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Post by Graveyardbride on Jul 25, 2015 9:56:57 GMT -5
Pompano Beach Commission Hounded by Satanic BloggerPOMPANO BEACH, Fla. – Before the prayer at the start of every Pompano Beach commission meeting, Commissioner Barry Dockswell walks off the dais, taking a stand on principle. “I believe in a clear separation of church and state,” he said. The commissioner is now calling for an end to the decades-long prayer practice after a blogger requested to give a farcical Satanic invocation at city hall, claiming he has as much right to lead a prayer as the local clergy. “My hope is the is the commission will see the wisdom of getting out of this denominational thicket that we’ve gotten ourselves into,” Dockswell declared.
But he was the lone no vote at the July 14 commission meeting on a resolution to establish clear rules on who can and cannot lead a prayer at City Hall. Mayor Lamar Fisher supports the invocations and said the new rules will protect the commission from stunt artists. “I think the resolution we just passed protects that and gives that guidelines so it doesn’t become a sham,” said Fisher.
“It tries to establish that it’s a bona fide religious clergyman that will give the invocation,” Dockswell added.
The blogger, Timothy “Chaz” Stevens (above), is anything but a bona fide clergyman. He’s an often vulgar public gadfly and church and state activist who hounds local government officials. On his blog, he often attacks his targets in a very personal manner, with a penchant for photoshopping obscene symbols on their faces. Notably, Stevens, who routinely refers to himself as a genius, was arrested in 2004 on a charge of violating a domestic violence injunction after a woman claimed he stalked her and threw feces on her porch, among other transgressions. Stevens refused comment for this story.
Stevens, whose efforts are supported by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, formed what he calls the First Pompano Beach of Satan, a box at a Parcels Plus store on Atlantic Boulevard as an address. He has advertised the church on Yelp and listed it in the Yellow Pages, a requirement of the city. The big snag may come from other requirements including one that the church have a discernible “congregation” and that it be a registered 501-C3 non-profit corporation.
Dockswell said that as absurd as the blogger’s pursuit may be, it raises questions about the separation of church and state that should be addressed and could possibly lead to expensive litigation. He said he is searching for a compromise with his fellow elected officials, including a proposal that they open each meeting with a moment of silence and reflection. When he raised that idea at the last meeting, he didn’t even get a second. “If we could just have something that everybody could feel reasonably good about, I wouldn’t have to walk off the dais every time there’s an invocation given,” he added. “I believe we could all construct language where we could all come together for a common purpose in the city.”Source: Bob Norman, WPLG, July 24, 2015.
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Post by Kate on Jul 25, 2015 15:47:35 GMT -5
I'm sick of these damn Satanists! All they do is cause problems for people just like the devil they worship!
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Post by kitty on Jul 26, 2015 2:21:30 GMT -5
I'm sick of these damn Satanists! All they do is cause problems for people just like the devil they worship! |
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Post by aprillynn93 on Jul 26, 2015 14:47:06 GMT -5
I agree that they are annoying, a nuisance and ridiculous, but for me....I think maybe the ends justify the means. It has to be all or nothing, and I prefer it be nothing when it comes to religion at governmental institutions.
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Post by jason on Aug 3, 2015 9:03:23 GMT -5
I agree that they are annoying, a nuisance and ridiculous, but for me....I think maybe the ends justify the means. It has to be all or nothing, and I prefer it be nothing when it comes to religion at governmental institutions. I disagree. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. The United States is supposed to be a democracy and in a democracy, the majority rules. Therefore, if the majority wants to have a prayer before a meeting, or place a statue of the Ten Commandments on public property, then that's the way it should be. Satanists are nothing but a bunch of troublemaking crazies, who need to shut up. If they want to worship the devil, that's fine, but they need to keep their demented ideas to themselves.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Aug 3, 2015 12:33:31 GMT -5
You have a point, but if it is to be decided democratically, then shouldn't they have to allow everyone to vote on it and see what the majority feels?
That would be a crazy waste of time though in my opinion, so again, I think we should just take the easy way out and say no religion at all of any kind.
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Post by catherine on Aug 3, 2015 15:05:04 GMT -5
You have a point, but if it is to be decided democratically, then shouldn't they have to allow everyone to vote on it and see what the majority feels? That would be a crazy waste of time though in my opinion, so again, I think we should just take the easy way out and say no religion at all of any kind.
There wouldn't have to be a vote. All the city commission would have to do is put the matter on the agenda and invite members of the public to show their support for or against opening the meeting with a Christian prayer. I guarantee you there would be more Christians than Satanists appearing at the meeting.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Aug 3, 2015 16:24:56 GMT -5
I agree Catherine, however, there may be more people that would rather have no religious prayers or ceremonies of any kind than ones that do.
For me, I feel there should be none. I feel religion has no place anywhere near the government. Religion is a private, personal choice and should be kept in churches, temples, etc. and in people's homes.
That being said, I'm not one who would bother making stink over it either, unless someone uses their religious beliefs as a basis for a decision about governing the country.
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Post by Sam on Aug 3, 2015 23:17:47 GMT -5
I agree Catherine, however, there may be more people that would rather have no religious prayers or ceremonies of any kind than ones that do. For me, I feel there should be none. I feel religion has no place anywhere near the government. Religion is a private, personal choice and should be kept in churches, temples, etc. and in people's homes. That being said, I'm not one who would bother making stink over it either, unless someone uses their religious beliefs as a basis for a decision about governing the country.
The people that wanted no prayers or ceremonies would have a chance to speak.
I don't know how you can remove everything religious from government when our money says "In God We Trust," and the Pledge of Allegiance says "One nation under God."
It bothers me that one person can complain and change everything, because that's not being democratic.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Aug 4, 2015 12:01:39 GMT -5
If you ask me, "In God We Trust" shouldn't be on the money. If we are supposed to have separation of church and state, I'm not sure why it was ever put on there. Different times I suppose.
In many places they already have stopped saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I personally don't mind the Pledge of Allegiance so much, if we remove the "Under God" part, which was, from what I understand, a later an add-on anyway.
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Post by Sam on Aug 5, 2015 4:24:53 GMT -5
If you ask me, "In God We Trust" shouldn't be on the money. If we are supposed to have separation of church and state, I'm not sure why it was ever put on there. Different times I suppose. In many places they already have stopped saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I personally don't mind the Pledge of Allegiance so much, if we remove the "Under God" part, which was, from what I understand, a later an add-on anyway. The way I look at it, all that it means is that we trust in a higher power and I don't see anything wrong with that.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Aug 5, 2015 12:51:48 GMT -5
I don't see anything wrong with the belief itself, I just don't believe it belongs on government property.
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Post by jason on Aug 5, 2015 17:57:03 GMT -5
I don't see anything wrong with the belief itself, I just don't believe it belongs on government property.
I thought you'd given up devil worship for Buddhism, April. Also, if you think about it, money isn't government property, it's the property of the person who has it in his, or her, possession.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Aug 5, 2015 19:11:08 GMT -5
HA! That's true. Maybe I'll scratch out the "In God We trust" on all my coins then.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Aug 5, 2015 19:25:09 GMT -5
I'm teasing of course. I'm really not offended by it.
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