Dianne Reidy, a stenographer for the House of Representatives, made several religious references in an unexpected tirade moments after Congress passed a bill in favor of ending the government shutdown.
As lawmakers celebrated the legislation, she walked up to the microphone and began yelling about Freemasons, God, and Jesus in an outburst captured by The Takeaway's Todd Zwillich.
A House GOP aide told CNN that she began by saying, "Do not be deceived. God shall not be mocked. A House divided cannot stand."
Galatians 6:7 (KJV) says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It's written in Matthew 12:25 (KJV), "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."
Zwillich's recording captured her declaring, "He will not be mocked, He will not be mocked, (don't touch me) He will not be mocked. The greatest deception here, is that this is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been... it would not have been... No. it would not have been... the Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons... and go against God. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."
Her admonition against serving two masters may come from an incident mentioned in both Matthew and Luke. Matthew 6:24 (KJV) states, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon is generally understood to represent greed or money in this verse.
Reidy's claim that the Constitution was written by Freemasons is a fairly well-known conspiracy theory that is investigated in historian Jay Kinney's book The Masonic Myth. Many believe that around 13 of the Constitution's 39 signers were Masons.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) banged her gavel and shouted for order as the well-known and liked Reidy as carted out by security officials, still screaming. Ros-Lehtinen told Fox News that Reidy "came up to the podium area beneath where I was standing and asked me if the microphones were on. I said that I didn't know. I assumed that perhaps I was chatting too much to the helpful parliamentarians around me. Then she suddenly faced the front and said words like 'Thus spoke the Lord.' And, 'This is not the Lord's work.'"
Ros-Lehtinen continued, "I hammered to get control and hush her up. She said something about the devil. It was sudden, confusing and heartbreaking. She is normally a gentle soul."
Was Reidy couching a criticism of the political deadlock and government shutdown in a Biblical framework, or was her outburst simply some sort of breakdown?
Fox News reported that Reidy was questioned by the U.S. Capitol Police and taken to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation after the incident. She has yet to speak out publicly.
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