Colorado man delivers Satanic invocation at city council meeting

A man who is said to be representing the Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers delivered the first Satanic invocation at a council meeting held in Grand Junction City earlier this month.

During the Grand Junction City Council's meeting on Aug. 2, Mayor Rick Taggart called out Scott Iles, another member of the Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers, to lead the invocation.

Iles, who has been randomly selected to deliver the invocation that day, opted instead to let his friend Andrew Vodopich lead the prayer, claiming that he was a "much better public speaker."

A video of the invocation shows council members standing as Vodopich read expressionless from a prepared statement.

"We beseech all those present to shun primitive hatreds and superstition, bigotry, prejudice and atavism, and instead seek equality in justice and thereby safeguard all worldviews and treat them equally and with respect," Vodopich said, according to NBC 11 News.

"So say we all in the name of reason, in the name of free inquiry and in the name of rebellion against theocracy. Hail Satan," he continued.

The council members decided to allow a satanic invocation at the meeting following complaints from several community members that only prayer or religious groups can perform the invocation during the meetings.

According to the Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers, Grand Junction became a national trailblazer when the city created an invocation policy in 2008 that allows anyone to deliver the invocation, not just religious groups.

During Vodopich's invocation, about 24 people stood in a circle outside of the building, where they prayed the Lord's Prayer.

"We didn't feel like it was right to disrupt. That's not what we're here for ... We wanted to lift up the Lord's name high and cast out what's not for Him," said organizer Mackenzie Dodge.

Vodopich said that he was "pleasantly surprised" by the reception as he was expecting something similar to a Satanic invocation in Pensacola last year, which was met with raised hands brandishing Bibles and praying.

Last July, David Suhor of the Satanic Temple delivered an invocation while wearing a hooded robe at a city council meeting in Pensacola, Florida.

Some people present at the meeting tried to drown him out by reciting the Lord's Prayer. Several were escorted out, but others stayed and prayed quietly with their hands raised.

Several other states have allowed non-Christian groups to deliver invocations, citing the right to free speech.

In January, the Satanic Temple in Arizona was rejected in Phoenix despite being initially chosen to lead the invocation.