Chimneyrock Elementary School in Memphis issued a statement after an “After School Satan Club” organized by the Satanic Temple and Reason Alliance is scheduled to take place on school grounds next month.
On its website, the Satanic Temple – the primary religious Satanic organization in the world – says its mission is to “encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.”
Read the full story
The Satanic Temple (TST) made headlines in 2022 for fighting for the right to create after-school clubs for students and has recently been launching new groups across the country, raising concerns for religious advocates about the potential impact Satanism may have on students’ perception of faith.
A TST “After-School Satan Club” was approved in December 2022 at a Virginia elementary school, provoking many parents, who were disturbed by the push to indoctrinate children into Satanism, to protest the club, according to RealClearEducation. TST has announced the formation of multiple new clubs in New York, Pennsylvania and Colorado in just the past month and religious advocates have taken note of the trend, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that the normalization of Satanism could be detrimental to students later in life.
Read the full story
A Virginia school board is considering revising its policies on after-school clubs following conflict over a new “After School Satan Club.”
The Chesapeake Public School Board previously allowed the Satan club to meet on school property, stipulating it pay over $600 for security for each meeting, something the district’s policy allows, local media reports.
Read the full story
The Satanic Temple is launching an After School Satan Club (ASSC) in Chesapeake, a reaction to a Good News Club launched on school property earlier this year. That’s led to concerns from some community members and prompted the Chesapeake Public School Board to schedule a discussion on the club, but the district said in a statement that while it doesn’t sanction the club, neither can it discriminate against it on the basis of belief.
“The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religion that views Satan as a literary figure who represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny and championing the human mind and spirit. After School Satan Club does not attempt to convert children to any religious ideology. Instead, The Satanic Temple supports children to think for themselves,” a flyer for the club states.
Read the full story
The Satanic Temple has filed a civil lawsuit against the Northern York County School Board in Pennsylvania, claiming the board discriminated against it by voting down its plan to begin an “after-school Satan Club,” while other groups’ clubs have been accepted.
“The First Amendment prohibits a government from considering the popularity of communicative activity when determining whether to facilitate that communicative activity on equal terms with other, similarly situated, groups,” said Mathew Kezhaya, general counsel for The Satanic Temple, according to CBS 21 News.
Read the full story