![]() “For all of my desire to be inclusive, that would be a betrayal of my personal faith.” “Once I learned that he wanted to end his convocation with ‘Hail Satan’ it ceased being something I could support,” La Spata wrote in the email. In an email obtained by Block Club, La Spata wrote to a city official, saying the requests were “not at my behest.” Daniel La Spata (1st), who Vavrick said he spoke to about the issue and who is copied on emails to city officials, also said he could not comment on pending litigation. “If we can just ignore a Satanist’s request purely because they’re a Satanist, then we never believed in equal access in the first place.” Minister of Satan Adam Vavrick (middle) with members of The Satanic Temple Illinois.Ī Mayor’s Office spokesperson said the city does not comment on pending litigation. “I think the choice to ignore me was the hope I’d just go away,” Vavrick said. ![]() ![]() Vavrick said his request has been stuck in purgatory, which “left me with no choice but to file suit.” “Thank you so much for your interest,” a clerk’s office official wrote in an email to Vavrick in August 2021. Emails he shared with Block Club show officials telling Vavrick they were “review the information provided” in January 2020 and still “working on this request” in March 2022. Vavrick said public officials repeatedly ignored his followup requests to give an invocation. More than 50 local religious groups have given invocations in front of City Council since The Satanic Temple Illinois first inquired about giving one in December 2019, said Minister of Satan Adam Vavrick, citing publicly available meeting minutes. The lawsuit - filed this month by the Satanic Temple - says the city violated the religious group’s First Amendment rights by “excluding disfavored minority faiths” from giving an invocation at the start of City Council meetings.ĭuring the invocations, religious leaders remind lawmakers to “reflect upon shared ideals and common ends before they embark on the fractious business of governing,” according to the lawsuit. CHICAGO - Local Satanists are raising hell with a new lawsuit alleging the city is barring them from saying “Hail Satan” at City Council meetings.
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