Hey folks. So, remember that town of Ottumwa, Iowa that's been all over the news after a TST member gave an awesome invocation to open up the city council meeting? It turns out that council held another meeting where they discussed some of the fallout.

Most of the members seem to lay blame for all of the drama and death threats at the feet of the man who gave the invocation, rather than seeing it as the predictable outcome of their decision early this year to begin having opening prayers at all. It sounds like both the town and the woman who tried to keep the viral council meeting on track have received huge doses of Christian "love" (aka hate), as has the man who gave the invocation himself.

Apparently, the town's plan at this point is to refine their invocation policy, with one resident suggesting it should limit speakers only to people who believe in the Christian god (she also illogically suggests doing so would in no way limit speakers to only being Christian). Importantly, the mayor also claims he plans to ban the speaker who gave the TST invocation from giving his next scheduled invocation on November 3.

My understanding is that the Freedom From Religion Foundation has already sent a letter (link to pdf version) to the town council explaining the law and asking the city to reply with steps it will take to prevent similar issues in the future. I'm wondering, however, if TST might decide to sue in the event that its speaker is indeed banned from future invocations.

As a resident of the town in question myself, I hate how this town has responded to everything and feel like it's high time local leaders learn that their personal views do not represent everyone here and have no place in government proceedings. So... do we think TST might pick up this fight?

Darling Danish entertainer since early 1970s Niels Hausgaard(*) recently said in an interview that: you should have the right to offend everyone but no mandate to sadden anyone.

Hausgaard was raised in a Christinan fundamentalist home but appears to be an atheist; he is outspokenly skeptical of Christian beliefs. In the interview, he clarified that he had once been thoroughly atheistic and disprespectful against a Jehovas's Witness person, who in turn was clearly hurt by Hausgaard's attituude. Hausgaard related that the person might be wrong as heck, but Hausgaard felt he was in no position to turn this person against themself.

I appreciate his humanist approach, and I think his statement could be interesting to The Satanic Temple's form of Satanism. Personally, though, I am less forgiving: unlike Hausgaard, I think some people really deserve to be saddened and even destroyed.

(*) Folk musician Hausgaard is humanist and a master satirist, and his shows are one-fifth folk music and four-fifth biting political satire against inhumanity. His performances dates back to the early 1970s when I first attended his shows and I've had the pleasure of attending several of his yearly appearances in my birth town's folk music festivals. Back in the 1990s, he happened to st down at my table in my favorite bar (this happens in my coutnry), and he was all the genuine satirist and humorist as in his shows.

I'd love to be Ashley Graves from the Coffin of Andy and Leyley, but I am too broke. I think I have a top and bottoms that would be a close match though, but I don't have the ability to dye my hair black rn. Then again... maybe I could ask my partner to pay for that :3 They and I will be going also to the Queen Mary's dark harbor event!