Satanic Statue In Iowa Dismantled By Based Christian Man

Michael Cassidy, a resolute Christian ex-military officer, has ignited a nationwide religious debate. He took it upon himself to dismantle a Satanic statue stationed at the Iowa Capitol. Why? To uphold the biblical principles he swore to live by. Join us as we put his act under the spotlight and explore the significance of such unwavering faith in a world ridden with moral relativism. We'll dig deep into his faith-driven motivation, his adherence to Ephesians 6:10-18, and the spiritual arsenal he arms himself with to ward off the devil's ploys.

Shocked? Intrigued? Cassidy's act has stirred responses from all corners – Christians questioning his audacity and elected officials forced to respond. We shed light on the dichotomy of opinions surrounding his actions, the biblical view on civil disobedience, and the importance of peace in such acts.  So gear up for an episode that promises to challenge your perception of Christian activism, the concept of civil disobedience, and the courage it takes to stand up against anti-Christian acts. Let's inspire each other to live passionately, bravely, and based on biblical principles.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello everybody, andrew Torba here, ceo of GABcom. Welcome to the Parallel Christian Society podcast. Our story today is on Michael Cassidy, who is a Christian and former military officer, who pushed over and destroyed the Satanic statue that was placed in Iowa and, I believe, the state capital and the Iowa capital. So pictures of this Satanic statue have been sort of circulating on the internet all week and there's this big debate over what to do about it, and I believe one of the representatives from Iowa, who is a Christian you know he's one of these pious types who was saying that we shouldn't do anything about it and we should just let it stay there and whatever else. And so people were ragging on him all week and you know people were calling for something to happen, for this thing to be taken down, and this guy, michael Cassidy, who is a former military officer, decided to take matters into his own hands in sort of an act of civil disobedience and in righteous anger he tore this thing down, and this is a great example of you know what it means to be a based and biblical Christian man, right? So let me dive into this article here, and this was covered in the Sentinel, so, republicsentinelcom, if you want to go check out the article and share it. Great guys over there.

Speaker 1: 1:43

And so Michael Cassidy, a Christian and former military officer, tore down and beheaded a Satanist altar erected in the Iowa Capitol as the display provoked nationwide controversy. Members of the Satanic Temple of Iowa recently received permission to install the exhibit, which included a statue depicting the idol Banffamette holding a pentacle and surrounded by candles, on the first floor of the Iowa Capitol, near displays of the Nativity. Cassidy pushed over and decapitated the statue before he discarded the head in a trash can. Cassidy said in comments exclusively provided to the Sentinel that he destroyed the shrine on Thursday in order, to quote awaken Christians to the anti-Christian acts promoted by our government. Quote the world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside of the Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment, cassidy told the Sentinel. Anti-christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water. Absolutely right, you know.

Speaker 1: 3:01

I make the same exact argument when it comes to, you know, some of the stuff that people say is protected by the First Amendment, right, pornography they say, oh, that's protected by the First Amendment. It's like if you really think that the Founding Fathers, when they drafted the First Amendment, you know, had in mind that it was going to protect this stuff, had in mind that it was going to protect the erection of a Satanic altar inside of our government buildings, you got to be out of your mind, okay, and you know he's right that most of the responses you know. Again, I mentioned this representative from Ohio, or from Idaho, rather, or Iowa, sorry about that. You know who was getting pressured about this. You know as people reach out to the representatives and say what the heck is going on. So we have a Christian representative in Iowa and his constituents and largely a good chunk of the Christian internet is saying like what are you doing? Like go do something about this? And he's saying, oh no, I can't do anything about this because I believe in the Constitution. And durp, durp, durp, right, any excuse. So you know what this shows you is that this guy values the Constitution over his duty to be a Christian and not allow this to be standing right. And so you know we see a lot of Christians act like that and it's sort of this cowardice. It's an excuse. They're like you know, they don't want to do anything, they don't have the courage to do anything and they don't have what it takes to be a biblical based man. And what is that? What exactly does that mean? So that you know the term based in you know, internet lingo right Typically means that someone who's going to speak the truth, stand their ground, stand firm in their values, regardless of what people thinking about them.

Speaker 1: 4:51

In the context of Christianity, being based, being a base biblical man, transcends this definition and it focuses on a steadfastness in faith, a strong adherence to biblical principles and a fearless attitude in the face of worldly pressures and moral relativism. A base biblical man is firmly grounded in the truth of Scripture. He follows the example of Christ who declared I am the way, the truth and the life in John 14.6. In a world where the truth is often subjective, the based biblical man holds fast to the unchanging Word of God as his ultimate source of truth and guidance. And so you know, you see this pious Iowa State representative who's using the excuse of maconstitution and whatever else. You know that is what his ultimate source of truth and guidance is. It's not the Word of God. You know, if you're a Christian, if you're a based Christian, then the Word of God is your ultimate source of truth and guidance. And we want to follow the example of Christ. And people are going to say this isn't the example of Christ destroying things. And really, well, what do you think happened when Christ flipped over the tables in the temple Right? That was an act of civil disobedience. And there's this is the same exact thing.

Speaker 1: 6:10

This is exactly what Michael Cassidy has done here, and all glory to God for this. Ephesians 6, 10-18 gives us this description of spiritual armor. It's necessary for engaging in spiritual warfare. Paul instructs us to put on the full armor of God and to stand against the devil's schemes. And for the base biblical man, this means girding oneself up with truth and righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the Word of God and, of course, all empowered through prayer. This armor is not just defensive, but it also enables us to advance against spiritual darkness.

Speaker 1: 6:51

This took a lot of courage, like what what Michael Cassidy did here. You know, it definitely took a lot of courage, and I believe he was charged with you know something small, and he has since had a fundraiser for his legal defense and they filled out the initial amount that they requested for that in 103 hours it was. It was crazy how fast that filled out, which is incredible. It just shows how much support he has and how much people are looking for anybody to do anything about this stuff. People are looking for strong, based biblical men to stand up and do something about what's being done in our society, in our culture and in our country. And so you know, let me continue this story here. So Cassidy turned himself into police the police officers that were present in the Iowa Capitol, who confirmed that the Satanic Temple of Iowa desires to press charges. The Sentinel obtained a complaint in affidavit, which Cassidy was charged with a fourth degree criminal mischief. I saw this blasphemous statue when was outraged.

Speaker 1: 8:02

Cassidy continued my conscience is held captive to the Word of God, not to bureaucratic decree, and so I acted. What a quote, what an incredible quote. And so you know, contrast this with the Iowa State Representative who was basically saying all week that his conscience was held captive to the Constitution and not to the Word of God, and that is why he was not acting right. And really he wasn't acting, because he was a coward. That's ultimately what it boils down to. You know he's a coward and he wants to scapegoat and point at the Constitution and wave the Constitution around when, as Christians, our conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so we must act. What a fantastic quote from Cassidy here. Cassidy, who served as a Navy pilot and works as a flight instructor, previously ran for Congress in Mississippi. His campaign website describes him as a Christian conservative who loves our nation and is committed to preserving the blessings of liberty.

Speaker 1: 9:12

The approval of the shrine drew nationwide backlash from Christians and provoked commentary from senior elected officials. Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds remarked in a statement that she found the display absolutely objectionable but said the best response to objectionable speech is more speech in a free society. She also appeared at a Tuesday prayer service in the Capitol and said free speech is a right afforded to all, but how we use it matters. Iowa Republican State Representative John Dunnell, an ordained minister see, I didn't know this, this guy that I've been talking about this whole time an ordained minister unbelievable issued a defense of the display in which he contended that he finds the statue objectionable as a follower of Christ, but said he does not want the state evaluating and making determinations about religions which he believes would be prohibited by the First Amendment. Others nevertheless questioned whether the Constitution or the original intent of the founding fathers would allow for the existence of the shrine. Andrew Walker, an associate professor of Christian ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, noted in analysis that the Satanic temple does not maintain any sincerely held Satanic beliefs. He also asserted that the state should not promote any outright celebration of evil, darkness and perversity and that moral evil has no intrinsic rights within a Christian and historically Western legal framework Based. What an incredible argument that is.

Speaker 1: 10:40

Cassidy will be represented by Davis Yonks, an attorney and retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who served in the Jagd Corps. My client was motivated by his faith to peacefully protest a display that is a direct front to God. He told the Sentinel. When others, including elected leaders, were unwilling to act, he peacefully removed the display. It is my hope that the citation will be dismissed when my client's actions are understood and that he will not face prosecution because of his faith.

Speaker 1: 11:09

Cassidy cited 1 John 3.8 as an additional motivation for his destruction of the statue. Quote the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. He noted that scripture exhorts us to think and act like Jesus Christ. This is such an incredible story. It's so refreshing to finally see a Christian man take action and do something, not just sit around and whine and complain or not just point to the Constitution and sort of be a coward and not do anything about the situation. This took tremendous courage and he's being rewarded for that. Now he's being praised as a hero by millions of people online right now, who also many people support it the fundraiser, his legal defense and it was filled up really quickly. This is just an incredible situation. Here. There's a big debate about this.

Speaker 1: 12:17

From a biblical perspective, this event can be seen as an embodiment of standing firm in one's faith. Of course, there's this complex nature of responding to actions that contradict our Christian beliefs. The Bible provides several instances where God's followers chose to defy human authorities to uphold divine principles. In Exodus, the Hebrew midwives disobeyed Pharaoh's orders to kill Hebrew male babies, valuing God's command to preserve life over the king's edict. Daniel is another classic example. Daniel continued to pray to God despite King Darius' decree against prayer to anyone but the king, leading to his ordeal in the lion's den in Daniel 6. Another example is the apostles in the book of Acts proclaiming that we must obey God rather than human beings, when instructed not to teach in Jesus' name.

Speaker 1: 13:19

The Christian man's duty, this was a duty. We have a duty to do something about this situation and Mr Cassidy took on that duty, took on that responsibility. That's ultimately what it means to be a based Christian man, taking responsibility, taking action with intent. He didn't hurt anybody in doing this. Maybe he offended the Satanists to put it up, but he didn't hurt anybody. He didn't cause harm to anybody.

Speaker 1: 13:59

His act of removing this statue can be viewed through the lens of righteous action, where the need to confront and reject what is evil overrides societal laws or norms, and this echoes the biblical call to adhore what is evil and to cling what is good in Romans 12-9. While the Bible does provide a precedent for civil disobedience, it also teaches respect for authorities as they are established by God. This dual sort of directive presents a complex scenario for Christians. So when do we adhere to earthly laws and when do we follow a higher moral law? The tearing down of the statue represents, you know, michael Cassidy's interpretation of this balance prioritizing his faith over legal considerations. And again, that's very brave Right. As he said, you know, he wants to awaken Christians to the anti-Christian acts promoted by our government. And he saw this blasphemous statue and his conscious held was held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so he took action.

Speaker 1: 15:14

You know, it's important to consider the manner in which civil disobedience is carried out. The Bible encourages peaceful rather than, you know, violence or destructive means. And again, this wasn't violent. You could argue, potentially, that it was destructive, but it didn't cause anybody harm, while the actor that moving the statue is direct. Understanding the way it was done and why it was done it was done peacefully impacts how it aligns with biblical teaching.

Speaker 1: 15:45

So I think, because he did it peacefully, he did it out of his own conscience. Right, his conscience was held captive to the word of God. You know, you see his response and he explains why he did this, and I think this can be biblically justified. This is an act of civil disobedience no different than Christ turning over the tables in the temple. It's the same exact thing. And so this event, it's going to raise questions about how we engage in a pluralistic society.

Speaker 1: 16:15

You know, we're called to be salt and light in the world, but maybe this event of him doing this is going to wake some Christians up right, and when other Christians see somebody that has courage and isn't afraid to take action, it's going to resonate, and that's why I think we saw the amount of support that he had afterward, you know, both in terms of people talking about it online in a very positive way, and he puts up this fundraiser to cover some of his legal costs and, you know, within like two hours it was filled. It was crazy, and so I think that this is going to be encouraging to other people and I think we're going to start to see more stuff like this, because people are getting fed up. Christians are done being sort of, you know, footstools to society. We're done being the doormat to society. We're not going to sit around and have our God be mocked, you know, by society. You know this happened.

Speaker 1: 17:27

The interesting thing about this is this happened in a red state, you know, and the governor did absolutely nothing about it, and this, you know, the state representative, who is an ordained minister, did nothing about it. Because they're cowards, like what are they afraid of offending the Satanists? Really, it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. God bless Michael Cassidy. We need more based Christian men like him and we need more men to understand that we don't have to sit around and be the doormat of society. We can and will take peaceful action, but action nonetheless.

Speaker 1: 18:15

Again, he didn't harm anybody here. It's not like he was, you know, out swinging fists and punching people and whatever you know. He took the statue down, okay, and this was a peaceful thing. He didn't hurt anybody doing this, maybe here at the feelings of the Satanist, but good, so be it. We need to be, we need to be taking action. We can't just sit by and Continue, as he says, to be the frog and boiling water as the temperature gets hotter and hotter and hotter, because we've done that for far too long. And so the, the base Christian man I think is, is awakening here, and I love to see it and we need more of it. You know that comes in many different forms, right, it comes in the form of speaking the truth boldly, like many of us do. It comes in taking, you know, sort of direct action like this when no one else will. That's what it means to be a based, masculine, biblical Christian man. You know, I, the, the church, has become so emasculated over the past, you know, hundred years or so, and and I Think that.

Speaker 1: 19:30

The other interesting thing about this is that Michael Cassidy is not, you know, he's a layman, he's not, he's not a pastor or something like this. Right, you know, you see how the pastor, the ordained minister, reacted. My Constitution, oh no, that's my. My conscience is held captive by the Constitution. Right, really, minister, that's interesting. Your conscience is not held captive by the word of God. That's, we have an ordained minister and his conscience is held captive by the Constitution. Interesting, unbelievable stuff. There is a Post on this and someone said did anyone notice? The guy who smashed the idol was a lay guy who thinks about politics, and not some pastor. And I think that's that's really telling. And that was by Philip. Dare to shout out. I think that's very telling.

Speaker 1: 20:30

I think that you know the masculine men Unfortunately Not all, it's, not every single one but they're not. They're not in the pulpit, they're just not, and that's that's to the detriment of the church and that's a real shame and I think we need to change that. And yes, there are some many fantastic, great, masculine based Pastors behind the pulpit, but by and large, most of these guys behind the pulpit are very effeminate and that's not what we need right now. We're in wartime, spiritual warfare. We're at war for the soul of our, our nation here, and we need strong, masculine, based pastors, priests, etc. Behind the pulpit, and I think that's why you're seeing, you know, this strong based, masculine Christian men are going to, who are going to take action like this. They're gonna be just laymen and we need to support them because, you know, those are the type of guys who are our leaders and who have courage and who have a backbone. Like those are the guys who should be behind the pulpit. Those are the guys we should be putting behind the pulpit.

Speaker 1: 22:03

You know, don't even get me started about the women in the pulpit who don't belong there. The many churches have that problem as well, which is totally unbiblical. But we need to be supporting these guys, and I think men are starting to wake up, and so you know that's a big problem for the church now is, too, is how do we get more men into the church? Or men to stick around in the church, you know, as they grow up, and the reason they don't want to be there is because no man wants to be led by an effeminate man. It's just that simple. Or a woman, you know, you think of it, you know, like in military terms, right, you're a guy in the infantry. Do you want to be answering to an effeminate man or to a woman which, by the way, is happening in our military right now, but that's a story for another day. No, you don't.

Speaker 1: 23:03

You know, you want to be led by a strong, tough, masculine leader, someone who's not a coward, Someone who's not afraid to get his hands dirty and to take action, decisive action in the face of evil. And so that's why, you know, the church has a lot of the problems that it has. It's a leadership problem, and you know, it's this demonization of masculinity and this just, you know, demonization of anybody that does things like this. That's not Christian. We're not supposed to act like that. Really, was it on Christian when Christ did it? You know, I don't think so, and we're supposed to be more like Christ, right. And so you better start flipping some tables over and wake up.

Speaker 1: 24:05

Right Now, no one's calling for violence, no one's calling to break the law or anything like this, but you know, there comes a time for civil disobedience, peaceful civil disobedience. We saw it during COVID. We saw many brave Christians, you know, stand up during COVID and refuse to comply with lockdowns, refuse to comply with the masking stuff and, you know, helping people with religious exemptions for the VACs. You know, we saw sort of the start of this the masculine man start to wake up, right, and I think this situation with Michael Cassidy is another sort of moment that we're going to point back to and say remember that, because people are going to remember this. There are men that are seeing this and they're going to remember it and they're going to be inspired by it Again. It's a very brave thing that he did, and we need to have more of this stuff going on. This was a win, right? This was a big win, and so that's all I have for you today. Thank you, guys, for tuning in. Remember to speak freely. Christ is King.