256 Comments
User's avatar
wreck's avatar

"these “Satanic prayers are welcome in Hell but not in Oklahoma”

There's a difference?

Expand full comment
ericc's avatar

Hell has more interesting topography.

And fewer native americans :)

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

And people.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

And much of ANYTHING ... because a place that doesn't exist hasn't a whole lot of features to distinguish itself.

Expand full comment
Straw's avatar

Hell exists, several actually.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Oh, I'm sure the TOWNS exist. The afterlife place is, of course, another matter.

Expand full comment
larry parker's avatar

Oklahoma is windier.

Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

Was wondering what that smell was.

Expand full comment
John S. Way's avatar

The hot gas from all the numpty politicians

Expand full comment
SPW's avatar

Yep. There’s a lot of hot air blowing around.

Expand full comment
Straw's avatar

Nope, but what do I know? Never been in Oklahoma, but Hell is a nice place.

Expand full comment
John S. Way's avatar

AC/DC was right "hell ain't a bad place to be."

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Yeah, they are okay in Michigan and Satan's Kingdom, MA.

Expand full comment
Duke  Stuart's avatar

ha ha ha

Expand full comment
Holytape's avatar

To be fair, hell is one state south, Oklahoma is only hell adjacent.

Expand full comment
John S. Way's avatar

Hell is full of more interesting people.

Expand full comment
Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

Not to me there isn’t, but I’m sure there are some nice people like the pagans there.

Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

"Satan is trying to establish a foothold, but Oklahoma is going to be a shining city on the hill."

Pagans didn't invent Satan, Shitt. He's the creation of Judaism/Christianity. Shining city on the hill? Your state is ranked 43rd as "Best State to Live In." It is ranked next to last in Education (which is obvious) and next to last in Health Care. Seems Oklahoma is a shining city on a dunghill.

Expand full comment
Stone's avatar

Tulsa City Council invited her to speak. So what's the issue? That there's other religions besides Christianity?!? That her prayer invoked a woman? What? Please.

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Yes and yes. To them, Christianity is supposed to be the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 religion and God is in no way female.

Expand full comment
Stone's avatar

Lets see: Father,Son and Holy Spirit are male and women come from Adam's rib. Yup. Oh wait at least the Blessed Virgin Mary and Wisdom are female-- but don't go about worshipping them in any way. Okaaay. Issues guys, much? Beer for all the ladies today on the house! 🍻

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Yep, Eve is not just a clone, but transexual as well.

Expand full comment
Jelly's avatar

They might also have been triggered by her invoking the idea of peace. The one true orange god needs cage matches to warm the cockles of his corrupt little heart and the Christian Nationalists have pledged to give him all the violence he wants.

(OT, but the more we leave X, the more they’ll be screaming their anxiety only to each other.)

Expand full comment
Old Man Shadow's avatar

They are very insecure about their supposedly omnipotent god.

Expand full comment
Name: lenora good, Guest's avatar

there god is so strong he demands his minions do his dirty work because he can't.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

You bet they are. They are even MORE insecure about their faith in said deity, which is why they want EVERYONE to believe as they do and NO ONE to offer alternative opinions regarding that deity and that faith.

They're allergic to cognitive dissonance.

Expand full comment
Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

They would have to have the cognition to feel any dissonance!

Expand full comment
Straw's avatar

And it's like they don't understand US' constitution.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

So ... paganism is now Satanism in Oklahoma, eh? Certainly, the language Ms. Hardy-McAdams used was almost certainly not what the Tulsa City Council was used to hearing. That doesn't change the fact that Amy's invocation did not want for positive and uplifting content, encouragement to achieve and do better for the people of Tulsa.

Sadly, there are people out there who simply cannot deal with anything DIFFERENT, and of course, they had to be world-class snowflakes about it. Even sadder, when you boil it down, the reaction of Drummond and Walters and their ilk was entirely predictable. To them, religious freedom means CHRISTIAN religious freedom (or license, in some cases), and everyone else can go fish.

I wish I could say that I was surprised by all of this, but it turns out to be yet another day that ends in "Y."

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Of course paganism is now Satanism in Oklahoma. Anything that isn't Christianity is by (their) definition Satanism.

Expand full comment
Yamuna Ramachandran's avatar

"champions of equality" certainly represents Satan to MAGA. These are the phrases that is so antithetical to the conservative Christian mindset, so much that they label it worthy of hellfire:

• path of justice

• hero of the oppressed and abused

• protecting the sovereignty and autonomy

• champions for all in this city, not just those in power

• May there be peace

If this is the opposite of Christianity, then Christianity sounds like something I don't want to touch with a 10-foot pole.

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

A 10 foot pole isn't long enough.

Expand full comment
Richard S. Russell's avatar

Christians think pagan prayers are whacky? They're right, they are. So are Christian prayers. But try to tell THEM that!

My favorite invocation: “The meeting will come to order. Let’s get to work.”

Expand full comment
Crowscage's avatar

My favorite guest speaker during a division level military Memorial Day parade.

"Fuck the dumb shit. Pass in review."

That WW2 veteran instantly earned the admiration and gratitude of 15,000 troops.

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

It’s a satanic prayer because it is not Christian. That’s all. To the Christians, anything they don’t like is Satan.

I wish I could just say this is a tempest in a teapot, and maybe it would have been eight years ago, but this is the new norm. It started even before that, but it’s coming to a head real soon. There was the school council in Minnesota that decided to drop the pledge from meetings, it was fine during the vote, but as soon as the right community members got wind of it, they had to reverse their decision because of credible death threats (the very definition of terrorism). There have been numerous city councils that have tried to drop the invocations they only had for a few years, that had to reverse course because of community outrage. Council members who cut into meeting business because the invocation didn’t reference enough Jesus. It seems like I am just aware because Hemant writes about it, but it’s other things too. It’s the Haitians eating pets, gangs taking over apartment buildings, and really the entire Trump phenomenon. I understand that he didn’t start it, it doesn’t end with him, but it’s everything that made him popular enough to be taken seriously while being absolutely ridiculous in every terrible way imaginable. Because he’s been normalized, because he’s been able to amass this large of a following, this much power, everything he’s ever promoted, the cruelty and evil in the hearts of right wingers around the world, this incident will become more and more common. And it won’t end with him leaving office or perishing.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

"And it won’t end with him leaving office or perishing."

No, it won't. Trump gave permission to that aptly named "Basket of Deplorables" to come out of the woodwork and play, to show off the worst side of humanity ... and do demonstrate just how clueless and ill-informed they are about this country, how it works, and how they have benefited for so long from its workings. I just finished watching a Dark Brandon video wherein it was reported that someone voted for Trump because they hated Obamacare, yet depended on the Affordable Care Act for their medical treatment. And all at once I'm reminded of something:

𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦, 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛; 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒; 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑦.

-- Robert A. Heinlein, T̲h̲e̲ ̲N̲o̲t̲e̲b̲o̲o̲k̲s̲ ̲o̲f̲ ̲L̲a̲z̲a̲r̲u̲s̲ ̲L̲o̲n̲g̲

Expand full comment
Len Koz's avatar

The problem is we're sharing a ship with the stupids and they blew a massive hole in the side.

Expand full comment
Vanity Unfair's avatar

To let the leaking water out?

Expand full comment
Vanity Unfair's avatar

And whence have these disfiguring Venn diagrams come; spoiling my, and others', delightful portraits?

Expand full comment
XJC's avatar

Abbreviated maxim: You Can't Fix Stupid.

Expand full comment
Jane in NC's avatar

Case in point of the adage: "To those accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."

They got one small taste of what it's like to live as a non-believer in a christian-dominated country, and they're squealing like stuck pigs. Yet, the Framers of the Constitution knew exactly what they were doing when they separated religion from government and prohibited the establishment of government-sponsored religion. This is a great example of how to finally rebuild the wall of separation, because, for once, SCOTUS was right: if you let one religion into government meetings, you have to allow all of them.

Also, eff these bigots for equating any non-christian belief system with their religion's satan.

Expand full comment
XJC's avatar
Nov 26Edited

Jesus himself was so offended by this blasphemy that he did and said...nothing.

Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

His reaction to...well, everything. For 2,000 years.

Expand full comment
XJC's avatar

Consistent, reliable, predictable. What more can you ask for in an almighty, omniscient, invisible deity?

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Of course Stitt and Walters demand only Christian prayers for city council invocations. They think religious freedom is supposed to mean you are allowed to be whatever conservative Christian you want: you can be a Baptist fundamentalist or a Pentecostal fundamentalist of any denomination. Drummond, because he appears to have paid attention in his constitutional law class, got it right, but for the wrong reason. He knows what the First Amendment really means, he just doesn't like it.

This, I think, shows the different types of Christian Nationalist. One type thinks religious freedom only applies to them. The other knows it applies to others and wants to get rid of it.

Expand full comment
Bill Wilson's avatar

Most folks “don't like spiders and snakes And that ain't what it takes to love me You fool.” Still cannibalism is frowned upon by most eaters yet Christians will gladly accept the ritual consumption of human flesh and blood.

Expand full comment
Straw's avatar

Butbut you're taking it iut of context. Right?

Expand full comment
Kay-El's avatar

Satan’s minions already have a foothold in Oklahoma. They’re Stitt and Walters, to name a few.

Expand full comment
Tinker's avatar

"...it echoed themes of kindness, inclusivity, and and respect for all."

It sounds like communism to me. /s

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

My sense is that they'd prefer a message of unquestioned Christian rectitude and religious exclusivity. I doubt they could deal with much else.

Expand full comment
Die Anyway's avatar

> "Satanic prayers are welcome in Hell but not in Oklahoma."

Shorter version: Not today, Satan!

Which reminds me....I saw an amusing bumper sticker recently -- Maybe today, Satan!

👹🤗

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

I’ve been in the mood to say “hold me back, Satan.”

Expand full comment
SPW's avatar

I always liked, “The Devil made me do it” 😈😈.

Expand full comment
Guerillasurgeon's avatar

Not today Santa? Although there is already a film out about this apparently.

Expand full comment
Guerillasurgeon's avatar

I don't think so. Some kid writes a letter to Santa but misspells it Satan – hilarious things apparently ensue. The trailers on YouTube somewhere I think.

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Starring Jack Black. The loonies are up in arms about it because Jack Black plays Satan and it’s evil to show this or something. The trailer has some line about the kid being incorruptible, so it means that Satan doesn’t win his soul. I guess it’s because the kid is incorruptible and highlights their inadequacies by telling Satan to do things out of kindness.

Expand full comment
Len Koz's avatar

Kindness is unChristian.

Expand full comment
RegularJoe's avatar

Good on her. Never cede ground without a fight.

Expand full comment
Whitney's avatar

Christians have, over the last ten or so years, insisted on their own way at every turn, voted a convicted felon into office, and generally been a public nuisance in the name of their Jesus every single chance they've gotten.

I would really like it if, for about a week or so, these people would just sit the h3ll down and shut the f*ck up. I'm sick of Christians thinking they by default own everything based on the lies they've been told from the pulpit and various religious media sources. Thinking that only other Christians can give an invocation at a government meeting is one of the more annoying symptoms of this problem. Learn to share, you selfish jerks.

Apologies for the rant. The last few days have been a bit challenging.

Expand full comment