INGLIS -- Polly Bowser, a 36-year-old waitress and mother of three, said she has felt like a pariah ever since she took exception to Mayor Carolyn Risher's proclamation banning Satan from town.
Over the past two months, the women have traded arguments in newspapers and on radio and television, with Bowser saying the declaration was a violation of the separation of church and state and Risher defending her right of expression, even if that means invoking the name of Jesus Christ.
Phillip Thompson defends Inglis Mayor Carolyn Risher on Monday at a Town Commission meeting about the mayor’s proclamation banning Satan from Inglis.
On Monday, the debate went to the Town Commission, which swiftly declared the proclamation the work of an individual, not a town official, because it was never authorized, despite being on town stationery.
That appears to be enough to inoculate the town against a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, which took interest in the issue on Bowser's behalf.
"This takes care of it nicely," said Gary Edinger, an attorney with the ACLU chapter in Gainesville.
But it was clear few townspeople disagree with Risher, who is 61 and a lifelong resident of the Levy County community 90 miles north of St. Petersburg.
Nearly 100 supporters packed Town Hall -- those without seats sat on stacks of 2 by 4s -- to decry what they view as discrimination against Christians.
"The ACLU makes me sick," Glenda Townsend, a 50-year-old retiree, shouted into a microphone. "Evil will abound when good men do nothing. It's time to stand up, America."
As if on cue, the audience rose from the metal folding chairs. Some shouted "Amen." Others simply shouted. Later the group joined hands to sing God Bless America.
Town Commission member Floyd Craig said he would challenge Risher next year. "We're getting a lot of media attention lately, and it's made the town the dang laughingstock of the country."
This story began, appropriately, on Halloween. The mayor attended a cookout at Yankeetown Church of God and was inspired by Pastor Richard Moore, who called for a 40-day fast in the name of Jesus. When she returned home that night she felt a bolt of inspiration and, sitting at the kitchen table, began to write furiously.
"Be it known from this day forward that Satan, ruler of darkness, giver of evil, destroyer of what is good and just, is not now, nor ever again will be, a part of this town of Inglis. Satan is hereby declared powerless, no longer ruling over, nor influencing, our citizens."
She made five copies. One was placed on her office wall, near a painting of the Last Supper and heart-shaped pictures of Elvis, who filmed Follow That Dream here in early 1960s.
The remaining scrolls were stuffed into hollowed-out posts placed at the four entrances to the town. The posts, painted with the words "Repent," "Request" and "Resist," were sealed and capped.