We already know that the “religious liberty” activists at Liberty Counsel don’t believe Muslim-Americans should have the same First Amendment rights as other Americans, but now it appears that the Religious Right group believes any religious practice that could upset other people should be prohibited.
While discussing a Satanic “Black Mass” scheduled to take place in Oklahoma City on Sunday, Harry Mihet of Liberty Counsel said yesterday that the event should not take place because it might “offend” people:
Harry Mihet, vice president of legal affairs and chief litigation counsel for Liberty Counsel, said Oklahoma City should not allow its public facilities to be “used by a satanic group for the sole purpose of mocking, insulting and offending other faiths through a lewd and lascivious ceremony.”
“The perverted sexual deviance characteristic of a ‘Black Mass’ ought to remain in the dark tombs and catacombs where it originated, and should not see the light of day in a civilized society, much less on public property,” he said.
This statement is coming from the same group that regularly issues paranoid warnings about how gay rights advocates, progressives and Islamists are on the verge of criminalizing Christian expression in America because it is seen as mocking, insulting and offensive to their beliefs.
But according to Mihet, it is completely appropriate to stop a religious event from taking place if it “offends other faiths.”
Ironically, Liberty Counsel itself once cited Justice William Brennan’s claim that “[i]f there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
