A prayer to SATAN.

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This is what you get when your preach all religions are welcome.

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Things are going to hell on Ottumwa. Where is Radar O’Reilly when you need him?

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This is what you get when your preach all religions are welcome.

This country was founded on Christian values and morals and should have refused entry to everyone who rejected those values and morals. AND eradicated everyone who denounced them and rejected them once they got here.

Now it's too late. They use our laws against us to erode the American Dream. Most times, too much freedom is just as bad as no freedom.

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Satanic invocation causes uproar at city council meeting
CHAD DRURY Courier staff writer 1 hr ago


OTTUMWA — An invocation at the beginning of Tuesday's Ottumwa City Council meeting overshadowed everything else that took place over the course of 80 minutes.

Resident and former council member Matt Dalbey read a satanic prayer — capped off by "Hail Satan" — to kick off the meeting at City Hall, leading to a reaction from New Life Center pastor Rick Bick during a contentious opening few minutes of the meeting.

In a private message, Dalbey said the prayer is used by the Satanic Temple of Iowa, of which he is a member, "but has nothing to do with the belief in a satanic deity."

The Satanic Temple of Iowa is "a resolutely non-theistic" religious organization that follows seven core tenants, according to its website.

Soon after Dalbey left the podium and after the council and staff recited the Pledge of Allegiance, Bick had his turn, and out of turn with the meeting's protocol of speaking on agenda items.

"Let's just reverse this curse that was put on our city. That 'Hail Satan' is not welcome here," Bick said.

Council member Cara Galloway said that either he should speak during the portion of the meeting were citizens can speak on either agenda or non-agenda items; Bick spoke after the roll had been called and the council was to discuss the consent agenda.

"It needs to be done now," he said. "I appreciate what Ms. Galloway is saying, but that was a curse put on the city. Most of you know that, and we need to just stop and reverse it."

Mayor Benjamin Foote then called for a 30-second moment of silence "to reflect on whatever it is we need to reflect on at this time," but again, Galloway said "it was time to move forward" before being overruled by the mayor.

Dalbey's invocation was within the scope of the city's invocation policy, which was approved Jan. 20, with Galloway the only council member to vote against it. In part, the policy says:

"This policy is intended to acknowledge and express the City Council's respect for the diversity of both organized and unorganized religious denominations, as well as other faiths, belief systems, or the lack thereof, represented and practiced among the citizens of the City of Ottumwa."

At the end of the meeting, Galloway reiterated her concern about the policy, just as she did before the council approved it months ago.

"Opening with an invocation means allowing viewpoints that may not reflect our own, and responding to someone's invocation is a slippery slope to putting a financial liability on the taxpayers and allowing for others to object or respond," she said. "And this is exactly why I had concerns about having an invocation when we first talked about it, and I think I specifically referenced that having someone from the church of Satan or a prayer about Satan when we talked about that, that this could happen and we would need to allow it.

"I think we've opened ourselves up for others to object or respond to others' invocations, and we need to remember that we are up here to be neutral."

City administrator Philip Rath, in addressing the issue on KBIZ's "Dialogue" show Wednesday morning, said the openness of the policy creates a bit of vacuum.

"I don't know what's on Mr. Dalbey's heart, but that's part of what happens when you have an open policy like this," Rath said. "You have to be open to allow people to express their different beliefs."

Rath did say a policy could be revisited, but said the the openness of it does protect the city from legal challenges.

"If it gets amended or revised in any way, that could open it up for a potential suit down the road," he said.

The meeting has been viewed over 3,000 times on YouTube as of Wednesday morning.

— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury

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