Why grant equal time to Evil?
They’re baaack. The Iowa chapter of the Satanic Temple is back in the news this week, having allied with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a lawsuit over requests regarding a “family-friendly” holiday event in the state’s Capitol rotunda. They are accusing the state’s Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Director Mark Campbell and forum Director Adam Steen of violating the Temple’s rights to free speech, religious exercise, and nondiscrimination.As Breitbart News reported:
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…
“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 (now there‘s a job description to be proud of), claimed Thursday officials were concerned about the costume aspect of the proposed event. He stated,
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.
Maybe they had a righteous resistance to the idea of allowing a celebration of Satan on Capitol grounds to which children would be invited to participate. By the way, to clarify a bit about the Temple and what Satanism is today, allow me to summarize from a previous article of mine:
As an organization, the Satanic Temple has been around only for about ten years. It views itself as a sort of alternative religion for people who resent the “oppression” of traditional religion, especially Christianity, which the Satanic Temple regularly mocks and taunts by demanding equal time with Nativity scenes at state capitols at Christmastime.
Are Satanic Temple members devil-worshippers? Sort of. As I’ve written before,
Contrary to popular assumption, only a small minority of Satanists actually worships Satan. Most of them reportedly do not believe in a higher power; they see Satan himself as more metaphorical, a symbol of rebellion. They view their religion as a worshiping of the self, and believe that each individual is free to define his or her own moral code.
Today’s Satanism is largely what author Carl Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College, calls expressive individualism, which holds that “human beings are defined by their individual psychological core, and that the purpose of life is allowing that core to find social expression in relationships. Anything that challenges it is deemed oppressive.” Sects of the self today include a revival of paganism and Satanism.
Regardless of whether a Satanist actually believes in Satan, honoring even what Satan stands for opens a door to the darkest spiritual power. You may recall that back in November of 2023, the Satanic Temple of Iowa had received permission to erect a statue of the occult idol Baphomet near a Nativity display at the Iowa State Capitol building. Baphomet was surrounded by candles and holding a pentacle – an occult talisman containing the inverted pentagram associated with Satanism and that is the logo for the Satanic Temple. --->READ MORE HERE
Iowa cannot allow some religious events in the state Capitol while denying others, the Satanic Temple alleges in a federal lawsuit.The suit, filed Thursday, Aug. 13, on the Satanic Temple's behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, comes after years of friction between the temple and Iowa officials.
In 2024 and 2025, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services denied requests for the Temple to hold what the group called "family-friendly" holiday events at the Capitol, despite allowing other seasonal religious displays.
Officials have for months failed to respond to an application for a December 2026 event, the suit says.
Then-department Director Adam Steen, who ran unsuccessfully for governor earlier this year, issued the initial denial, saying the proposed 2024 event included "elements that are harmful to minors."
The ACLU has filed complaints with the Iowa Office of Civil Rights for all three events, alleging religious discrimination and retaliation.
The denials followed the Temple's Capitol holiday display in 2023, centered on a statue of the pagan idol Baphomet, alongside other religious displays allowed by the state. Gov. Kim Reynolds and other officials denounced the display, and a visitor to the Capitol destroyed the statue and later pleaded guilty to criminal mischief.
The Temple's suit claims the repeated event denials were due to officials' animus toward the Satanic Temple and its members' faith.
"We've brought this case to uphold our core principles of free speech and religious exercise that we all hold dear, and to require the state, as it must, to come back in line with these constitutional and statutory requirements of religious freedom and non-discrimination," ACLU Legal Director Rita Bettis-Austen said in a news conference. --->READ MORE HERE
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