UPDATED: How to stop the OKC “Black Mass”–for now

[Updated 7/2/14, 9:04 a.m., with sample tweets, EEOC response, & request for suggestions for further action.]

As the taxpayer-funded Oklahoma City Civic Center prepares to host the latest public “Black Mass,” it is worth remembering what caused the cancellation of the Black Mass that was to be hosted at Harvard University in May.

Certainly the public outcry and prayers of reparation had something to do with the Harvard cancellation. But I believe another important reason why that “Black Mass” was called off was that a number of concerned citizens pointed out that the event’s promoter, Satanic Temple impresario “Lucien Greaves”(real name: Doug Misicko), had a long history of ridiculing victims of sex abuse.

These concerned citizens, through tweets, phone calls, and e-mails, reported to the U.S. Department of Education what was, for Harvard, an uncomfortable fact: If the university gave a platform to Greaves, it would create what is legally called a “hostile environment” for sex-abuse victims, which could cause it to lose federal funds. As I pointed out in a blog post urging readers to take action against the Harvard “Black Mass,” Harvard’s federal funding was particularly vulnerable because the feds were already investigating whether the school had created a hostile environment by mishandling sex-assault cases.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, immediately after concerned citizens sent their “hostile environment” complaints to the U.S. Department of Education and copied Harvard, Harvard’s president issued a statement distancing herself from the “Black Mass” completely, and the event itself was called off.

Now comes the Oklahoma City Civic Center “Black Mass,” the sponsor of which, as Jeff Quinton points out, is registered sex offender Adam B. Daniels.

I wrote about Daniels previously when expressing concern over Harvard “Black Mass” promoter Greaves:

I am not encouraged by the fact that Greaves is close with registered sex offender Adam B. Daniels, who, along with his wife, run a Satanic worship center in Oklahoma. …

Look up “Adam B. Daniels” in the national sex offender registry and you will see that he was convicted of sexual battery in 2009. The rap sheet notes that he has satanic tattoos all over his body. The court ruled that he had to remain on the registry for life.

In what appears to be some sort of sick joke, the website of Daniels’ Satanic “church” features a “rape awareness” page decorated with images of flowers.

If we take what happened at Harvard as a template, it seems that institutions,  even when they do not care about offending Catholics, do at least care about offending the federal government.

So, if you would like to see the Oklahoma City Civic Center pull back the welcome mat for the Black Mass, here is something you can do: Contact the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as the EEOC’s Oklahoma City branch, and complain that the Oklahoma City Civic Center is creating a hostile work environment by giving a platform to a sex offender. If you are on Twitter, you can do this easily by tweeting @EEOCNews—make sure you use the words “hostile environment” (“env’ment” for short)—and copying local officials in your tweet. You might also want to include a link to Quinton’s blog post for context.

Among the local officials who should be on the receiving end of your (polite) tweets are Oklahoma City Civic Center Board of Directors member City Councilwoman Meg Salyer of Ward 6, @MegForWard6, and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, @mickcornett. See Quinton’s blog for other contact details for local officials.

Here are some sample tweets, though I recommend composing your own [see update below for EEOC response and more]:

.@EEOCNews Okla. City creates hostile environment for women by giving sex offender platform http://t.co/tksmDKYlhd @megforward6 @mickcornett

— Dawn Eden (@mypeacebook) July 2, 2014

.@EEOCNews As a sex-abuse victim, I'm appalled @okcciviccenter is welcoming a sex offender. http://t.co/tksmDKYlhd @MegForWard6 @mickcornett

— Dawn Eden (@mypeacebook) July 2, 2014

If you choose to contact the EEOC by e-mail, make sure to copy local officials on your complaint. Here too, Quinton has their contact details.

I realize that expressing outrage by making “hostile environment” complaints does not really address the main issue. Although, as a victim of sex abuse, I am disgusted to see the Oklahoma City Civic Center welcome Daniels, the real “hostile environment” is the one the “Black Mass” creates for Catholics and all people of good will. What’s more, at some point, “Black Mass” organizers may manage to find figureheads who lack a history of violence or harassment, and so they will no longer be vulnerable to such complaints. For now, however, I believe that Catholics, as patriotic, tax-paying Americans, should take advantage of the laws that we have helped pass. We should use them to call out institutions that give a platform to people whose hostility extends both to women and to the God who created women.

UPDATE: The EEOC responded to one of my tweets:

@mypeacebook That's unfortunate, but #EEOC gets involved if there is #discrimination at work. If so, contact us: http://t.co/HuF0P19mpA

— EEOC.gov (@EEOCNews) July 2, 2014

I still think it does not hurt for others to alert them to the “hostile env’ment” issue and copy local officials as I’ve suggested. You can help get the word out to Oklahoma City Civic Center employes by including @okcciviccenter in your tweet as I did in the one embedded above.

In addition, you can (politely) tweet directly to local officials, as I have:

.@MegForWard6 @mickcornett Hosting sex-offender's Black Mass, you create hostile environment for women http://t.co/tksmDKYlhd @ArchbishopOKC

— Dawn Eden (@mypeacebook) July 2, 2014

There may be other ways to alert the federal government to your concern about the issue. It is never a good thing when a government-funded civic center hosts a public performance led by a registered sex offender—especially when the performance itself demeans women. After all, what goes on at a “Black Mass”? Susan Brinkmann writes at the Women of Grace Blog (emphasis mine):

According to this article written for L’Osservatore Romano by Giuseppe Ferrari, National Secretary of the Organization for Research and Information on Sects, the black mass is considered to be the principal rite of every satanic group. The rite is usually officiated by a celebrant, a deacon and a subdeacon. The instruments used include candles, an inverted pentacle, a chalice full of wine or liquor, a bell, a sword, an aspergillum (used to sprinkle water), an inverted crucifix and an authentically consecrated Host. The altar is often the body of a nude woman.

Please tweet me @mypeacebook if you have suggestions of other officials or government departments to whom concerns could be directed, or see my home page for my e-mail address.

RELATED: Read Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley’s statement on the planned “Black Mass.”