Iowa City Council Meeting Opens With Satanic Temple Member's Invocation

Read Time:1 Minute, 5 Second

A city council meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa, opened this week with an invocation addressed to Satan, the Daily Caller reports.

Discover Top American-Made Products!

Support local craftsmanship with these high-quality, American-made items—shop now on Amazon!

Shop Now

Former council member Matt Dalbey delivered it at the start of the Oct. 6 session. According to Fox News, he began by addressing a dark father and closed with the words, “It is done. Hail, Satan!”

Rick Bick, pastor of New Life Center, then went to the podium and demanded the council undo what he called a curse on the city, the New York Post reported.

Council members told him to wait for the public comment period. Mayor Benjamin Foote responded by calling for 30 seconds of silence.

The invocation was delivered under an open policy the council adopted in January, which lets residents offer a prayer of up to two minutes regardless of faith or philosophy. Council member Cara Galloway cast the only vote against it, according to the Ottumwa Courier, and had warned in writing that it would invite controversy.

At the meeting, she said the council needed to remain neutral.

Dalbey stood by the invocation, the Post reported, saying his membership in the Satanic Temple of Iowa has nothing to do with belief in a satanic deity.

The group describes itself as non-theistic.

Click here to read the full story on The Daily Caller

About Post Author

Anthony Smith

Anthony Smith started writing about politics while in college, and that "interest" has turned into a career. He has now been covering politics for more than two decades, and has solidified his place as a fair-minded analyst of today's political world.