'Hail Satan' Invocation Stirs Iowa City Council Meeting
The Facts
- Former Ottumwa, Iowa, city council member Matt Dalbey opened Tuesday's council meeting with an invocation addressed to the "dark father" that urged embracing a "Luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge" and ended with "Hail Satan."
- New Life Center pastor Rick Bick took the microphone shortly after the invocation and urged the council to "reverse this curse that was put on our city." Asked to wait for the public comment period, Bick said the matter needed to be addressed immediately.
- Mayor Benjamin Foote called for 30 seconds of silence "to reflect on whatever it is we need to reflect on at this time," and later told Fox News Digital that the invocation does not represent the faith or values of families in Ottumwa.
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The Spin
Right narrative
Opening a public meeting with a tribute to the devil is a deliberate insult to the community, not some noble act of inclusion. Letting that fly while a pastor gets gaveled down shows exactly whose faith local leaders are scared to defend. Public officials hiding behind policy documents while a town gets mocked ought to find another line of work.
Left narrative
Government meetings that open with sectarian prayer invite every belief under the sun, so outrage over one invocation is just sour grapes from folks who wanted a monopoly. Viewpoint neutrality is the only thing keeping Christian expression safe when the political winds shift. Demanding special treatment for one faith guarantees the same censorship lands on believers later.