Criminal Christian goes Free

Hey vandals, lawbreakers and other scofflaws, come on down to Florida. Not only can you hone and perfect your craft, the state will actively support it.

Let’s say you discover you don’t like the color of your neighbor’s house, or any house for that matter…splash it with your choice of paint. Or use spray cans to create artistic graffiti to give it a ‘pop’ feel. You’ll get off the hook by claiming religious freedom. Maybe a store has something you want, but you can’t afford it. No problem. Pick it up and walk out with it. As long as you tell law enforcement ahead of time, there will be little difficulty. And the best part again is you can say it is your religious right. Or, let’s say you don’t like someone else’s belief or spiritual presentation. Here in the Sunshine State you have carte blanche to trash it and pay no penalty.

What's the difference between the thug on the left and the thug on the right? The thug on the right only trashed himself.

On December 24, 2014, Susan Hemeryck, wearing a t-shirt with ‘Catholic Warrior’ on it, entered the capitol building in Tallahassee, pre-apologized to the two Florida Capitol Police officers near the door, walked to the Christmas exhibition area and vandalized the display erected by the Satanic Temple (which featured an angel figure falling into hell-fire, per the bible), then attempted to walk out of the building with what was left of the display. 

It seems that, like many bigoted conservative Christians, Ms. Hemeryck couldn't tolerate the biblically-correct scene so she took it upon herself to destroy it. Amazingly, even though she was filmed by capitol surveillance cameras, was caught red-handed by law enforcement officers as she tried to remove it from the building, and freely admitted to the press that she “yanked that little devil off the fishing line” and “should have just done a better job and finished it off for good,” state prosecutors decided not to pursue the case.

Why?

Hemeryck’s attorney said doing so is “basically putting an attack on Christians.” (Note: An attack on something non-Christian is okay though.) State prosecutors agreed and dropped charges because of a lack of evidence. In a statement issued by state prosecutors, they claimed “The defendant is simply carrying the display. No damages are apparent. It is simply disassembled.” There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Hmmm, must have fallen off the table and gotten torn up by itself.

See, you aren't held accountable for criminal activity in Florida. Desecrating some other religious display is a perpetual “Get Out of Jail Free” card. If an atheist had vandalized a Christian display, prosecutors would have sought the maximum punishment, but because Hemeryck is a “Christian” who destroyed a non-Christian display, she gets to walk without facing any consequences at all.

Strange as it seems, Susan Hemeryck’s religion wouldn’t have any reason to exist were it not for Satan, Lucifer, the devil, or whatever you want to call the ’Prince of Darkness’ in their holy book. Her religion NEEDS Satan to justify its existence. But vandalizing the Satanic display is like destroying water fountains wherever found because water was used to drown everyone in Noah’s flood...even though water was necessary to the story.

Remember, the almighty is impotent and can’t do anything in this world, so it is up to you to do the interpreting for it. But whatever you choose to do, do it with the confidence that it is what god wants. Besides, why would it come here to do anything anymore? That's what all the believers are for. All religions claim that at some point in the past, god left a book of instructions behind and that’s what we have to guide us. Yes, for some reason, one group calls the book the Qur’an, others say it is the Bhagavad Gita, another group claims it is the Book of Mormon, others assert that it is the Sutras, while millions of others say it’s the Bible…and on and on and on. But take heart that god certainly works in mysterious ways, and in mysterious guises, allows people to do whatever they like and then claim they did it for god.

The mystery is, why do people still believe it?  

Satan Goes to School

         The stupidity factor climbs higher in Central Florida. Thanks to our ever-vigilant religious fundamentalists and their demands on area learning institutions, the administration for the Orange County Public Schools is entertaining the idea of distributing material promoting Satanism. The schools previously allowed bibles and books promoting Christianity to be passed around, and the chickens have now come home to roost. I think it’s ridiculous to counter one mythology with another but I understand why the Satanic Temple is doing it. If Christianity is allowed, then why not that religion’s nemesis, since he is a necessary part of that mythology. Showing an astounding degree of ignorance, the mother of one student huffed “This only proves why we need God back in our schools.” She means Jehovah, the Christian god…the only god allowed in schools.

          Ah, Christian outrage. Where would we be without it? All this fuss was generated when the Satanic Temple submitted a coloring book and two fact sheets regarding Satanism to the Orange County School Board to hand out to Elementary School students starting in January 2015. There is nothing spellbinding in it. The book looks like the kind of stuff that would appeal to any 5 to 8 year old. These are typical pages.

Nothing evil or revolting. Only the emblems give any hint regarding Satanism.

But fundamentalists think its influence will create this kind of child.

      It should never have come to this. Our schools are meant for learning, not proselytizing. If you want your kids to learn about religion, take them to church. But don't force the mystical and supernatural on the schools.
Christians don’t like it but this is a secular country, and as such, the kids are to be free of religious influence in public school teaching. But many faith-based organizations feel that’s just a small road bump that they are commanded to ignore, jump over, or break down. The head of the Florida Family Policy Council openly told the Orlando Sentinel that their Bible-distribution program in the school is intended "as a way to expose children to Christianity" in hopes that it will "lead to a fundamental change in the condition of a student's heart." God can’t do it by, say, answering a prayer, or just placing the desire in children’s minds. He is so inept and weak; he must call on imperfect and admittedly wicked humans to present his case and hope the kids will crack open His holy book. This is where the Satanists saw an opening. The Satanists are simply saying, if there's religious heart-changing allowed in public schools, all religious heart-changers should get an equal shot at the students: "If our materials are consistent with their standards, they can't simply deny our literature because of its religious viewpoint," said a Satanic Temple spokesman.

Guess which book contains more violence and divisiveness?     
     

                If the Satanists succeed, expect to see Islamic groups submitting the Koran and Muslim information next, followed by the Mormons, the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Zoroastrians, and eventually documents about Native American beliefs. They all have just as much right. It will take up the entire school day just to name all the different religions and the various factions of each.

     So that mother who was upset over the Satanic Temple handing out material better be prepared for a religious rush on the area schools. This is the end result of ignoring the Constitutional separation of church and state. 

     How about you? Do you want today’s school kids to waste any more time on religion and NOT learn science, math, history, reading, biology, spelling, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, social studies…etc.?  

     One particular response was so stunning, I quote it in full: “These monsters peddling their book full of murder, incest, human bondage and exploitation to school children must be stopped. It's a good thing that the Satanists are doing something about it.”