A city council meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma this week went off the rails after an outgoing city councilor invited a pagan priestess to deliver a prayer at a meeting.
Public Radio Tulsa reports that outgoing councilor Crista Patrick stirred controversy when she brought pagan priestess Amy McAdams to deliver an opening invocation at the meeting that included nods to "the Gorgonea, champions of equality and sacred rage" and "Medusa, monstrous hero of the oppressed and abused."
In an interview with Public Radio Tulsa, Patrick said that she "wanted to share one little part of myself before I left office" and emphasized that the Greek goddess Medusa is traditionally known as "a fighter of injustice, especially for women."
However, her decision to invite McAdams drew swift condemnation not only from angry locals who accused her of being "demonic, or Satanist, or inviting evil into our city and our household," but also from Oklahoma's Republican governor and state superintendent.
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"Satan is trying to establish a foothold, but Oklahoma is going to be a shining city on the hill," declared Gov. Kevin Stitt. "Tulsa City Council needs to stand strong against actions like this, and Tulsans need to remember who allowed this at the ballot box."
Superintendent Ryan Walters, meanwhile, as even more explicit in his condemnation.
"Satanic prayers are welcome in hell but not in Oklahoma," he said.
Patrick, however, seemed more interested in embracing the Christian concept of turning the other cheek in response to her critics.
"I hope that (Stitt) can find a place in his heart to focus on his own spirituality and not focus on those that he is not informed about,” she told Public Radio Tulsa.
