Right off the top, the best way to open a meeting of any sort continues to be, "What is the first order of business?" That said, Ottumwa did everything right, and because they did, this character Bick lost his shit about it. He was clearly out of order. Matt Dalbey was NOT. He gave his invocation properly and respectfully.
And per usual, it's the Christians who screwed things up.
Even better if it's announced as an invocation, we're introduced, make a show of stepping up to the microphone, shuffle a few papers, say "get to workk" and immediately sit back down.
2 Corinthians 4:4 - "Satan who is the god of this world...". It is in their own Bible. They believe the Bible is 'inerrant'. So, if they insist on an invocation, there is a Bible quotation ready made for this one.
Okay, here's a thought. If the privileged Christians can rush the mike and get a second invocation because they didn't like the first, then it's only fair that members of TST can rush the mike for the exact same courtesy. Make sure there is video of the rush and the inevitable arrest for "disruption" so that a judge will either be forced to issue warrants for the pastor for the exact same thing or toss the prosecutor out for wasting his time.
Bring Tony Perkins into it? The guy who paid David Duke $82,500 dollars for his political mailing list? The guy who spoke at a meeting of the white nationalist hate group Council of Concerned Citizens with a Confedeate flag in the photo of him at that meeting?
No this was the other Tony Perkins. This is the one that says that God punishes people with natural disasters, and then had his house inundated via biblical flood.
Those people don't understand religious freedom at all. Here in my county (Nordre-Follo in Akershus state in Norway) no one ever asked for a religious invocation ever. I know, I used to be a member to the city councel, way back a long time ago.
They do not. They have fused together Christianity and America. Trump and Jesus. God is on our side? They are privileged spoiled brat adult babies and their time is coming to an end.
Further thought. These people also do not like or want freedom at all. Freedom means that they have to navigate the world on their own, think critically, and make decisions. There are more people in the USA than I understood before that prefer authoritarianism.
Who is our? IMO the United States is a twisted theocracy pretending to be secular and democratic. The Christian death cult and MAGA are evidence how much religions rule the country.
Money to be made elections to win, thanks you Jesus? 😆🤪
Exactly. No one talks about Satan more than Christians. Even Satanists don't talk about Satan more than Christians. Satanism wouldn't exist without Christians needing someone to blame for why their god fails (repeatedly) to make their world the way they think it ought to be. Were those my only two choices for a system of beliefs, I'd roll with the satanic bunch every time. At least they advocate personal responsibility instead of spiritual bypassing.
And I'm going to save this quote: "That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise."
Never understood the need for xtians to pray at city council meetings. Are these the only times their god is available to listen to prayers? I thought he was everywhere.
I can't see a curse as being any more, or less, real than a prayer.
And ultimately, that's likely the whole point. WITHIN THIS CONTEXT, isn't it just as likely that by calling on the "power of the universe", one is also being called on the pay the price of that often selfish wish; i.e. - a curse?
After my parents died we were left with the task of disposing of Dad’s classical music collection of more than 1000 LPs. (This was at least a decade before the vinyl revival.) We weren’t even trying to sell them. Offered them for free to college music departments and music stores. The one response I remember word for word was “Were the records ever played?” Yes. Yes, they were.
Hit the nail on the head here at the end, all of these people are Christian Nationalists and don't believe in respecting non-christian religions. They only want the rules to benefit them and no one else. The fact that this rule was only recently added goes to show that this was all done for their own ego and grandstanding for performative purposes. They also don't fundamentally believe in the separation of church and state. Ain't no hate like Christian love as they say...
Right off the top, the best way to open a meeting of any sort continues to be, "What is the first order of business?" That said, Ottumwa did everything right, and because they did, this character Bick lost his shit about it. He was clearly out of order. Matt Dalbey was NOT. He gave his invocation properly and respectfully.
And per usual, it's the Christians who screwed things up.
How many places with invocation policies like this can we go to to deliver "get to business" as the entirety of the invocation?
Gee whiz, what a concept! 😁
Even better if it's announced as an invocation, we're introduced, make a show of stepping up to the microphone, shuffle a few papers, say "get to workk" and immediately sit back down.
2 Corinthians 4:4 - "Satan who is the god of this world...". It is in their own Bible. They believe the Bible is 'inerrant'. So, if they insist on an invocation, there is a Bible quotation ready made for this one.
Sadly, most of them can't even say the word without having the whee scared out of them! 😝
Ah, those two Corinthians.....and their fine leather.
Those two Corinthians in their fine leather walk into a bar....
Bick stuck the mayor's Foote in his mouth. A Christian blowjob.
You reminded me that I saw "Killer Joe" for the first time last night.
Gina Gershon fellating a chicken leg should stay DEEPLY buried in my memory forever....
YUK!!! EEEWWWWW!!! 😝😝😝
I'd open with "Who brought the donuts?"
ONLY if you don't want to accomplish anything for the first half-hour! 🍩
𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝐺𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟, 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑜𝑟 𝐵𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑎 30-𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑.
Okay, here's a thought. If the privileged Christians can rush the mike and get a second invocation because they didn't like the first, then it's only fair that members of TST can rush the mike for the exact same courtesy. Make sure there is video of the rush and the inevitable arrest for "disruption" so that a judge will either be forced to issue warrants for the pastor for the exact same thing or toss the prosecutor out for wasting his time.
This is Uhmerika*, I don't think it will work that way.
* Land of the Double Standard
My country tis of thee.
Fair? Judge? Arrest?
God ain't gonna let it get that far. God is OFFENDED.
Bring Tony Perkins into it? The guy who paid David Duke $82,500 dollars for his political mailing list? The guy who spoke at a meeting of the white nationalist hate group Council of Concerned Citizens with a Confedeate flag in the photo of him at that meeting?
THAT Tony Perkins?
Sometimes I am very happy I do not read much US news.
I just want these Christo-fascists stripped of all power. Send them back to the pits of hell from whence they came.
I support you with this.
😎
I bet.....
That's the same guy who blamed floods on gay people, and then had to leave Louisiana when his home was flooded out?
Yeah, that's the guy.
No this was the other Tony Perkins. This is the one that says that God punishes people with natural disasters, and then had his house inundated via biblical flood.
Yes, THAT Tony Perkins:
https://americanloons.blogspot.com/2012/04/316-tony-perkins.html
Every time I try to post an EoAL entry, I can’t do it now. Why can’t I get access anymore?
Are you using the correct satanic invocation?
It used to be so easy. Now? Nuttin’. What changed?
It's Beelzebul now, not Beelzebub.
I prefer Dispater. He lets me hang with him in the Iron City of Dis.
https://www.greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Baator#Dis
The same Tony Perkins who also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
Coincidence?
That was the good Tony Perkins. I speak of the evil Tony Perkins.
Definitely not the good Tony Perkins. He died in 1992. We're stuck with this asshole.
I always prefered Marlin.
I always figured he must have had GREAT insurance.....
We have just as many rights as any other religion does to give an invocation. If you don't like it, then don't do any at all, easy as that.
Those people don't understand religious freedom at all. Here in my county (Nordre-Follo in Akershus state in Norway) no one ever asked for a religious invocation ever. I know, I used to be a member to the city councel, way back a long time ago.
They do not. They have fused together Christianity and America. Trump and Jesus. God is on our side? They are privileged spoiled brat adult babies and their time is coming to an end.
"Christianity and America" in all of America including the United States.🤔
Further thought. These people also do not like or want freedom at all. Freedom means that they have to navigate the world on their own, think critically, and make decisions. There are more people in the USA than I understood before that prefer authoritarianism.
The absolute embodiment of: "Jesus, Take the Wheel!" 😝
And that scares the shit out of me. Ugh.
The world is full of silly shit.
No public meeting of our secular government should ever open with a prayer. This practice needs to be struck down by the courts.
How about something like,
"May the will of each God, or no God, be done for the benefit of humanity" ?
I only have two prayers, and that's basically one of them.
You have two more than I do.
Neither of mine are copyrighted....
I've heard a LOT worse! 👍
Thank you.
Basically, "Power of Positive Thinking", but I would never read the N V Peale book.
Neither would I! 😝
Exactly.
Who is our? IMO the United States is a twisted theocracy pretending to be secular and democratic. The Christian death cult and MAGA are evidence how much religions rule the country.
Money to be made elections to win, thanks you Jesus? 😆🤪
Functionally, I think they believe that Satan is an equal entity to God if they are that afraid of him.
Satan seems to have more power over them than their god does.
Also Santa....
And Santana.....
🎶Here come those 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂 𝑨𝒏𝒂 winds again🎶
And in this Substack, Santería (or anti) may also be fully appropriate.
Exactly. No one talks about Satan more than Christians. Even Satanists don't talk about Satan more than Christians. Satanism wouldn't exist without Christians needing someone to blame for why their god fails (repeatedly) to make their world the way they think it ought to be. Were those my only two choices for a system of beliefs, I'd roll with the satanic bunch every time. At least they advocate personal responsibility instead of spiritual bypassing.
And I'm going to save this quote: "That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise."
In my opinion it is exactly that. And non-existing of course.
Ottumwa, Iowa you say? Insert Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly comment here.
The very real actor Tom Arnold is an Ottumwa native.
He's devoted a lot of his time to charities. He's also a critic of Trump, calling him a racist.
"They're coming."
"I don't hear anything."
"Wait for it..."
Grape Nehi all around.
The "Wait for it" line has stuck with me since I first heard it. Gary Burghoff delivers it with wonder and honesty.
I met him. Seemed like a nice guy.
VERY far out!
I must have missed all the times Satanists got up at city council meetings and demanded Christian invocations be "reversed."
They should start now.
Indeed.
Never understood the need for xtians to pray at city council meetings. Are these the only times their god is available to listen to prayers? I thought he was everywhere.
I wonder whether they have a chair (empty) for him at the table.
I thought that was for Elijah.
Well, you can't force everyone to follow your religion without the government nodding its approval....
If you’re a grown-up that believes in “curses” you have larger issues.
And the “right now”. Reversing the curse during public comment would be “too late!”
The details these people know are amazing.
Humankind seems cursed with religion.
Indeed
I can't see a curse as being any more, or less, real than a prayer.
And ultimately, that's likely the whole point. WITHIN THIS CONTEXT, isn't it just as likely that by calling on the "power of the universe", one is also being called on the pay the price of that often selfish wish; i.e. - a curse?
Many places that's also called "karma".
That is probably true. I personally don’t believe in the “power of the universe” or karma either.
Ngl I want to hear the prayer to "reverse the curse."
You have to play the recording of the invocation backwards.
Edit typo
Turn me on, dead man - Turn me on, dead man - Turn me on, dead man ...
“God won’t let me grow a real mustache.”
(What Weird Al claimed to hear when he played a Prince song backward)
"I buried Paul"
“Paul is dead. Miss him…miss him”
I still have one of the teen-type magazines about Paul's "death". (I was about 10.)
Wish that magazine had a better than negative condition grade....
(Like my ungraded Sandman #1 in damn near grade 10!)
After my parents died we were left with the task of disposing of Dad’s classical music collection of more than 1000 LPs. (This was at least a decade before the vinyl revival.) We weren’t even trying to sell them. Offered them for free to college music departments and music stores. The one response I remember word for word was “Were the records ever played?” Yes. Yes, they were.
Sadly, they went to the landfill.
Satan, my Sweet Satan...
That DOES "make me wonder!"
Not spectro reverso?
Yes, they believe "curse" is a real thing.
Like so many other Christians, they're a bunch of scared little people.
Not sure I'd trust anyone who isn't just a tiny bit TERRIFIED at the moment.....
Agreed, unsubstantiated fear is the biggest way of indoctrination and control most death cult religions use.
Keep the fear alive!🤪
Rick Bick? Seriously, that's his name? Does he always speak in rhyme as well? "Reverse the curse?" 😂😂😂
Good grief, you really can't make this shit up.
At the meeting was Pastor Rick Bick
A hick who could be quite a prick
Of the man who went first,
Said "he uttered a curse!
Pray, have it reversed! And be quick!"
Reverse the curse, before it becomes worse! Chapter and verse! And don't be terse!
Hemant said it perfectly:
Remove any reference to Satan, and what you have is a plea for knowledge, rationality, and enlightenment.
But the fundamentalists of any stripe, knowledge, rationality and enlightenment are anathema.
Hit the nail on the head here at the end, all of these people are Christian Nationalists and don't believe in respecting non-christian religions. They only want the rules to benefit them and no one else. The fact that this rule was only recently added goes to show that this was all done for their own ego and grandstanding for performative purposes. They also don't fundamentally believe in the separation of church and state. Ain't no hate like Christian love as they say...
𝐈𝐎𝐖𝐀: 𝐈diots 𝐎ut 𝐖andering 𝐀imlessly
I say this as a citizen of the Tall Corn State for more than a quarter of a century. 🙂
How does it feel to be a minority in the land of anachronism?