Satanic inmate sues Reno jail for religious meals

[rug]

This June 11, 2013 image provided by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office shows Alex. C. Snelson, a Nevada inmate who says he practices Satanism and has accused county jailers of violating his constitutional rights by denying him meals consistent with the strict diet of his pagan religion, including ice cream. He was transferred in April to the Nevada State Prison where he is serving 2 to 5 years for possession of a stolen vehicle. (AP Photo/Washoe County Sheriff’s Office)

14 hours ago • By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press

RENO (AP) — A Nevada inmate who says he practices Satanism is accusing county jailers of violating his constitutional rights by denying him meals consistent with the strict diet of his pagan religion, including ice cream.

Alex C. Snelson, 33, is serving two to six years in state prison for possession of a stolen car after spending time in the Washoe County Jail in Reno for possession of methamphetamine and brass knuckles.

He argues in a federal lawsuit that he was denied the right to freely exercise his religion last year when he was forced to either starve or break from a strict dietary regime that allows only “whole foods” but no biproducts or processing additives.

Snelson claims deputies also retaliated against him by refusing him ice cream because they said it would violate his religion. He said in an amended, hand-written complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Reno on Wednesday that the ice cream is a “whole food” and he is entitled to it as well as his fellow non-pagan inmates.

http://elkodaily.com/news/satanic-inmate-sues-reno-jail-for-religious-meals/article_4238211a-d7c9-11e3-8032-0019bb2963f4.html

[Prophet 451]

2. I actually AM a Satanist

None of the main denominations of Satanism has any special dietary requirements.

[darkangel218]

3. Is that so

What kind, laveyan or theistic?

[Prophet 451]

11. I'm theistic

In brief, Lucifer is the justified rebel against a tyrannical god.

[darkangel218]

13. Cool, thanks for the reply.

So you're basically a Traditional Satanist.

Have you studied the Sumerian mythology at all?

[Prophet 451]

14. Personally, no

Can you recommend a good intro text?

[darkangel218]

15. I dont have any links, but they basically go back a lot further

Than the xtian creation.

There are plenty of info online if you look.

[rug]

4. You're right.

A leader of an international Satanic organization questioned Snelson’s claims.

The Church of Satan, founded in San Francisco in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey, allows its members “to choose whatever diet is pleasing to them,” said Magus Peter H. Gilmore, a high priest at the church.

The church website says it is the “original Church of Satan” dedicated to the “acceptance of man’s nature as an animal living in a cosmos that is indifferent to his existence.” It adds that Satanism is “not Devil worship. There is no belief in God, Satan, the soul, the supernatural or in any form of afterlife.”

[Prophet 451]

12. True of LaVeyans

I'm Luciferian which does worship the devil but still isn't concerned with promoting evil (I doubt that kind of Satanist even exists).

[rug]

17. I thought Luciferians were not Satanists.

[Prophet 451]

18. Well, that's confusing

Luciferian<period> don't consider themselves to be Satanists. I'm a Luciferian Satanist which, obviously, means I consider myself a Satanist.

[rug]

19. Yeah, it strikes me that it's often an individualized belief system.

The Bearer of Light. In any event, Lucifer is an very intriguing character and is owed more than a caricature.

[Prophet 451]

24. In some ways, it has to be

Luciferian Satanism is very much an experiential faith where it's more important to seek out truth than espouse any particular set of beliefs.

[darkangel218]

16. Ghost BC - Year Zero

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[backscatter712]

20. Aren't some of the Satanists out there actually atheists?

They do it for the same reason they pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster - to mock and troll religion.

I think the guys making the Baphomet statue that will be going up in Oklahoma City next to the Ten Commandments display are among them.

After all, if you're going to allow one religous group to make displays in government buildings, you have to give space to the other religions. The Satanists demand equal representation!

[cbayer]

21. The guys behind the Baphomet statue have been clearly exposed as perpetrating

a hoax in that and other areas. They are having some kind of black mass (it might have been today), but they are total shysters. Well, at least the leader is.

I don't know much about Satanists, but this member has seemed genuine to me in his posting.

[Prophet 451]

23. Thank you

I don't know anything about the group putting up the statue expect that I support their aims (drawing attention to teh hypocrisy of teh ten commandments display).

[cbayer]

25. Before supporting them too much, you may want to look up some info on them.

While I defend the principle behind having other religions or non-religions represented in this case, it looks like they are using satanism to mock.

And that doesn't really benefit anyone.

Here are some links about this:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/feastofeden/2014/05/harvard-can-do-better-than-give-a-platform-to-a-black-mass-promoter-who-ridicules-sex-abuse-victims/

Here are some others provide by rug in another thread

Lucien Greaves is Doug Mesner who is, or was, a member of the Secular Student Alliance at Harvard.

http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-mesner-and-the-lucien-greaves-satanic-temple-connection/

http://www.vice.com/read/unmasking-lucien-greaves-aka-doug-mesner-leader-of-the-satanic-temple

http://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/DouglasMesner

https://twitter.com/douglas_mesner

http://www.examiner.com/underground-in-boston/douglas-mesner

[Humanist_Activist]

28. Speaking of supporting someone too much, check your sources, check this out...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/06/1214283/-The-Censored-Name-is-Neil-Brick-how-Examiner-com-fails-its-writers-and-readers

Don't fight one so called fraud with another.

ON EDIT: Nevermind, you seem to like perpetuating the bullshit SRA hysteria of the 1980s, and actually think recovered memories are a thing, never mind the lack of scientific evidence that backs their corroboration.

[cbayer]

29. Excuse me? Why so out of the gate hostile?

At not point did I voice support for the recovered memories thing and actually have some very strong opinions about it based on both my training and experience. If you are interested, I would be glad to share them with you.

Or, you could just make unjustified assumptions about my opinion and accuse me of perpetuating bullshit SRA hysteria.

What I objected to was the way this particular person approached it and the attitude he appeared to have towards survivors in general.

I appreciate the linked article. I had not read that part of the story nor had I found it, even though I had looked.

The accusations made towards him in this particular area may be distorted and overblown.

[Humanist_Activist]

31. Mostly due to the over the top nature of your attacks on this guy...

sure he's an asshole, so fucking what? He's being provocative on purpose, again, so fucking what? You call him everything short of a criminal, while giving people who are far worse, but who are religious, a pass.

[cbayer]

32. You are defending him and that's your excuse for being hostile towards me.

Really?

Who is that that is far worse that I give a pass?

[Prophet 451]

22. Some are, yes

The largest denomination of Satanists (and one of the few with any kind of organization) are LaVeyan Satanists, named after their founder, Anton LaVey. They're atheistic, seeing Satan as a metaphor for human instinctual drives and their philosophy amounts to Objectivism with neo-mystical bolts on.

[cbayer]

5. This is what happens when one has too much time on their hands.

Ice cream? Really?

[Historic NY]

6. Must be to cool the burn.

[cbayer]

7. Good one! It would be my first choice if I were faced with Satan.

[jmowreader]

8. The ice cream is part of a retaliation claim

From what I gather, when the guy started claiming religious discrimination because he wasn't getting unprocessed foods, the guards decided ice cream was a "processed" food (which it is - I haven't met the cow yet who could do it) and told him he couldn't have any.

[cbayer]

9. Lol, well that explains it.

Guy sounds like a total jerk.

[jmowreader]

10. One that's going to try to make life as hard as possible for his jailers

I read the Nevada State Prison's religious practices handbook. I realize this guy is in county and not state, but they probably go by the same guidelines. Their respect for religious observance seems to require that it be an actual religion and that more than one person is following your belief structure.

To be serious, I thought the guy was demanding to be served a glass of human blood every Friday at midnight.

[lumpy]

27. I would suspect that when one is incarcerated for committing a crime he would lose some

of his rights, just as the right to freely walk the streets. TS.

[nil desperandum]

30. Diet

Maybe if he wants to eat the foods he desires he should stop stealing the property of honest people.

Choose a path that is filled with crime, and you don't always get the desired diet or free time you might have had if you were a useful, contributing member of society. Why do I care whether or not he gets his special diet? He didn't care about the property he stole or the people he took it from. Another useless piece of garbage wasting time and resources.