A group of Satanists plans to crash a Christian evangelical event in Washington state featuring musician Sean Feucht, with a ceremony featuring “unbaptisms” where ashes of an incinerated Bible are dabbed on a person’s forehead.
The “Kingdom to the Capitol” rally sponsored by Mr. Feucht’s Let Us Worship organization and TPUSA Faith, an initiative of the conservative group Turning Point USA, is heading to all 50 state capitals this year and next, organizers said. The Washington State Capitol in Olympia will be the site of Mr. Feucht’s July 28 rally, which will include music and worship — with the Satanist protest “within eyeshot,” protesters said.
Mr. Feucht, dubbed a “Holy Troller” by Rolling Stone magazine last year, is controversial for his stands against COVID-19 gathering bans during the pandemic and his support of former President Donald Trump. Six of his worship albums have hit the top spot in the “Christian Worship” music category at iTunes, an aide to Mr. Feucht said.
Luci Coffin, a self-described “priestess” and spokesperson for the House of Heretics religious community, said her group will offer the “unbaptisms” as well as “gender-affirming” rituals as an example of “religious pluralism.” Her protest will feature atheist speakers such as Aron Ra and drag performer Jayla Desmond Foxx.
Ms. Coffin, who said she uses a pseudonym to protect her job as a health care worker, said Mr. Feucht “tends to border [on] pretty hateful things, especially against the trans community. A lot of our members are trans [and] LGBTQ, so it’s really important to us to be there and just offer that alternative and those gender-affirming rituals as well as unbaptisms and just show Olympia and our community that we’re there for them.”
She said the group is composed of “independent Satanists. We don’t worship the devil or a literal Satan. We’re also not affiliated with any other satanic community like the Church of Satan or the Satanic Temple.”
The House of Heretics decided to protest Mr. Feucht’s appearance at the state Capitol, she said, because “as Satanists, our strongly held belief is that we stand up to tyrannical authority and that is what Sean is. He is a Christian nationalist who wants nothing but [for] America to fall under Christianity, and we are a non-religious country.”
Mr. Feucht said self-described Satanists have thrown animal’s blood at him and an attempt to do so in Seattle was “stopped from the authorities” before they could try. He said the prospect of an oppositional event in Olympia doesn’t bother him.
“We’re not going to be deterred, and we’re not going to be afraid and we’re not going to be pushed into a corner and we’re not going to be intimidated,” he said. “This is not our first rodeo with them.”
He said the Satanists view state capitols as “spiritual high places” where advocates fight “for abortion and the future of our children. A lot of the laws are created there, and so they feel threatened that we’re bringing God to the [state] Capitol.”
“When they see Christians go into the Capitol, declaring the promises of God, they feel threatened. It means that we’re doing what God called us to do, and it means that the powers of darkness are threatened.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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