The left-wing American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa is joining forces with the Satanic Temple in a lawsuit over requests regarding a “family-friendly” holiday event in the state’s Capitol rotunda.
The organizations are accusing the state’s Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Director Mark Campbell and forum Director Adam Steen of violating the temple’s rights, ABC 4 reported Thursday.
In a press release, the ACLU of Iowa said:
Today, the ACLU of Iowa, on behalf of The Satanic Temple (TST), filed a federal lawsuit asking the court to block state officials from unconstitutionally violating TST’s rights to free speech, religious exercise, and nondiscrimination.
The lawsuit arises from state officials repeatedly denying the group permission to have a family-friendly winter holiday event in the Iowa Capitol rotunda on the same basis as other religious and civic groups.
Attendees of the proposed event would reportedly participate in singing carols, crafts, and a Krampus costume contest, per KCRG.
“Krampus, in central European popular legend, a half-goat, half-demon monster that punishes misbehaving children at Christmastime. He is the devilish companion of St. Nicholas,” according to the Britannica website.
Matt Kezhaya, general counsel for The Satanic Temple, claimed Thursday officials were concerned about the costume aspect of the proposed event.
“The state said that we were going to beat children with sticks because we were going to have a costume contest which involved people holding sticks. The local congregation of TST Iowa was very emphatic that wasn’t going to happen. For reasons not subject of judicial admissions, they just would not budge from that position,” Kezhaya stated.
In December of 2023, Christians were deeply concerned when the Satanic Temple set up a holiday homage to the occult “deity” Baphomet inside the Iowa Statehouse, according to Breitbart News.
However, a Christian U.S. Navy veteran was charged with a hate crime after admitting to beheading the temple’s statue at the Iowa State Capitol. He was identified as Michael Cassidy.
In a statement, Cassidy, who turned himself in to officers at the building, said he did it to “awaken Christians to the anti-Christian acts promoted by our government.”
“The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment. Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water,” he stated.
The ACLU was recently in the news joining a legal fight to block statues of Catholic saints on public property in Massachusetts.
In addition, the Satanic Temple has not hidden its pro-abortion stance, with Breitbart News reporting its involvement in opening abortion clinics.
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