MONOLOGUE WRITTEN BY CLYDE LEWIS
My producer, Ron Patton and I often talk about show ideas and recently we half-jokingly wondered if there was a way we could somehow make a show about this whole hysteria surrounding Lil Nas X and his so-called Satanundefineds shoes.
Lil Nas X is a rapper who has been seen in commercials and has been known for doing country rap fusion music but now he has taken a Nike Air Max 97 athletic shoe and converted it into a shoe that is red and black with pentagrams on the laces. The shoeundefineds red dye used in coloring the air unit of the shoe was allegedly made with human blood.
The shoe also has 666 painted on the side and Luke 10:18 inscribed near the toe. the scripture for those who donundefinedt know refers to the Lord saying undefinedI saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.undefined
The shoes cost $1,018 a pair.
Oh and did I say that he only has issued 666 pairs of these shoes?
As you can expect, the Internet had an absolute field day. Twitter and TikTok went berserk, with conspiracy theorists, memes, and Lil Nas X continuing to be a master troll.
Nike was not pleased.
A federal judge sided with Nike in ordering a Brooklyn company to temporarily stop further sales of “Satan Shoes” it produced in collaboration with Lil Nas X.
The company who made the knock off Nikeundefineds, MSCHF’s claims its lawyers had argued that Satan Shoes were “not typical sneakers, but rather individually-numbered works of art,” following on the company’s “Jesus Shoes” based on the same Nike model in 2019.
They said a temporary restraining order was unnecessary because shoe buyers would not think Nike was involved, and all but the 666th pair had already been sold and no more were being made.
Nike’s lawyers, in contrast, said “even ‘sneakerheads’ were actually confused by
MSCHF’s shoes,” and MSCHF had a “history” of shipping infringing shoes faster than courts could stop it.
For some this story is not anything new- I mean its shelf life is waning undefined but the impact of what it means to Christian America is just one of many stories that indicate that there is a organic secular movement afoot in America these days.
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times and Yahoo News is headlined, undefinedWhy Americaundefineds Record Godlessness is Good News for the Nation.undefined
In part it reads, undefinedThe secularization of U.S. society-the waning of religious faith, practice and affiliation-is continuing at a dramatic and historically unprecedented pace. While many may consider such a development as a cause for concern, such a worry is not warranted. This increasing godlessness in America is actually a good thing, to be welcomed and embraced.undefined
Furthermore it goes on to say that Democratic societies that have experienced the greatest degrees of secularization are among the healthiest, wealthiest and safest in the world, enjoying relatively low rates of violent crime and high degrees of well-being and happiness. Clearly, a rapid loss of religion does not result in societal ruin.
For the first time since Gallup began tracking the numbers in 1937, Americans who are members of a church, synagogue or mosque are not in the majority, according to a Gallup report released this week. Compare today’s 47% to 1945, when more than 75% of Americans belonged to a religious congregation.
This decline in religious affiliation aligns closely with many similar secularizing trends. For example, in the early 1970s, only one in 20 Americans claimed “none” as their religion, but today it is closer to one in three. Over this same time period, weekly church attendance has decreased, and the percentage of Americans who never attend religious services has increased from 9% to 30%.
In 1976, nearly 40% of Americans said they believed that the Bible was the actual word of God, to be taken literally. Today only about a quarter of Americans believe that, with slightly more decreeing the Bible is simply a collection of fables, history and morality tales written by men. And the percentage of Americans who confidently believe in God’s existence, without a doubt, has declined from 63% in 1990 to 53% today.
Fears that this rise of irreligion might result in the deterioration of our nation’s moral fiber — and threaten our liberties and freedoms — are understandable. Such concerns are not without historical merit: The former Soviet Union was a communist country deeply rooted in atheism and was one of the most corrupt, bloody regimes of the 20th century.
Other atheistic authoritarian regimes, such as the former Albania and Cambodia, were equally crooked and vicious.
But here’s the thing — they were all godless dictatorships that tried to forcibly destroy religion by persecuting the faithful, actively oppressing religious institutions, and making a demagogic cult out of their thuggish rulers. Such coercive secularization is, indeed, something to dread.
Another major factor is the ubiquity of the internet, which provides open windows to alternative worldviews and different cultures that can corrode religious conviction and allows budding skeptics and nascent freethinkers to find, support and encourage one another.
In the United States, these factors are further compounded by strong backlashes against the Religious Right, never before in contemporary history have we seen such an organized effort by the media and elsewhere to encourage organic secularization of the country.
There is also an upsurge in active Satanism in the country as well. This Satanism is not connected to the Satanic Panic of the 60undefineds 70undefineds and 80undefineds even though there have been resurrected elements of it brought to us by none other than the followers of QAnon.
A number of factors contributed to the increased interest in, and fear of, the occult during the late 1960s and 1970s. The Manson cult’s operation in the late ’60s culminated in a string of murders in the summer of 1969 that shocked the nation and put organized ritualistic killing on the brain.
That same year, organist-turned-occultist Anton LaVey published his philosophical treatise The Satanic Bible, which plagiarized several sources and mostly regurgitated earlier philosophies of self-actualization and self-empowerment from writers like H.L. Mencken and Ayn Rand. Nevertheless, it became the seminal work of modern satanism and the key text for the Church of Satan, a group LaVey had officially founded in 1966.
Accompanying the rise of satanism as a recognized practice was the 1971 publication of William Peter Blatty’s bestselling novel The Exorcist and its blockbuster 1973 film adaptation. With its claims of being based on a true story, The Exorcist profoundly impacted America’s collective psyche regarding the existence of demons, and single-handedly transformed the popular Ouija board from a fun, harmless parlor game into a malevolent device capable of inducing spirit possession, demonic infestation, or other paranormal activity.
Then came the 1972 publication of Satan Seller. A fabricated memoir, ultimately discredited after 20 years, by self-proclaimed Christian evangelist Mike Warnke, Satan Seller recounted a childhood and young adulthood that Warnke claimed were spent in intense satanic worship. Warnke wrote that he served as a satanic high priest and was engaged in, among other things, ritualistic sex orgies.
The publication of LaVey’s Satanic Rituals, also in 1972, reinforced the idea that dark occult rituals had become a routine part of life for many Americans. And though it had no connections to satanism or traditional occult religion, the 1978 Jonestown massacre would give the world another indelible example of what violence in a cult looked like.
Ritualism towards unfamiliar Gods have also been part of the news cycle lately.
The California Department of Education has proposed an ethnic studies undefinedmodel curriculumundefined that includes, among other things, chanting the names of Aztec gods in an attempt to build unity among schoolchildren.
Included in the draft curriculum is a list of undefinedlesson resourcesundefined with a chant based on undefinedIn Lak Ech,undefined which it describes as undefinedlove, unity, mutual respect,undefined and undefinedPanche Be,undefined which it describes as undefinedseeking the roots of truth.undefined
The chant starts with a declaration that undefinedyou are my other meundefined and undefinedif I do harm to you, I do harm to myself.undefined Before chanting the name of the Aztec god, Tezkatlipoka, the text reads: undefinedSeeking the roots of the truth, seeking the truth of the roots, elders and us youth, (youth), critical thinking through.undefined
It adds: undefinedTezkatlipoka, Tezkatlipoka, x2 smoking mirror, self-reflection Tezkatlipoka.undefined
Tezkatlipoka is the name of an Aztec god that was honored with human sacrifice. According to the World History Encyclopedia, an impersonator of Tezkatlipoka would be sacrificed with his heart removed to honor the deity.
In Aztec mythology, Tezkatlipoka is the brother of Quetzalcoatl, Huizilopochtli and Xipe Totec undefined all of whom appear to be invoked in the proposed chant.
A portion read, undefinedpulsating creation huitzilopochtli cause like sunlight, the light inside of us, in will to action’s what bringsundefined Xipe Totek, Xipe Totek, x2 transformation, liberation, education, emancipation. imagination revitalization, liberation, transformation, decolonization, liberation, education, emancipation, changin’ our situation in this human transformation.undefined
A linked video showed what appeared to be students engaging in a unity chant with some of the language described.
Another chant used the term undefinedHunab Ku,undefined or undefinedOne-God,undefined which Encyclopedia Britannica identified as a Mayan deity.
That portion of the chant read: undefinedwe’re here to transform the world we’re spiraling, rotating & revolving in, giving thanks daily, tlazokamati, giving thanks daily, tlazokamati, healing & transforming as we’re evolving in this universe, universe, of Hunab Ku, Hunab Ku, x2 Nahui OlIin Lak Ech - Panche Beh, Ethnic Studies For All, Represent!!undefined
Reported by Discovery Institute researcher, Chris Rufo, the curriculum was just one of many diversity programs to gain attention in recent months. Much of its language and content bears resemblance to other programs that have been associated with critical race theory undefined a controversial way of analyzing identity that has been the subject of intense debate.
The California curriculumundefineds introduction argued that the program would help marginalized groups.
While some have praised these types of programs as a way to enhance racial understanding, others have been more critical.
Williamson Evers, an Independent Institute senior fellow and former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, told Fox News that Californiaundefineds curriculum furthered a undefinedneo-racist ideology.undefined
He told the network that undefinedTheyundefinedre denying that the principles of Americaundefineds founding undefined all men are created equal, theyundefinedre endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights and so forth undefined that these principles can, through time, bring about human rights for all.undefined
According to the Washington Times:
California’s proposed ‘ethnic studies’ curriculum calls for the ‘decolonization’ of American society and has students chant to the Aztec god of human sacrifice. The solution, according to one author, is a ‘counter-genocide’ against white Christians.”
The chant goes something like this:
Tezkatlipoka, Tezkatlipoka, x2
smoking mirror, self-reflection
We must vigorously search within ourselves be reflective, introspective by silencing distractions and extensive comprehensive obstacles in our lives, (in our lives),
in order to be warriors of love, of love,
for our gente representin’ justice, (justice)
local to global global to local eco-logical, & social, (social), justice (justice).
Huitzilopochtli, huitzilopochtli, x2
hummingbird to the left, yollotl,
corazon, heart, ganas, the will to action as we grow in,
consciousness must be willing to be proactive,
not just thinkin’ and talkin’ but makin’ things happen,
with agency, resiliency, & a revolutionary spirit
that’s positive, progressive, creative, native,
Passion everlasting work hard in action,
tap in, to the spark of our universal heart,
pulsating creation huitzilopochtli cause like sunlight, the light inside of us, in will to action’s
what brings,,
Seems harmless enough, however, childrenundefineds exposure to such things may not be in their own interest.
Arizona’s Tucson school districts faced criticism from conservatives for their ethnic studies program back in 2010, which also used this chant. Public officials accused the districts of illegally promoting ideas of ethnic solidarity and overthrowing the U.S. government. Under pressure from the government, Tucson’s school board shut down the courses in 2011, even though a state audit that year found that students who took the prohibited courses performed better in statewide tests and graduated at higher rates. An Arizona law also banned the ethnic studies courses, a move that was found to be discriminatory in 2017 by a federal judge.
Without naming gods without vowels we have used artifacts like Crystal Skulls and what we call undefinedWhite Circle Technologyundefined to summon ancient spirits undefined this has been very interesting as technology allows us to use ITC or Instrumental Trans Communication with spirits through electronic devices.
However, things like this should not be part of any school curriculum.
Religious and occult ritualism has no place in the public school system as these basic tenets of spirituality should be practiced in the home and in places of worship.
I say this because choices can be made by families who wish to teach their children about heritage and religious practices undefined the truth is that if you keep pushing God or even gods without vowels in the public schools you will have more to fear than Aztec and Mayan symbols, you will see the encroachment of Luciferian ideals in the schools that arguably are creating an organic secularism among the youth of the world.
Luciferian ideologies are based in the idea of asymmetry. With an imbalance comes balance and with chaos comes order. It is necessary to keep this constant disruption in order to give the illusion of a continuous “war.” Christians hungry for dominion have bought into the Luciferian ideal.
Luciferianism is not Satanism but a philosophy that can be had within Christianity and other religions. The idea that Lucifer rules the world is a cornerstone in many Gnostic beliefs. Many of these doctrines and beliefs are secretly held by those in Government and religion.
In a time of deep social upheaval, it’s all too easy to see those mechanisms falling into place once more, ready to bend toward the next unresistant, easily ostracized stranger, eager to label them “dangerous.”
In other words: Today, it’s a media-fueled scare over the latest demonic influence, be it crazed clowns, nefarious politicians, or an entertainer peddling “Satan shoes.”
