An Ottumwa City Council meeting opened Tuesday night with an invocation tied to The Satanic Temple beginning with “Dear dark father” and ending with “Hail Satan.”
The speaker was Matt Dalbey, an Ottumwa resident and former council member.
The moment immediately drew an objection from a local pastor, who said the invocation was not welcome and called for it to be reversed. Mayor Benjamin Foote then called for a brief moment of silence before the meeting continued.
Here’s why the city allowed it:
Ottumwa adopted an open invocation policy in January that allows residents of different religious and philosophical backgrounds to volunteer. City officials are not supposed to pre-screen or restrict the content of those invocations.
The Satanic Temple describes itself as non-theistic and says Satan is used symbolically rather than worshipped as a literal deity.
Now the policy is getting statewide attention after one of its most controversial tests yet.
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