A south Florida man calling himself a “minion of Satan” is asking Lake County to let him give a satanic invocation at a board meeting. Chaz Stevens has asked two dozen counties and cities to let him perform a satanic invocation.
Stevens, who is an atheist, said no one has allowed him to do his satanic prayer but he has persuaded four south Florida cities to kick off meetings with a moment of silence instead of prayer.
He points to a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that says public entities should make reasonable effort to be inclusive of any faith.
“My victory would be skip the whole thing and get down to the business at hand. Our taxpayer dollars are there for you to take care of the trash and take care of the police and fire and zoning and that kind of stuff, not to have prayer, not to have any of that stuff,” said Stevens.
Lake County denied his request but Commissioner Leslie Campione said the commission is complying with the law and is inclusive.
“We’ve already had atheists, non-believers, however you want to phrase it. We’ve already had those invocations given at our board meetings,” said Campione.
Campione says Lake County limits invocations to people who reside there. Stevens is from Jupiter. He says he’s consulting his lawyer.
As for whether Lake County would let a resident conduct a satanic prayer at a board meeting, Campione says that’s never been asked before.