Satanists, Syria, and Scott Hill
Staff writer
Holy war was alive and well Sunday at the lake hall, as the Patriots of Liberty and Rep. Scott Hill denounced a “black mass” scheduled for next week outside the Kansas Capitol.
The demonstration will be hosted by Satanic Grotto, a group founded by Linwood resident Michael Stewart.
Stewart, a self-described atheist, told the Kansas Reflector that the Grotto’s planned “black mass” would be a protest against Christianity.
It will include gestures such as destruction of a cross and Bible and trampling of communion wafers.
Stewart received a permit to conduct the protest inside the Capitol before a public outcry led Gov. Laura Kelly to forbid the protest from happening inside.
This sparked condemnation from across the aisle — one side arguing Kelly was impinging on the protestors’ first amendment rights, the other arguing the protest should not be allowed at all.
Patriots of Liberty took up the latter opinion Sunday. The group’s president, Rose Davidson, began a meeting by speaking about recent killings of Christians in Syria.
Davidson claimed 10,000 Christians had been killed.
“You don’t hear about that,” she said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 973 civilians had been killed in Syria since March 9 as different groups grapple for control of the government.
The majority of those civilians are Muslim, Syrian Observatory says.
Despite many doctored videos posted on social media, there is no evidence Christians are being targeted in Syria.
Davidson moved on to the topic of the black mass.
“Laura Kelly backed down and said OK, we’re going to move it outside,” Davidson said. “That’s still not good enough, I don’t think.”
She encouraged the roughly 20 people gathered in the lake hall to resist the Satanists through prayer.
The Diocese of Wichita also has told residents to fast on the 28th “to atone for the offenses God is receiving because of this blatant show of evil,” Davidson said.
“What if someone wanted to burn the Quran, could you do that?” she asked rhetorically.
Hill said he was pleased the mass had at least been moved outside.
“Hopefully, the legislature’s going to be out of there the day before,” Hill said. “Maybe it’ll just be an empty building.”
He described Stewart as “kind of an unwashed person.”
Also at the meeting, sheriff’s detective Aaron Christner gave a presentation on cyber crime.
“If these hackers would take half of what they know and put it into something productive, they’d be billionaires,” Christner said. “They’re very smart; they always stay one step ahead of the software companies.”
Christner recommended that Patriots be wary of even opening emails from unfamiliar sources.
“If you don’t recognize it and don’t want to open it, report it,” he said.
Speaking about credit card fraud, Christner similarly advised a high level of caution, arguing tap-to-pay credit cards can easily be hacked.
“If you’re in Wichita and they bump into you at the mall, they may have already stolen your credit card info,” he said.
Some nervous shuffling and whispering was heard in ensuing silence.
After his presentation, Davidson gave Christner an envelope with a thank-you note and cash stipend.
The stipend later was returned by the sheriff’s department.