A MODERN DAY GIDEON? Satanic Display Torn Down by Michael Cassidy (Iowa Statehouse)

Hello, and thank you for listening to the testing the spirits podcast. Just a quick episode right here.

Going to cover a story in Christian news. The Satan statue erected in the

Iowa state house has been torn down. Before I read an article from protestia .com,

I'd like to read from judges chapter six, verse 28, which says, and when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of bail torn down in the wooden image that was beside it cut down.

Here's what the article says. A recent petition by the satanic temple of Iowa under the guidelines of the

Iowa legislature, it allowed Satanists to place an idol of Baphomet or the devil.

It looked like a winged goat head transhuman figure. They put it on display in the vicinity of the nativity displays on the first floor of the

Iowa Capitol. The display drew the ire of many Christians who lamented the blasphemy of placing an idol in the

Capitol as a sign of the impending judgment of God upon the nation.

Many conservative Republicans, while lamenting the statue as blasphemous, defended the existence of the display on the grounds of constitutional freedom of religious expression.

Republican state representative and former pastor John Dunwell, who I did a video about, he defended the statues presence, arguing that the

Christian battle is not physical and that he didn't want the state to evaluate and determine the validity of religions.

Iowa's governor, Kim Reynolds, a self -described conservative Christian, she echoed the sentiment of Dunwell, praising those who joined a vigil around the nativity in response to the satanic display while defending the free speech rights.

You know, free speech, quote unquote, rights of Satanists. Now to the main story on Thursday, December 14th,

Michael Cassidy, a Christian Navy reserve instructor pilot and self -described

America first conservative. He walked into the Iowa Capitol building and smashed

Baphomet decapitating the idol before stuffing its head into a nearby trash can.

Cassidy then promptly turned himself in to Capitol police and was charged with fourth degree criminal mischief as charges were pressed by the satanic temple.

In an interview with the Sentinel, Cassidy explained his motive for wrecking Baphomet or Satan.

He says the world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founding fathers would have considered government sanction of satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the first amendment.

Anti -Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water.

In a statement given at the time of his arrest, Cassidy answered the charges and he said,

I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged. My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree.

So I acted. Then it says, Cassidy's actions, while in defiance of the radical two kingdoms ideology of many

American evangelicals are reminiscent of those of the eighth century missionary

Boniface. When confronted with the fact that the Saxons had cultivated a type of syncretism that allowed for the worship of Jesus as one of many gods in the

Pantheon, Boniface took an axe to their theory chopping down Thor's tree, a pagan shrine in an act that showed the impotence of the pluralistic

Pantheon of the Saxons rubbing the noses of the pagans in their idolatry.

Boniface used the wood of Thor's tree to construct a church.

While many of the mostly peaceful protesters, you know, quote unquote of 2020, this is the

Black Lives Matter crowd who destroyed statues. While many of them, the article says, escaped prosecution.

It is likely that Michael Cassidy will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for his actions.

The act of smashing idols in the Iowa Capitol will undoubtedly be at the center of the

Christian nationalism debate in the days to come. However, one thing is certain,

Baphomet, a mere creation of idolaters, is just as weak as Baal, and he won't be defending himself or his adherents anytime soon.

I'd like to close with a verse from Psalm 135, 15 through 18.

It says, The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak. They have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear.

Nor is there any breath in their mouths. And those who make them become like them.

So do all who trust in them. Thanks for listening, and until next time, may the