Ron DeSantis pledges to help man who destroyed Satanic holiday display

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has pledged legal funds to help a man who destroyed a non-Christian religious display inside of the Iowa Capitol. The man destroyed the display beyond repair, and numerous conservatives have praised his actions.

Michael Cassidy, a failed Republican congressional candidate, destroyed a statue erected by the Satanic Temple inside the state capitol building. The statue was a mirror-plated cow skull representing the pagan idol Baphomet. Under it was a red and black wreath featuring a red upside-down star.

Related: Christians argue First Amendment doesn’t protect Satanic Temple as they try to cancel it

350 people attended “Satancon” in Arizona this weekend. Dozens more protested it, calling for a boycott of the hotel that hosted it.

Though Iowa law allows any religious organization to erect displays inside the Capitol, Cassidy said he “saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged,” The Des Moines Register reported. After destroying it on Thursday, police charged Cassidy with fourth-degree criminal mischief. The charge carries a penalty of up to a $2,560 fine and one year in prison.

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“My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted,” Cassidy told The Sentinel

A $20,000 crowdfunding to cover Cassidy’s legal battle had raised $41,936 by Friday evening. The anti-LGBTQ+ conservative group Turning Point USA donated $10,000 to the fund and transphobic Daily Wire broadcaster Matt Walsh donated $1,000, according to Newsweek.

DeSantis wrote on X that he would also contribute.

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

Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a "religion" by the federal government. I'll chip in to contribute to this veteran's legal defense fund.

Good prevails over evil — that's the American spirit. https://t.co/p1vmTcl8c9

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 15, 2023

The Satanic Temple has said that it doesn’t literally worship or believe in Satan, a mythical figure that Christians regard as the evil opposite of their infallible God. Instead, the Temple references Satan as a way to encourage curiosity about non-religious belief systems and skepticism about “religious freedom” policies that value Christianity above all other beliefs.

The Satanic Temple’s co-founder Lucien Greaves called the vandalism a “hate crime,” according to The Hill.

“[The Christians] had their own displays, their own protests, they ‘filled the capitol with prayers,’ they did interviews with media outlets who allowed them to put words in our mouths without seeking comment from us and then they vandalized our display anyways,” Greaves wrote. “And they still play the victim.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) had called the display “objectionable” but encouraged Christians to come to pray near a Nativity display on Capitol grounds. She referred to Jesus Christ as “the true reason for the season.” Scholars believe the Christian church began celebrating Christmas as a way to weaken pagan devotion to their own end-of-year celebrations, two of which are known as Saturnalia and Yule.

Despite the statue’s destruction, a small altar below the statue — bearing the Satanic Temple’s seal, candles, and the seven tenets of Satanism — will remain in the building for now, The Des Moines Register reported.

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