Satanists
Sell Out Controversial Oklahoma
'Black
Mass' Event
Will
Stage Exorcism Despite Christian Protests
By
Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post / September 11, 2014
The Satanist group that will stage a controversial
"black mass" at an Oklahoma City civic center has said that all 88
tickets for its Sept. 21 event are sold out. The co-founder of the group
revealed that the ritual will go ahead despite strong Christian protests and
will feature a satanic exorcism, but will be "toned down" to comply
with state health laws.
"One of the dictates of the church is not only to
educate the members but to educate the public, and to debunk the
Hollywood-projected image of our beliefs," Dakhma of Angra Mainyu's Adam
Daniels told ABC News.
He added that the group will comply with state health laws
and substitute vinegar for actions involving urine as part of the satanic
ceremony.
Daniels said that the ceremony will also feature Dakhma of
Angra Mainyu deacons and priest who will stomp, spit on and use explicit
language on an unconsecrated host, a wafer presented as a form of the
resurrected Jesus Christ.
A satanic exorcism intended to draw the Holy Spirit from a
follower's body will wrap up the event, an inversion of Roman Catholic exorcism
believed to expel the devil from a person.
"Our practices have gotten it to about 22 to 25
minutes," the co-founder said of the length of the ritual.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, Catholic Archbishop Paul
Coakley, and over 80,000 people who have signed an online petition have
all condemned the upcoming event.
Fallin called the black mass a "disgusting mockery of
the Catholic faith," saying that it should be "equally repellent to
Catholics and non-Catholics alike."
"It may be protected by the First Amendment, but that
doesn't mean we can't condemn it in the strongest terms possible for the moral
outrage which it is. It is shocking and disgusting that a group of New York
City 'satanists' would travel all the way to Oklahoma to peddle their filth
here. I pray they realize how hurtful their actions are and cancel this event,"
she said.
Coakley has criticized city organizers for allowing the
ceremony to go ahead.
"We're astonished and grieved that the civic center
would promote as entertainment and sell tickets for an event that is very
transparently a blasphemous mockery of the mass," Coakley said.
The parks and recreation department, which rented the
space, said that the satanist group is protected under the First Amendment, and
will have to follow city laws.
"Mr. Daniels must abide by our local ordinances, our
fire codes and all of our state laws," Parks and Recreation spokeswoman
Jennifer Lindsey-McClintock said. "No bloodletting of any kind will be
allowed."
Tickets to the black mass reportedly sold for $17.50 a
piece, and will feature a performance from the band "God in a Machine"
and readings that call for the renunciation of God.
A Christian pastor who also uses the civic center for
worship services called
on Christians to respond with "love and hope" toward the
satanist group.
"As a church, we want to respond as people of love,
who are consistent with the teachings of Jesus and the ways he responded to
those who rejected him and even hated him," pastor Tom Mannin of the
Oklahoma City Community Church wrote on his blog.
"So we will speak gracefully and peacefully of the
people at the black mass gathering. We will pray for God's love to abound in
our city and among its people of varying belief."
