Navy veteran topples and beheads a statue in a state capitol
Members of the Satanic Temple of Iowa received permission from the state capitol to display a statue of Baphomet. Michael Cassidy, Navy veteran, decided that he was going to act on his religious convictions. Cassidy said that he wanted to “take out the blasphemous” idol. He turned himself in after committing the act. The Satanic Temple of Iowa is looking to press charges against Cassidy.
From the Post Millennial
A Satanic altar erected in the Iowa Capitol building has been torn down and beheaded by a Christian and former military officer.
According to The Sentinel, Michael Cassidy pushed over and decapitated the statue of Baphomet, which was placed in the building by members of the Satanic Temple of Iowa after receiving permission, and discarded the head of the statue into the trash.
Cassidy told the outlet that he destroyed the altar on Thursday to “awaken Christians to the anti-Christian acts promoted by our government.”
“The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment,” Cassidy said. “Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water.”
Cassidy turned himself in to officers who were present in the building, who confirmed that the Satanic Temple of Iowa seeks to press charges. Cassidy was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief.
“I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged,” Cassidy said. “My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted.”
The Post Millennial has more information here. The Sentinel provides more information.
Category: Crime, Society, Veterans in the news
He should have yelled “AllolHA SnakBArZ” no charges.
Exactly what they were trying to provoke.
“I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged,”
I used to see lots of nativity scenes in the stood up bathtubs
around the Boston area, especially East Boston, Revere etc.
One day someone wrote a letter to the editor complaining how
the use of a bathtub was blasphemous and should be banned.
I hope the Navy Vet wasn’t a member of the NDSM Brotherhood and a former Engineering Div. Snipe which would leave me reaching for the Kleenex tissue box again…. He would have been aHEAD by not doing what he did….
Seen a few Santas sitting on the HEAD surrounded
by various scenes of joy this year.
Must offend somebody.
I knew Christmas was right around the corner when I saw a cat walking on the shorline over on Delray Beach.
Of course you have heard of sandy Claws.
You mean sanity clause?
There ain’t no sanity clause.
Sounds like Chico telling Groucho that at the Opera House while drawing up the contract.
Yep. Beauregard has sumpin’ t’say ’bout that.
That’s a good lookin pooch.
Here ya go Jeff.
Thats what US Navy Chief Snipe did when the Navy didn’t recognize coal stokers as rated members of Engineering and being lower than whale shit,, He stopped the stokers from stoking coal and the ship came to a halt just short of a mutiny. Talks got going and the coal stokers were recognized and they were rated as BT’s. That’s how the word Snipe came into Navy slang.
The Sand Pebbles… great movie.
And fantastic book…written by a snipe.
I still remember the author’s description of the “Monastic Brotherhood of the Sailor”.
I paraphrase: “we are called to a life of poverty, obedience, and UNchastity.”
I quoted that to a chaplain I was escorting to meetings around my base. He roared with laughter.
p.s. – I really like the crackerjacks Steve has on. Much better than the all white ones.
Yeah, I read the book a long time ago. Good reading. I seem to remember that the movie was pretty faithful to the book. I think the actor that played COL Trautman in the Rambo movies played the ship’s Captain in the movies…Richard Crenna?
Yup, that’s him.
Richard Crenner in Our Miss Brooks TV series
He was also in the cast of the radio show.
Isn’t that the guy playing a Colonel in Rambo?
Living up to your name again, I see.
Spot on.
Luke from The Real McCoys
One of the greatest Navy movies of all time.
I love it, but I also love “The Last Detail”. Jack Nicholson was pitch perfect in that movie. The epitome of a Fleet Squid. I still can’t believe that he wasn’t in the USN.
Rive steam walve…
Turning himself in doesn’t make up for the blatant disrespect of others’ religious beliefs, but it’s at least more respectable than hiding his actions. Hopefully, his legal costs and any fines will find assistance from his community.
Granted, the Satanic Temple of Iowa is a religious body that is very difficult to take seriously and the trappings of so-called “Satanism” are often ridiculous and intentionally subversive of established religious institutions… but it’s a very slippery slope when we start picking and choosing which religions are protected and which are not.
No doubt, that statue was placed there purely to invite just such a reaction, and Mr. Cassidy fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Well played, satanists.
Dude-ists and Pastafarians are easier to take seriously
There’s absolutely nothing ridiculous about Dudeism (which is not hyphenated, don’t make it seem silly).
Now, excuse me while I go to the bar; I have a sudden hankering for a Caucasian.
I’d never heard of dudeism until now. I am now a convert.
The Dude abides.
😎
https://dudeism.com/
Tongue-in-cheek though it be, there’s a great deal of merit to Dudeism and other modern adaptations of ancient philosophy, as long as it’s done well.
Modern Stoicism lost much of Zeno’s original concept as pains were made to force a square peg into the round hole of modern society (actual stoicism still has value).
Dudeism, on the other hand, largely places Taoist principle into modern society without losing much (save the outdated medical and metaphysical dogma) of its substance.
It would seem I’ve been a Dudeist long before I knew what it is.
Personally, I don’t give a flying f on peoples religious beliefs. If they want to believe in the devil, that’s their problem.
However, it seems to me that most, if not all, satanic religions are nothing more than an excuse to hold communist beliefs, and force collectivism on the rest of us.
I have never met or heard of a devil worshiper that supports free market capitalism, small government, or our constitutional freedoms. On the contrary, they want to change, and thus destroy, this experiment on individualism vs collectivism.
Therefore, they can eat a bag of digs. They are not a religion. They are nothing more than communist trolls.
These ‘satanists’ certainly don’t take themselves seriously — there’s a big difference between the Church of Satan and The Satanic Temple. This is the latter, and while they are indeed recognized as a religion -because, it’s a fuzzy area for the State to determine what is and isn’t one- they focus on highlighting double standards like this. Eg, either the state allows all religious displays, or none.
In terms of their basic tenets, there’s no magic, no devil, nothing just basic humanistic beliefs. In fact, one of their core ones likely appeals to conservatives:
Emphasis mine.
I’ve got no real issue with any of that. I do take issue with allowing a statue of Baphomet on public ground while denying a nativity scene. Short of requiring worship of either, both should be allowed.
“But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
– Thomas Jefferson, “Notes on the State of Virginia,” 1782
Agreed, and I suspect even The Satanic Temple folks would agree as well. In this case, it’s worth pointing out that these are different towns. The town that denied the Nativity scene (Toledo, Iowa) doesn’t have the Baphomet display – that’s in Des Moines. Both towns should be consistent, but it isn’t like the same town said yes to Baphomet, but no to the Nativity.
All in all, between allowing all, or none, I tend to lean towards none, otherwise it just invites insanity. I have no desire to walk past dozens of different religious displays just to go in City Hall.
On that last point, I disagree.
I love the idea of parading past a menagerie of sigils representative of the community as I go to deal with them.
All should have a place, should they choose to seek one. Precedence is a debate we could have, but to deny all in the interest of equity is a stance I cannot support.
LaVeyan Satanism is actually an atheistic beliefs system.
I’m of the opinion that if the God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah wanted that statue down, he is fully capable of taking it down.
Satanists get to place their display in the capital building, but nativity display is offensive.
https://news.yahoo.com/iowa-town-removes-nativity-scene-090006845.html
There is definitely a double standard, there.
Mustn’t offend the satanists or muzzies. The pastafarians are generally fun people.
Do forget the LGBTQ+ crowd, some of the are in there too… and they can get cranky:
You don’t have to offer any offense; they’ll take it, regardless.
We had a similar situation: multiple “Jesus Welcomes you to Hawkins” signs irked someone who didn’t live anywhere near Hawkins. Wound up with every sign being moved to private property…many remain even today.
Drunk,stupid or stoned?
All he has to do is say that he thought that it was representative of a Confederate General and he would walk.
Are you saying the statue looks like That Devil Forrest? ‘Crump Sherman was unavailable for comment.
Nice gesture. Iowa is as Iowa has become. Doing Satan in is above our pay grade but we don’t have to standby and tolerate his servants.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to have NONE of that stuff sponsored by government?
That area of the Capitol is basically a museum, and while I would agree with you that the government should not “sponsor” one religion or another, religion has been important to Iowa’s history. However, the Satanic Temple has *not* been a part of that history, whereas every flavor of Judeo-Christian religion has.
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The Pirates Cove
Fuck the satanists. He was just carrying on the new tradition of removing unpopular statues.