Everyone knows that small town politics are something else. Everyone knows everyone, so things are a little different than you'll find in New York or Los Angeles. And there's always something going on that would make your average large city councillor blush if it happened to them.
And in the case of Ottumwa, Iowa, the small town has been rocked by... a Satanic prayer? In case you don't know where Ottumwa is (I don't blame you!), it's a small town of around 25,000 people. It sits straddled on the Des Moines river.
In order to put the absolutely insane incident into context, let's go into detail about a recent policy. The Ottumwa city council had enacted an "invocation policy" in January.
The policy itself reads, "it is appropriate to begin meetings of decisions for the City of Ottumwa with additional
guidance and blessing for the city and all its citizens."
To cover their backs, the policy also says, "This policy is not intended, and shall not be implemented or construed in any way to affiliate the City Council with, nor express the Council's endorsement or preference for any faith or religious denominations."
"Rather, this policy is intended to acknowledge and express the City Council's respect for the diversity of both organized and unorganized religious denominations, as well as other faiths, belief systems, or the lack thereof, represented and practiced among the citizens of the City of Ottumwa."
Sounds like a pretty heartwarming policy to have in place, right? Well...
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The Small Town City Council Had a Crazy Start to a Meeting
And then the Tuesday meeting began: former council member Matt Dalbey began the meeting by delivering a Satanic prayer, ending it with "Hail Satan". And, per the Ottumwa Post, things devolved from there.
A New Life Center pastor, Rick Bick, was vehemently opposed to the whole thing. He called on members of the chamber to renounce the prayer, calling it a "curse" on the city.
That invocation policy only had one person who voted against it - Cara Galloway. And she said that this incident pretty clearly showed what she thought would have happened. "This is exactly why I had concerns about having an invocation," she explained.
"I think I specifically referenced that someone from the church of Satan or a prayer of Satan... we need to remember that we are up here to be neutral and allow viewpoints because we've opened up invocations."
What a wild story.
