a black and red ribbon wreath with a pentacle in the center.

Iowa state Rep. Brad Sherman (R) objected to the “disgusting display” in a letter last week, where he argued that the altar violates Iowa’s state constitution.


A Baphomet statue erected by the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts, in 2019. The group stirred up controversy for an altar it set up at the Iowa State Capitol last week.

A Baphomet statue erected by the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts, in 2019. The group stirred up controversy for an altar it set up at the Iowa State Capitol last week.

Fellow Republican Jon Dunwell reluctantly defended the satanic setup in a detailed post on X, however.

Dunwell, an ordained minister, said that while the altar offended him “as a follower of Christ,” access to the state Capitol displays are done through an open application which does not discriminate on “the basis of religion or ideology.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) called the altar “objectionable” in a Tuesday press release, but said, “In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech.” She went on to invite people of all faiths to join her in prayer at the Capitol that day.

Lucien Greaves, spokesman and co-founder of the Satanic Temple, told the Des Moines Register the piece was not intended to offend Christians, but was created to give other religions more representation in public forums.

“People assume that we’re there to insult Christians and we’re not,” Greaves said, arguing, “It’s certainly a greater evil to allow the government to pick and choose between forms of religious expression.”

After the satanic shrine made national news, Republican presidential primary candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis offered his take during a Tuesday night town hall held by CNN ahead of next month’s Iowa caucus.

He blamed President Donald Trump for giving the Satanic Temple religious tax-exempt status in 2019, saying, “It very well may be because of that ruling under Donald Trump that they may have had a legal leg to stand on. My view would be that’s not a religion that the Founding Fathers were trying to create.”

This isn’t the first time The Satanic Temple has tested the limits of religious freedom on government property.

In 2013, they attempted to get an eight-foot-tall Baphomet sculpture installed at the Oklahoma state Capitol in response to a monument of the Ten Commandments on its grounds. The biblical monument was later removed.

The group revived the stunt five years later when they took the statue to Little Rock to protest a set of commandments being placed on the grounds of the Arkansas state Capitol.

DeSantis lays blame on Trump administration for Satanic Temple display in Iowa Capitol

Biong M. Biong, Des Moines Register
Wed, December 13, 2023 

Seeking to turn a Satanic Temple of Iowa display in the Iowa Capitol into a presidential campaign issue, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is laying the blame at the feet of former President Donald Trump’s administration.

The temple received permission for the display, including an altar and a figure of the pagan idol Baphomet, under a state policy that allows temporary religious displays in the Capitol. There also is currently a Christian nativity scene.

Iowa Republican leaders are divided over the display, which one said was permitted under a policy that calls for allowing all religious displays or none of them. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has endorsed DeSantis in the first-in-the-nation Iowa Republican caucuses, said Tuesday that "in a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the Nativity scene that will be on display ― the true reason for the season."



But DeSantis, appearing on a CNN town hall Tuesday night, sided with those who say the satanic display isn't a genuine religious expression and should be removed. He added that it would not be allowed in the Florida Capitol ― although one was permitted in 2014 during the administration of DeSantis' predecessor Rick Scott, a Republican who is now one of the state's U.S. senators.

DeSantis said he believed it was a wrong-headed Trump administration decision that gave the Satanic Temple, a nationwide network headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts, standing as a religious organization.

“The Trump administration gave them approval to be under the IRS as a religion, so that gave them the legal ability to potentially do it,” he said.

DeSantis said he was surprised by the 2019 U.S. Internal Revenue Service ruling, which the Satanic Temple told the Associated Press it believed would help it in religious discrimination legal cases and allow it to pursue faith-based government grants.

“[The government] recognized it as a religion, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to do it; I don’t think that was the right decision,” DeSantis said.

“I don’t know what the Legislature … [or] how they analyzed it, but it very well may be because of that ruling under Donald Trump, that they may have had a legal leg to stand on,” he added. “My view would be that that’s not a religion that the founding fathers were trying to create.”
Trump campaign: DeSantis 'doesn't even own his own Bible'

There was no indication in the Associated Press story or other coverage of the ruling that Trump was involved in the decision. The IRS is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury. Steven Mnuchin was Trump's treasury secretary and Charles Rettig was the IRS commissioner.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung in an emailed statement to the Des Moines Register fired back at DeSantis, mocking his name and his stances on religion and noting DeSantis' failure so far to gain traction against Trump in the campaign.

More: DeSantis says Iowa Caucus polling is 'never accurate.' We checked. Here's what we found:

“Ron DeSanctus has a lot of opinions on religion for a man who doesn’t even own his own Bible," Cheung wrote. "This is a sad attempt by a dying candidate in the last throes of his failed campaign, so he’s resorting to blatant lies and outright falsehoods that will finally put an end to his disastrous run.”

Staff writer Brianne Pfannenstiel contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: DeSantis blames Trump for Satanic Temple display in Iowa Capitol

DeSantis pins partial blame on Trump administration for satanic temple display in Iowa state capitol

Andrew Miller
Tue, December 12, 2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis invoked the name of former President Donald Trump when asked in a CNN town hall on Tuesday about a controversial satanic display in the Iowa state capitol building.

"So it's interesting," DeSantis told CNN's Jake Tapper. "I heard this and then I was like, well, how did it get there? Is that even a religion? And lo and behold, the Trump administration gave them approval to be under the IRS as a religion. So that gave them the legal ability to potentially do it."

DeSantis continued, "So I don't know what the legislature, how they analyzed it, but it very well may be because of that ruling under Donald Trump that they may have had a legal leg to stand on. My view would be that that's not a religion that the founding fathers were trying to create. But I do think that IRS ruling, I was really surprised to see that they did that."

THE SATANIC TEMPLE DEDICATING 'LARGEST SATANIC GATHERING IN HISTORY' TO BOSTON MAYOR, WILL REQUIRE MASKS

DeSantis was referring to a situation that developed this week where The Satanic Temple of Iowa erected a public display depicting "Baphomet," made of a ram's head of with mirrors covering it, propped by a mannequin in red clothing.

Co-founder of The Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, told the news outlet that the display represents the group's right to religious freedom.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The display sparked intense controversy and condemnation from conservatives in Iowa from those who felt the state legislature or the state's Republican governor should have stopped it from being put up.

SATANISTS CONDEMN LEADER, DEMAND HE REAFFIRM TRANS RIGHTS AFTER TAKING PHOTO WITH ANTI-WOKE ATHEIST

The Baphomet statue is seen in the conversion room at the Satanic Temple where a "Hell House" is being held in Salem, Massachusetts on October 8, 2019.

The Iowa Department of Administrative Services said the satanic group met all the requirements legally needed to erect the display, KWWL-TV reported.

"Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple’s display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable," Gov. Kim Reynolds, who endorsed DeSantis, said in a statement.

"In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the nativity scene that will be on display – the true reason for the season," Reynolds added.

Lawmakers who oppose the display have acknowledged that it is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

During the Trump presidency, the IRS in 2019 granted the "non-theistic" Salem-Mass.-based Satanic organization tax exempt status.


Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Iowa State Fair, on August 11, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa

"That doesn't necessarily mean the government supports it, but they did grant it," Tapper told DeSantis Tuesday.

"Yeah, exactly," DeSantis responded. "But they recognized it as a religion, otherwise you wouldn't be able to do it. I don't think that was the right decision… that's wrong."

When asked if the display should be taken down, DeSantis said, "Yeah, I mean look, I think if they're going to get sued on it, I think you fight that fight."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, "This is what desperate politicians do when they know their political lives are flashing before their eyes, they fabricate and completely make up ridiculous stories on CNN so they can appease their liberal audience. This is the moment scholars will point to of when the death of DeSantis's career occurred."

Fox News Digital's Adam Sabes contributed to this report




































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