All Hail Satan, First Amendment Champ

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
By Brian Pellot

Satan photo by Danny Hammontree via Flickr

OKLAHOMA---In the free speech battle between “good and evil,” I’m siding with Satan. On Sunday (Sept. 21), a black mass in Oklahoma drew a few dozen devil worshippers and a few hundred protesters, most of them Catholic. Some prayerful opponents called the satanic ritual offensive and blasphemous. Fair enough. But was it dangerous? The First Amendment protects acts and expressions some people find unpopular or offensive. Think neo-Nazis marching in predominantly Jewish towns, abortion opponents shouting outside reproductive health care facilities, poorly produced Islamophobic YouTube clips and Westboro Baptist Church. [link]