Satanists offended by 'Ted Cruz is Lucifer' comparison by John Boehner

Former House Speaker John Boehner has likened presidential candidate Ted Cruz to the devil, but Satanists reject the comparison.

In a statement, The Church of Satan high priest Magus Peter Howard Gilmore said, as quoted by ABC News: "Having a conservative Christian likened to Lucifer -- one who opposes equal rights for same sex couples and promotes the ability to deny services to any with different values -- we Satanists see as besmirching the positive, heroic aspects of that character as portrayed by Milton in his epic 'Paradise Lost.'"

Boehner, while speaking last week at Stanford University, said that Cruz is "Lucifer in the flesh." He also claimed that he gets along with almost everybody, having both Democrat and Republican friends, but he found it difficult working with the Texas senator, calling him a "miserable son of b****."

It seems like Boehner was trying to make Cruz into a representation of what is evil, and a Satanist spokeman said that it is backward-thinking. 

"Christians can't just push Cruz off on Satanists," Lucien Greaves, a spokesman and co-founder for the Satanic Temple, told ABC News. "All he's trying to say is that Ted Cruz is some type of embodiment of evil. I think that's a rather destructive, backward mindset, because when you take clearly Christian individuals, clearly Christian activities, and things go sour, you pass them off as the influence of Satan. It really prevents you from thinking clearly."

For Boehner, he said that if Donald Trump is their nominee, he would vote for him; but if Cruz is their nominee, he would not. Trump, meanwhile, had called his presidential opponent "lying Ted" and a "dishonest" guy.

Satanists do not "want" Cruz, either, but it is because he, as Gilmore said, "is everything opposite of what we represent." However, they do not have a collective support for a specific politician.