My native Oklahoma is a conservative state, and yet the city manager of Oklahoma City has allowed renting out part of the Civic Center for a Satanic Black Mass. Unlike the kerfluffle at Harvard (see here and here), the group putting on this event has reportedly acquired a consecrated host, which they will then publicly desecrate.
Now the group has insisted that it will not break any laws. That would presumably rule out the normal Black Mass practices involving urine, excrement, semen, and the ritual abuse of a naked woman. So instead of being a “traditional” Satanic liturgy, I guess this it will be a “contemporary service.” But they will do something nasty to the Body of Christ.* And if the city manager will hold them to their promise not to break any laws, what about Oklahoma’s blasphemy law?
From Phyllis Zagano, Blasphemy in Oklahoma City | National Catholic Reporter:
The city manager of Oklahoma City has approved a Sept. 21 “black mass” in its Civic Center Music Hall. Maybe the heat’s got him.
The facts: a Satanist group called Dakhma of Angra Mainyu plunked down $420 to rent the 92-seat CitySpace Theatre for a “black mass.” The Catholic archbishop complained. The city manager cited the First Amendment. The archbishop has asked for prayers. The rest of city government is not talking.
The force behind the event, 35-year-old Adam Brian Daniels, is well-known to the Civic Center folks. He’s been involved in two of the three previous Satanist events there. Last year, nobody came.
Daniels is also a lifetime member of the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry.
Yet Oklahoma City authorities defend his right to perform a vile attack on what Christians hold sacred. The complete details are too disgusting to repeat, but the event includes stomping on a consecrated host.
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The action usually takes place between the legs of a naked woman lying on a table with her feet facing east. The actual ritual calls for all manner of strangeness there, but the Satanists say they will not break the law, and the Civic Center promises police attendance. So probably there will be no use of urine, excrement or semen. No nudity or lewdness, either. But they will desecrate the host. . . .
You think claiming blasphemy is old-fashioned? Yes, it is. And the word does not seem to appear in any of the “black mass” discussion, pro or con. But the “black mass” organizers claim someone mailed them a consecrated host and that they intend to stomp on it. That is blasphemy and harassment and the vandalism of religious property.
Here’s a news flash: Oklahoma has blasphemy laws. Blasphemy is a misdemeanor. The Oklahoma Statutes state: “Blasphemy consists in wantonly uttering or publishing words, casting contumelious reproach or profane ridicule upon God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Scriptures or the Christian or any other religion.”
Also, the Oklahoma City Municipal Code protects against harassment, intimidation, or degradation because of any individual’s religion, and also against vandalism of any religious property.
That sounds pretty 14th Amendment to me. Maybe someone should tell the city manager?
I hope public outcry puts a stop to this event and to the use of a public facility to host it. And yet, Jesus has already endured the nastiness of Crucifixion for us and even for His tormenters, including those who mock and blaspheme Him in Black Masses. And those who reject Him, preferring Satan instead, can look forward to an eternity of God’s wrath and an eternity of quality time with their chosen master. So I don’t think we should worry about this too much.
*NOTE: Catholics believe that the consecrated elements remain the Body and Blood of Christ even after the Mass is completed. The Lutheran position is that they are the Body and Blood only in the context of the sacramental action and not afterward, so that there would be no Real Presence at a Black Mass. Other Christians believe that Christ’s presence is spiritual or symbolic. But the purpose and intention and meaning of the Black Mass is to mock, violate, and blaspheme Jesus. Whether we or those who conduct the Black Mass construe that has happening actually or symbolically, all Christians will abhor this ritual.
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