As a Satanic group tried to hold a ‘Black Mass’ inside the Kansas Statehouse building on Friday, disruption erupted and led to the arrest of the leader of the group and another person. The clash occurred because of the Christian counter-protesters, who opposed this meeting.
Kansas City-area Satanic Grotto, with some 30 members, had gathered outside the Statehouse, led by Michael Stewart. As reported by Independent, they protested “what they viewed as preferential treatment of Christians by the state. The group pointed to the allowance of religious events within the Statehouse as evidence of this bias.”
However, their plans of holding the mass failed because of the temporary ban that Governor Laura Kelly has implemented on all kinds of ceremonies inside the building. Her order came only weeks after this meeting was planned. As the members of the Satanic Grotto therefore rallied up outside, it attracted a huge number of Christian counter-protesters, who were further fueled with the display of Satanic imagery and the “planned denouncement of Jesus Christ.”
The police designated an area for the Satanic Grotto members and almost 100 Christians gathered directly across it as they chanted Christian hymns and urged the Satanists to convert. Another group of people maintained a certain distance from the members of the Groro and yet continued to protest against them. Some disruption erupted inside the State building as well and while the details of that is not clear, it eventually led to the police to make the arrests.
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Earlier this month, Kelly had to issue the order as she was pushed by the Roman Catholic groups to ban any kind of events conducted by the Satanic Grotto. The Catholic Bishops of the state described their planned ‘Black Mass’ as “a despicable act of anti-Catholic bigotry,” which was aimed to mock the Catholic Mass.
Talking about the same, Jeremiah Hicks, a Pastor at the Cure Church in Kansas City, Kansas, said, “The Bible says Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, so when we dedicate a state to Satan, we’re dedicating it to death.”
The members of the Satanic Grotto are a bunch of people holding a variety of beliefs. While some among them are atheists, some see Satan as a symbol of independence and freedom and some are part of the group as a way of protesting against the poor treatment that they had received in the hands of the church.
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While talking about the arrest that happened, Stewart’s wife, Maenad Bee, told the journalists, “He’s only exercising his First Amendment rights.” Online records show that after being held for a while on Friday afternoon, Stewart was ultimately released on $1,000 bond. He was arrested on suspicion of conducting an unlawful assembly and engaging in disorderly conduct.
As Stewart has been released, it now remains to be seen what the Satanic Grotto does next and if they can successfully get past Kelly’s ban to conduct their events in a more peaceful manner.
