City Rents Space For Satanist Exorcism Ceremony

Oklahoma City's Parks and Recreation Department, saying that it cannot constitutionally discriminate on the basis of viewpoint in renting out its Civic Center auditoriums, has agreed to rent out its smallest room, seating 100, to a Satanist Church for a public exorcism ceremony.  ABC News today reports that James Hale, the leader of the Church of the IV Majesties, says he wants to erase  fears about Satanism by opening the ritual exorcism of God to the public. He says that the ceremony, which is "a parody of the Catholic rite of exorcism," is designed to extract the gods of the "right handed path," that is, traditional religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Tickets for the Oct. 21 exorcism are $15.