Governor probably thinks "With friends like these..."

[Fairportfan]

I guess this one's political...

Satanists planning rally for Florida Gov. Rick Scott

Florida Gov. Rick Scott may have earned himself a new constituency, but the devil is in the details.

Local news site WPBF.com reported that a group of Satanists plans to hold a rally outside Scott's office on Jan. 25 to support the governor's signing of a bill that allows students to pray at school events.



"We've gotten such a response, it's just impossible for me to know what that translates into," Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves told WPBF, regarding how many will show up at the rally.

“You don't build up your membership unless people know about you,” Greaves said in a separate interview with the Palm Beach Post. “So this allows us to get our message out in public. We're hoping it will reduce the stigmatism.”

The Satanic Temple was launched in 2012 with what Greaves described as being “more or less an online community.”

The group’s website describes itself as being different from other, better-known Satanic organizations. Greaves said the rally is part of a larger ongoing effort at making the group's beliefs more commonplace in mainstream discussions of religion and belief. From the website:

“Though we have far to go before public education leads to a mainstream embrace of our Satanic religion, we feel that our own public 'coming out' will go a long way toward raising the consciousness of the populace … and the social environment has never yet been better prepared for the welcoming of a new Satanic era.”

The group's founder, Neil Bricke, is scheduled to speak at the rally.

"We feel it's time for Satanists to come out and say exactly who we are," Greaves said.

So, what does Scott think of the newly organized support?

"This is a great country. Everyone has a voice," Gov. Scott's press secretary wrote in an email to ABCNews.com.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Talking Head stunt to tank the bill by having negative publicity? I mean, it's a commonly accepted political tactic to have surrogates register on a political rival's blog/forum/etc... and have them spew something ridiculous, screenshot it, then post it on their website as "See what HE believes in?"

I loved how the Governor dodged the question when asked his opinion, though. Caught between a rock and a hard place, he doesn't want to be seen as supporting satanism, but neither does he want to sound like a religious bigot.

[scantrontb]

I loved how the Governor dodged the question when asked his opinion, though. Caught between a rock and a hard place, he doesn't want to be seen as supporting satanism, but neither does he want to sound like a religious bigot.

AND he can even say quite truthfully that "I" never said that... my press secretary did...