Mr. Suhor said, however, prayer doesn’t properly belong in politics. He returned to the podium later during Thursday’s meeting, the radio station reported, and condemned the council for giving religion such a prominent role in its proceedings.
“This should be a place where anybody can come and address their government without feeling like a minority [and] being prayed over again and again in a way that’s frankly offensive,” he said.
“Quit pushing Christian privilege as we see with the Bayview cross and so many other issues and go to a moment of silence and let everyone pray or not, according to their own conscience,” Mr. Suhor said. “You need to invite anyone. If you cannot do that, then you need to drop this charade altogether.”
On its Facebook page, the Satanic Temple of West Florida said its members strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason, and stands for free will, personal sovereignty and science. The invocation delivered by Mr. Suhor at Thursday’s meeting speaks of “arcane doctrines borne of fearful minds in darkened times” and concluded with the words “Hail Satan.”
