Parker Leavitt

The Republic | azcentral.com

Scottsdale will bar the Satanic Temple from leading a scheduled prayer at a City Council meeting in July, city officials announced Monday.

Scottsdale informed the Satanic Temple's Arizona chapter, which is based in Tucson, that only "representatives from institutions that have a substantial connection to the Scottsdale community" will be allowed to give the invocation, city spokesman Kelly Corsette said in an e-mail.

The city is making other arrangements for the July 6 invocation, Corsette said. Scottsdale officials declined to provide further comment or grant interviews about the decision.

Satanic Temple spokesman Stu de Haan said the city has "pulled the rug out from under us" after twice approving plans for the invocation — first for April 5 and then for July 6 when the group had to reschedule for logistical reasons.

"Here at the last minute they decided to make up or construct some reason or pretext not to have us speak," de Haan said. "They had to have made it up, because why would they approve us in the first place then?"

De Haan learned about Scottsdale's decision Monday afternoon and said it is too early to say what the group might do next.

What the Satanists planned to say

The Satanic Temple had planned to urge Scottsdale listeners to embrace a "Luciferian impulse" before closing the prayer with "hail Satan," according to a draft obtained by The Republic in March. The group promotes religious agnosticism and does not believe in the supernatural.

Arizona chapter member Michelle Shortt planned to ask the audience to "reason our solutions with agnosticism in all things" while standing firm "against any and all arbitrary authority that threatens" personal sovereignty.

"Let us stand now, unbowed and unfettered by arcane doctrines born of fearful minds in darkened times," Shortt planned to say, before invoking a "Luciferian impulse to eat of the Tree of Knowledge" and reject "comforting delusions."

The message was to end with a declaration "that which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise" and "hail Satan."

Shortt had planned to give the same speech for the Phoenix City Council invocation, according to de Haan.

Blocked in Phoenix and Scottsdale

Controversy swept through Phoenix earlier this year when the Satanists sought to give an invocation at a City Council meeting in February. The request sparked an emotional debate over religion and constitutional rights while making international news.

The Phoenix City Council responded by replacing formal, spoken prayer at council meetings with a moment of silent prayer. Council members later reinstated prayer, but only the city's police or fire chaplains can do it. The Satanic Temple has threatened to sue the city, but de Haan said the group has not filed a lawsuit.

Scottsdale has been the only Arizona city to schedule a date for the Satanic Temple invocation so far. In March, however, Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane told The Republic that city officials were working to "find a clean path, one that is legal," to block the group.

"We're not in the business of entertaining an invocation that makes a mockery," Lane said. "I'm not an advocate of it, of course."

Thousands of emails filled Scottsdale officials' inboxes over the prayer issue this spring, and religious groups were preparing to organize in protest.

The controversy stretched beyond state borders, drawing news coverage from the Washington Post, Time and RT (formerly Russia Today). A Pennsylvania-based group called America Needs Fatima claims to have gathered nearly 23,000 online signatures in opposition to the Satanic Temple invocation, according to its website.

RELATED: He gave the final prayer at a Phoenix council meeting, but is not silent for a moment

What do the Satanists believe?

The Satanic Temple does not teach the existence of a literal Satan but rather uses the name as a symbol for rebellion against tyranny and authoritarian rule, de Haan said. The group says it promotes compassion, empathy and the undertaking of "noble pursuits guided by our individual wills."

The national organization gained notoriety in recent years for an effort to place a horned statue at the Oklahoma State Capitol, where a monument of the Ten Commandments stood. That monument has since been removed.

Arizona's chapter was formed this year in the wake of the Phoenix City Council prayer controversy, de Haan said. The group isn't trying to end public prayer, but wants to exercise its right to participate in a public forum, he said.

"When we see oppression or hypocrisy, we have to speak up," de Haan said. "We absolutely abide by the law and society's standards. We just call it out if it's wrong."

The group is different from the Church of Satan, which formed decades ago. De Haan sees his group as "the next generation" of Satanists, more intent on community involvement.