In a jaw-dropping act of anti-Christian provocation, a self-described Satanist wearing devil horns stood before the Clark County Commission in Las Vegas and delivered the official opening invocation — ending with a loud “Hail Satan!”
Democrat Clark County Chair Michael Naft personally introduced Aron Ra, a Satanic Temple member, who then launched into a tirade attacking Christianity as “ignorant savagery” created by fearful, unenlightened minds. He urged the commission to reject “outdated authoritarian religious doctrine” before closing with: “Hail Satan! The archetype of the bringer of knowledge, and hail thyself.”
The spectacle reached peak irony moments later when Chair Naft led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance — including the phrase “one Nation under God” — immediately after the Satanic declaration.
Not Just a “Troll” — A Pattern of Anti-Christian Activism
The official Church of Satan X account quickly distanced itself, posting that Ra “is not a Satanic Priest, it’s a political activist trolling you.”
Yet Ra’s own history reveals far more than simple trolling.
In a 2022 interview with Christian conservative host Jesse Lee Peterson, Ra openly admitted: “I am a satanist in the sense that I paid $25 for a membership to the Satanic Temple. Technically, that makes me a satanist.”
When pressed on identifying as a Satanist while claiming to be an atheist who doesn’t believe in a literal Satan, Ra directed listeners to the Church of Satan’s website, founded by Anton LaVey in 1966, which also rejects belief in an actual devil.
This raises uncomfortable questions: Why invoke the name and imagery of Satan if the entire enterprise is supposedly secular and non-theistic? As many believers have long noted, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world that he does not exist.”
Both the Satanic Temple and Church of Satan prominently feature the Devil in their branding while denying his reality — a contradiction that smells of deliberate cultural subversion.
Ra’s track record shows consistent targeting of America’s Christian heritage. In 2022, he spoke at the Satanic Temple’s “SatanCon” in Scottsdale, Arizona. That same year, he delivered a similar invocation at the Idaho State Capitol on the National Day of Prayer — a clear provocation against the nation’s Christian roots.
Reports from events tied to the group describe members in priest-like garb holding “Satanic Bibles” and performing rituals such as anointing individuals with ash while invoking Lucifer and denouncing the “false messiah.”
Ra has also interviewed Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves, further embedding himself in these networks.
