No. Sorry to disagree, but no. The Mayor is not responsible for this. People and their respective clergy must take their responsibilities for their respective purities. The Mayor has to handle trash. and dog licenses. and the Town’s budget. etc. worldly things, of Man and Mankind’s works.
God’s works, and Faith, are WAY outside her OFFICIAL purview.
Privately, of course, she can do any damfool thing she pleases. But AS A MAYOR…Nope. Still not her job, or duty.
Besides, what does this do to the freedom of religion for the Satanists in her swell little Burg? She just blew one of the cornerstones of our country.
I’m still pissed as a wet cat. But not at you, Poly. Keep up the work as Devil’s Advocate!
Which brings up another point. How the hell will anyone ever be able to play Devil’s Advocate in Inglis, now? Half the attorneys in town will have to move just over the border! An Attorney Shantytown. I kind of like that!
As a lawyer licensed to practice in Florida, I would like to say that I will defend the rights of any person or deity to go into any town in the state. I’m certain I speak for my ACLU brethren. If you’re out there, Mr. Satan, please respond on this board (I’m not giving you my home number), and we’ll make a test case of this. BTW, violation of a municipal law is only a misdemeanor.
Didya ever think maybe this is a big publicity stunt? Some of you guys are talking about going down there to visit. That’d be good for the local hotel and restaurant businesses, doubly so if hard-core Christians visit in support of the proclamation.
And then there’s the old adage that “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Think about it: had you ever heard of Inglis, Florida before this story?
[list=1][li]Either Satan is a human or another part of nature.[list=a][]If human, he can’t be restricted from any public place, such as a city’s environs, without having been convicted of a crime or having received a court-issued restraining order.[]If not a human, then the laws can’t apply to him. One may as well ban the wind.[/list=a][]Either the Mayor is operating in her capacity as an elected official or she is acting in her “divinely appointed” capacity (presumably her church office [an aside: wonder if her denomination permits women clergy?]).[list=a][]Since the Constitution mandates a separation of church and state, her mayorial office is not a religious office, no matter what she apparently thinks.If she is operating in her “divinely appointed” capacity, she selected the wrong set of stationery and the wrong group of people to throw signatures on it.[/list=a][/list=1][/li]
Yes, I know that the New Testament says somewhere that it’s God who provides rulers, etc. That doesn’t mean it’s true. It’s certainly not a requirement that someone be divinely appointed to be mayor.
No. But now that I have, I have no intention of ever going there.
Didn’t Jesus say that people must be like children in order to go to heaven? Mark 10:15 (NAS): “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it {at} {all.}”
INGLIS—Satan’s plans for a weekend of temptation and evil-doing here were rudely interrupted Wednesday when he was stopped in his tracks by Mayor Carolyn Risher’s strongly worded, yet poorly punctuated un-invitations, strategically placed at the roads entering her small town. “Imagine my surprise,” commented the Prince of Darkness, “there I was, diddybopping along US 19, trying to decide if I was going to exploit Bob Smith’s little gambling problem or maybe tempt Carl Evens by encouraging his daughter to wear a halter top when >BAM<! It was like I had hit a brick wall.” Further investigation revealed to Satan just what kind of forces he was up against when he discovered the gold-kissed Proclamation hidden inside a hollow fencepost alongside the road. “That really blows, you know?” Beelzebub commented. “Now what am I going to do this weekend?” He went on to explain that he had immediately considered circumventing the Mayor’s protective shield by cutting through the woods and into the back lot of the town’s Dairy Queen. That, however, ultimately struck Satan as simply too much trouble. “I mean, let’s face it,” the horned one laughed, “a week or so more of living in a sin- free town and, chances are, the whole damn population is bound to up and move out of sheer boredom. I’m not stressed, I’ll have their souls yet.”
Since I am not and never have been a member of the Christian faith, I tend to view American Christianity with a bit of bemusement. I believe in G-d but not this S guy. If people aren’t hurting anyone, they can do whatever they want. I draw the line at oppression, though. My attitude is if you believe that G-d wants you to oppress and hate someone else it’s not G-d you’re worshipping…
This makes you wonder what their zoning and subdivision ordinance looks like, doesn’t it?
Her Honor may have done this on her own hook, without the action of the City Counsel or City Fathers. The claim to be the mayor of East Flatrock by divine right is a bit strange.
This may not be any more bizarre than a couple of Midwestern college town that have declared them selves to be nuclear free zones. What ever you do don’t take an H-Bomb into Iowa City. You could end up doing 20 hours of community service if they catch you.
Ah, thank you, Pygmy Twylyte, for reassuring that I have legal representation. No need to give me your phone number. I already have it. How do you think you passed the Bar?
Seriously, though…we SHOULD plan to have a huge, orgiastic DopeFest there. Like Sodom and Gamorrah, only without the drastic results. And we could even plan it on a Satanic holiday. I’m thinking Halloween…? I’m game if anyone else is!
This is unconstitutional! They can’t restrict my right to be Satan in a US town, the 2nd Amendment clearly states that I have the right to bear firearms.
Oops!
Wrong amendment.
Anyway I am SURE that the Constitution says somewhere that banning Satan is a right reserved to the states and not the gosh darn Federal government.
Hmmm. Looking at the article again, this wasn’t the Federal government, it was a local government…
ANYWAY IT’S JUST THE SAME!
I am going to Sacramento to lobby that California REQUIRE adult citizens to carry firearms and worship Satan!
And please please remember that Harry Potter is a devil-worshiper. Voices told me so. They also told me that Larry King is the A.C. if you know what I mean.
After 1000 years in chains, Satan is finally brought up to receive his punishment. The Herald of God steps forward, opening the Scroll of the Damned, which he unrolls and begins to read from…
“Lucifer, aka Satan, aka Beelzebub, aka Skippy, for the crimes of attempting to over-throw Heaven, and pretty much everything you’ve done since then up to and including the enslavement of Humanity, you will, as has been foretold, be thrown into the Lake of Fire™ for the rest of Eternity. You also must pay $52.96 to the city of Ingles, FL, for the violation of a city ordinance.”
Sure, her naivity might well get her into heaven, since it must leave her vulnerable in many situations. I’m speaking as a fully paid up Darwinist who nevertheless feels the need to defend Jesus against some people who claim to follow him (in short, I agree with where you’re coming from jab1). I think Jesus meant that people should have the unquestioning faith and love that children show, not some bizarre idea that opposes the devil (other people) and the good (us).
We’re talking about a public servant in a position of (admittedly modest) responsibility. There’s not an excuse for a supposedly educated adult seeing the world in such black and white terms. Jesus’ philisophy was much more complex than all that “I ban the devil from this town” bollocks. I feel that the few times Jesus mentioned the devil, he was using it as an aid to understanding his ideas. I admit I’m getting out of my depth here, so feel free to rend asunder. My main point was that, as everyone else has pointed out, it is an abuse of public office.
So are a lot of other people in the town of 1400, most of whom Risher describes as good Christians.
C’mon people, get a grip…did anyone notice the population in this town…when you’ve got a small hick like town like that, it usually means that the people are a little bit bored…No offense to the hick town dwellers, but this lady, the mayor…is not setting off to injure the rights of anyone, she is just a small town fanatical crackpot with too much time on her hands…Lets get real here…as if the devil is actually going to walk into that town…and if he does, will he adhere to the rules of the proclaimation? Yea right!!
So, besides being a crackpot, the lady is perhaps a little bit unstable in the common sense department, but hardly a threat to anyones’ rights… And I doubt if any reprecussions would ever stem from her antics…It’s her way of feeling safe, she can probably sleep better at night knowing that those papers are safe & snug in the stupid posts of wood…keeping beeazlebub away…how the hell (no pun intended) do you spell beeazlebub?
I’m game if anyone else is!