Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he would support the legal fund of a man who is accused of vandalizing a display by The Satanic Temple inside the Iowa Capitol on Thursday. Michael Cassidy was ch…

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ® said he would support the legal fund of a man who is accused of vandalizing a display by The Satanic Temple inside the Iowa Capitol on Thursday.

Michael Cassidy was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief for knocking over and destroying a statue erected by the temple inside the capitol, The Des Moines Register first reported.

“Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a ‘religion’ by the federal government,” DeSantis said on X, formerly Twitter. “I’ll chip in to contribute to this veteran’s legal defense fund. Good prevails over evil — that’s the American spirit.”

  • phoenixz@lemmy.ca
    121·
    10 months ago

    There is no real religion, they do not believe in Satan, they literally state so, and mostly use it to push back against christian intrusions into government and schools

    • eltrain123@lemmy.world
      131·
      10 months ago

      Belief in an artificial deity does not have to be present asa defining characteristic of religion. They have a strong moral code that they promote and follow with doctrine and practice, which meets the definition of a religion, regardless of supernatural deity.

      • phoenixz@lemmy.ca
        1·
        10 months ago

        Not sure if I agree. I’ve never encountered a religion that is not based off the supernatural, the supernatural is the entire core premise of religion in general.

        The church of the flying spaghetti monster and the satanic temple are organisations and satirical, but they are not religious in any way.