One sign of growing fascism in America is that people are being arrested for “unlawful assembly”. Those of you who didn’t sleep through civics class in high school will remember that the Bill of Rights specifically guarantees freedom of assembly to all people in the United States.

In Kansas, however, freedom of assembly is being treated as a privilege, not a constitutional freedom. In Kansas, freedom of assembly is only being granted to Christians. Non-Christians are being told that they need to stay out of the public square, and cede that space exclusively to Christians.

Here’s how it went down. At the end of last week, three non-Christians tried to hold a religious ritual in the state capitol building of Kansas.

You may be thinking to yourself that this doesn't sound proper, and you'd be right. State government buildings do not exist for the purpose of hosting religious rituals. It's better for everybody for religion and the government to remain separate. In fact, the Constitution of the United States declares that government cannot act to establish religion.

The thing is that in Kansas, the state government sponsors Christian religious rituals every day. On some days, there are many different Christian religious ceremonies in the Kansas Statehouse.

Non-Christian citizens and organizations in Kansas, however, have not been given the same access. Government religious rituals in Kansas have been granted to Christians only.

Earlier this year, a group of non-Christians from Kansas requested to be given the ability to hold a religious ritual in the Kansas state capitol, just as Christians do every day. Their request was refused.

So, in protest, the group of non-Christians announced that they would hold their religious ritual in the Kansas Statehouse anyway, as a protest. In response, Governor Laura Kelly, a member of the Democratic Party, issued an order forbidding protests in the Kansas Statehouse.. but only for the precise day when the non-Christians had said they would hold their ritual in protest.

Both houses of the Kansas state legislature also passed resolutions condemning non-Christians in Kansas for trying to hold a ritual as Christians do, and for defying the religious laws of Christianity.

Then, when the non-Christians showed up anyway and attempted to hold their religious ceremony, they were arrested and thrown into jail for “unlawful assembly”.

I wonder, will your opinion of this story change if I tell you the name of the non-Christian group?

Their name is The Satanic Grotto.

You may be thinking that Satanists are bad. How do you know if that’s true, though? Who tells you that Satanists are bad? Christian preachers do, of course. Christian preachers don’t tolerate people who disagree with their sermonizing, after all.

The Satanic Grotto doesn't preach violence. In fact, they operate under these principles:

Self-preservation is the priority of the law. Your rights end where another's begin.

Responsibility is the weight of the law. Own your actions.

Respect is the spirit of the law. Treat others how they treat you.

Consent is the measure of the law. Ask permission. Don't take what isn't yours.

Now, contrast that with the Christian Bible. The character of Satan? Barely mentioned. But the character of God? Well, in Job, it's God who makes a deal to test a man's suffering. And in Revelation, it's God who is prophesied to bring destruction upon the world.

So why are Christian Nationalists so enraged by Satanists?

Because The Satanic Grotto represents something they despise.

They are feminists. They support LGBTQ+ rights. They oppose racism.

And Christian Nationalists? Well, they have a history of opposing women's rights, seeking to criminalize LGBTQ+ Americans, and defending systemic racism.

But this isn't just about ideology. It's about rights.

The Kansas government is not just promoting Christianity—it's enforcing it. A theocracy in practice.

In Kansas, if you're not Christian, you can be arrested simply for asking for the same rights Christians enjoy every day.

And that's the problem. Not whether Satanists are right or wrong. Not a theological debate.

This is about whether religious freedom applies to everyone. Or just one group.

Christians in Kansas claim The Satanic Grotto is committing blasphemy.

And you know what? Maybe they are.

But in a truly free country, blasphemy is not a crime.

In Kansas? It is.

This is what Christian Nationalism looks like. This is how freedom dies.

Christian Nationalism is the handmaiden of fascism in America today.

"Handmaiden" is the Christian Bible's term for a sex slave.

The more we look at the role of Christian Nationalism in government in the USA, the more it sinister it seems.