Mockery

There is an enemy, who rebelled against God, has fallen from heaven, and is intent on stealing, killing, and destroying, as Jesus said in John 10:10. His aim is to somehow diminish the work of God on the earth and throughout creation. We should not be ignorant, as the Bible instructs us, of his evil schemes. Ephesians 5 states:
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."

The enemy and his followers have decided to make a mockery of religious ritual in which they call a "Black Mass" this Friday at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka.  The Topeka Capital-Journal  reports that a group called the "Satanic Grotto" applied for a permit to stage it, and the outlet says:

The group’s application to hold an event on March 28 at the Kansas Statehouse was approved, but Gov. Laura Kelly later directed the protest be outside. The state is prohibited from denying event applications due to religious affiliations.

Kelly cited health and safety as the reason. So far 44 people indicated they will attend on Facebook, but counter-protests are also being organized.

The state's House of Representatives has already passed a resolution denouncing the gathering. The resolution attempted to affirm a constitutional right to free speech, but went on to say:

“The planned satanic worship ritual is an explicit act of anti-Catholic bigotry and an affront to all Christians. It blasphemes our shared values of faith, decency and respect that strengthen our communities..."

The local Archdiocese of the Catholic Church had claimed that the Satanic group had stolen unleavened bread blessed by a priest; the official filed a lawsuit, it was dropped after the Satanic Grotto head testified in court that it had been legitimately purchased. Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference responded by saying: “This alleviates a major concern. It is still sad that a group can get permission for the use of Statehouse grounds when their sole purpose is the mockery and denigration of not just Catholics, but people from all denominations."

Rep. Ken Rahjes said: “We again, fully support, and many of us I’m sure would defend, your right to say what you will at a peaceful assembly. But a satanic ritual goes against what many of us believe, and beyond simply a matter of peacefully assembling..."

Not the Bee said that the planned Kansas meeting is similar to one held last year in Oklahoma City last year; its article said:

A Black Mass inverts the Catholic Mass, focusing the Latin Liturgy on Satan rather than God and requires a consecrated host to be stolen from the eucharist and destroyed.

On a side note, it's a little odd to hold one in March, as usually these things happen during October — around Halloween.

But the Grotto isn't affiliated with other Satanists, so maybe they just don't know. (It's a non-denominational church of Satan.🤣)

Satanic Grotto founder Michael Stewart provided some insight into this event; NewsNation noted:

...Stewart says the event will take place inside the capital even if it means being arrested by the police. He says the group will be protesting “oppression” and religious people imposing their faith on others.

“What we’re going to do is heavily lean into the four blasphemies, kind of representing an alternate to the stations of the cross,” Stewart said.

The New York Post related: "Stewart...brushed aside virulent reactions that his group’s plans for the March 28 Black Mass — a sort of inverted Catholic service he described as 'a cathartic expression of sorrow, rage, and healing' — have inflamed." Stewart said, "You’re going to see a book get torn, a cross get broken, a cracker get crunched, and wine get drunk, and that is the scariest bit of what we were planning to do..."

Not to mention that the group plans on breaking the law to carry out this treachery, and disregarded the requirement that the bread be stolen; apparently, as Stewart said, they got it from "Pope Amazon."

What a piece of work.  While news reports say this bunch doesn't worship the devil, by making a mockery out of organized religion and practices that are, at their core, based on Scripture, they are standing with Satan and carrying out his mission.  While Jesus builds up, the enemy tears down.  Those aligned with the enemy of our souls glorify evil and denigrate the good. 

The good news is that this gathering looks to be small - less than 50, at the time of the Topeka outlet's story a few days ago.  So, we don't want to give it more attention than it deserves.  And, this "Grotto" seems to love attention - just look at all of its news coverage.  But, it does serve as a reminder of a sense of irreverence in our culture that would take aim at Christians, to even make fun of our walk with God and how we carry that out.  But, we need to talk about the nature of evil and continue to be a force for good through the power of the Lord.