The culture-war outrage machine went into overdrive Sunday after Sam Smith and Kim Petras took the Grammys stage. Performing “Unholy,” the first US #1 hit by non-binary and transgender artists, the pair played up the song’s devilish camp to extremes. Smith donned a red hat with cartoonish horns and was circled by demonic dancers. Petras performed in a cage with more demon types climbing on it. Senator Ted Cruz, for instance, tweeted video of the performance captioned, “This…is…evil.” Lots of other satanic panic has ensued, spurred on by the likes of right-wing Congresswomen Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene plus various media personalities.
Now the Church of Satan has weighed in. Speaking to TMZ, magister David Harris called the performance “alright” and “nothing particularly special.” He referred to the outraged politicians and pundits as “snowflakes” and remarked, “It’s sad when politicians on a national stage use someone’s religion as a punchline.” According to Harris, Lil Nas X’s “Montero” video — in which he descends into hell, murders Satan, and takes the dark lord’s crown for himself — was much more in line with Satanists’ anti-religion, humanist stance.