In 2023, former congressional candidate Michael Cassidy traveled to Iowa from his home state of Mississippi in order to destroy a display that had been erected inside the state capitol by the Satanic Temple of Iowa.
In 2024, Cassidy pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for his actions, which have made him a hero to his fellow Christian nationalists.
As evidence, Cassidy and his attorney, Caleb Byrd, were recently guests on the "Reformation Red Pill" podcast, which is hosted by right-wing pastor Joshua Haymes of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a far-right church located outside of Nashville, TN, that is aligned with Christian nationalist pastor Douglas Wilson and counts Pete Hegseth as a member.
"A Satanic statue had been erected in the Iowa state capitol, and while other Christians were racing to their keyboards to write strongly worded condemnations of Satanic statues being erected and honored in state capitols in our once great Christian nation," Haymes declared, "Michael Cassidy was racing to the Iowa state capitol to behead Baphomet."
Haymes celebrated Cassidy for boldly determining "that Satan will not be honored in our state capitols," declaring that "we need 10,000 more Michael Cassidys."
"We need men of action," Haymes proclaimed. "We need godly Christian men in law, in politics, and in every sphere of life. We are desperate for men who are committed to applying the word of God to the world around us."
During the interview, Cassidy insisted that his actions were justified because "the government shouldn't be promoting evil," even going to far as to suggest that the Founding Fathers would have supported his actions.
Haymes completely agreed.
"Our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves," Haymes proclaimed. "Whenever they were thinking freedom of religion, they did not have in view Satan being worshiped in our [capitols]. They didn't have in view mosques being erected. They [envisioned] a Christian nation."
Pete Hegseth, who has been nominated by Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of Defense, is himself a hardcore Christian nationalist, so it is easy to understand why he is a member at Haymes' church and why he made his own lengthy appearance on Haymes' podcast earlier this year.
