Satanists' plan to stage 'black mass' in Oklahoma City sparks outrage
Satanists' plan to stage 'black mass' in Oklahoma City sparks outrage
This undated photo shows Archbishop Paul Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, a leading opponent of the planned "black mass" in Oklahoma City.
Satan worshippers are planning to stage a black mass next month in Oklahoma City, prompting outrage from the leader of the citys 120,000 Catholics, who also condemns municipal officials for allowing the event to be held in a public venue.
The event is being staged by the satanist group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu at the Oklahoma City Center Music Hall on Sept. 21. The groups leader is a registered sex offender.
Lawyers for Oklahoma Citys municipal government say the occultists have a right to lease the public space under the First Amendment.
Im disappointed by their response, Archbishop Paul Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City told FoxNews.com Friday. If someone had come to them to rent the Civic Center to stage a burning of the Koran or to hold an event that was blatantly and clearly anti-Semitic, I think they might find a way to prevent it.
Not all speech is protected if there is hate speech and it is intended to ridicule another religion, he said. I dont believe it is a free speech matter.
Coakley urged churchgoers in an open letter this week to offer a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel at the end of each Mass from now through Sept. 29 to "counteract this challenge to faith and decency."
This Satanic ritual is deadly serious, he wrote. It is a blasphemous and obscene inversion of the Catholic Mass. Using a consecrated Host obtained illicitly from a Catholic church and desecrating it in the vilest ways imaginable, the practitioners offer it in sacrifice to Satan."
On Thursday the head of the Tulsa Archdiocese, Bishop Edward Slattery, issued a similar message. He urged his parishoners to fast and pray for the events cancellation.
Coakley told FoxNews.com he could not just ignore what the satanists planned to do even though their event in the Civic Centers 92-seat basement theater has sold only 13 tickets to date. The satanists are also planning an exorcism to rid a person of the Holy Spirit.
They intend to commit an act of blasphemous sacrilege against the Catholic Eucharistic host, the archbishop said. It is my duty to prevent this blasphemy from taking place in a public venue.
On its website, Dakhma of Angra Mainyu says the black mass at the Civic Center has been toned down to allow it to be performed in a public government building. The authenticity and purpose of the Black Mass will remain intact while allowing for slight changes so that a public viewing can occur without breaking Oklahomas laws based on nudity, public urination and other sex acts, the website says.
The group paid $420 to rent the theater. Its self-described high priest is Adam Daniels, 35, of Oklahoma City.
He acknowledged in an interview with The Oklahoman news paper last month that he was a registered sex offender. He said he was convicted in 2009 for an inappropriate relationship with an inmate at a prison where he worked as a correction officer.
The Oklahoma sex registry says Daniels physical identifiers include satanic tattoos all over his body.
Kristy Yager director of public information for Oklahoma Citys city manager, told FoxNews.com a police officer will be assigned to the black mass event.
If theres a law broken we will be there, she said.
She said the city manager had received thousands of emails and many phone calls urging the events cancellation.
We empathize, we understand where people are coming from, Yager said. Theres just nothing we can do without bringing a lawsuit which we would surely lose.
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Coakley told FoxNews.com he could not just ignore what the satanists planned to do even though their event in the Civic Centers 92-seat basement theater has sold only 13 tickets to date. The satanists are also planning an exorcism to rid a person of the Holy Spirit.
Well, actually it is.
Guarantees of freedom of speech would be meaningless if they only guarantee freedom of speech for views that are popular.
And yes-- these guarantee the right to ridicule another religion, just as they guarantee the right to ridicule "another" political views.
"Ditto"
I agree...
Mee too.
If we embrace the freedom to openly practice our religious beliefs (and I do) then we must also embrace the rights of those that believe differently or not at all to openly practice and celebrate their beliefs.
If he is a registered sex offender he must be a Christian in good standing. Many a Bishop and priest set the activity as a Christian norm. Ohio,i California, and most likely in the past Oaklahoma. Isn't that where they bombed a federal building with a day care and killed a lot of kids. Wasn't that carried out by a devote Christian?
right on!
It takes all kinds doesn't it? People can be so disgusting!!
Coincidentally I just re-watched "Rosemary's Baby" yesterday.
"The event is being staged by the satanist group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu at the Oklahoma City Center Music Hall on Sept. 21. The groups leader is a registered sex offender." Of course he is, as a prison worker he couldn't wait to get his hands on...well you know. I think it is sad when you have people that not only believe in the devil, but actually pray to this character as if he is a god. Sadly, if you believe in the devil, and not in the Lord of Heaven and Earth that created all things, you are a dupe. Bit I think that religion..with the Christian attacks for centuries on Jews...ending with the Holocaust, fanatically religions Islamists chopping off heads, and all the others using religion as a cover to dominate and destroy life, religion has gotten a bad rap, and lost its appeal to the general populations now attending decent, meaningful religious services less then ever.
WC
Seriously, because I believe in God, I am a dupe? Ok, How do you know there is no God? Because you say so? Wow, you must be in that special league that doesn't see the patterns and organization of things in a universe of chaos. I have a right to believe in God, you have a right to believe in .... what? Noting, nothing at all. If so, I think that humanity on this planet would become so nihilistic that nothing truly would exist with any meaning. What do you think about that...
WC
Ooooohhhhhhhh........
:~)
Personally, I find the whole concept of Satanism way more ridiculous than any other 'religion'.When you think about it,the idea ofidentifying a patron 'diety' from the biggest LOSER in a couple thousand years is really pretty humorous. 'Lucifer' got his ass whipped somean thatthe bad press is still going on and there's no talk at all about him getting a re-match-- certainly wouldn't be my first choice as a pathway to spiritual or temporal power...
But hey, difference of opinion is what makes horse races. And yeah, the whole thing may be a public-relations charade, but there is a free speech issue (which was initially brought to a head by the Christians, let's recall). Lastly, it's also about a 'sincerely held religious belief', which the Supreme Court says trumps all kinds of things...
PS-- it's pretty chickenshit of the Satanists to cop out on the "nudity, public urination and other sex acts" to avoid getting busted. If they had real balls they'd stand up for their sincerely held beliefs and hold a 'real' Black Mass...