BOISE, Idaho (LifeSiteNews) – A publicity stunt by a Satanist group in Idaho to perform “gender affirmation rituals” at the state capitol backfired Monday, with the small handful of Satanists who showed up drastically outnumbered by Christian counter-protesters.
As previously covered by LifeSiteNews, a group calling itself Satanic Idaho (SI) announced that on February 13 it would be at the capitol to perform “gender affirmation rituals” to “remind [Idahoans] that not everyone uses religion to condemn, but to accept.”
The rituals, promoted by the national, secular-leftist agitation group The Satanic Temple (TST), reportedly consist of participants “count[ing] their breathing in three counts of six” and recite an incantation affirming themselves as their own “Master,” as well as the mantra, “I praise myself. I know myself. I love myself.”
However, despite the announcement generating significant media attention, ultimately a paltry 11 Satanists actually turned out Monday and were outnumbered by as many as 170 Christians, the Idaho Tribune reported.
“Nobody likes these people,” wrote the Tribune’s Johnston Meadows, who called the event a “giant nothingburger.”
However, Meadows cautioned that “[j]ust because these losers can only draw a dozen people to their events doesn’t mean that Christians and Patriots can sit idly by. We must remain vigilant and continue to pray for our state and our elected leaders, lest they fall into temptation.”
Not today Satanists! https://t.co/cSsHZP0tnT pic.twitter.com/22EZr1KLhE
— Action Idaho (@action_idaho) February 14, 2023
The event was announced after Idaho Republican state Rep. Bruce Skaug introduced the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, which would make it a felony to provide puberty blocking drugs or perform “gender-affirming” surgeries for minors, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. SI denied that the event was specifically to protest the bill, and was planned prior to its introduction.
SI’s Facebook page, which boasts just 337 followers as of Wednesday afternoon, February 15, offers little detail about its organization or affiliations beyond that it is “an independent atheistic and non-supernatural satanic community.”
It appears to be similar in disposition to TST, which purports to embrace Satan’s name as a “symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority” while not believing that God, the devil, or other supernatural concepts literally exist. TST has advocated for legal abortion, sponsored LGBT “pride” events, and erected statues on public property, among other attention-generating antics in support of various left-wing agenda items.