Leaders of the Satanic Temple located in Salem, Massachusetts have begun petitioning for a ‘After School Satan Club’ which is in direct response to the existing Christian Good News Clubs. They feel that if Christians are allowed to assemble then Satanists should also be allowed to as well. These people claim to not worship Satan, rather believe that science and rationality is the “best measure of reality.”
The group doesn’t agree with evangelical groups who only give children a choice between Jesus or Satan, according to the Washington Post, and that’s why Doug Mesner, the Satanic Temple’s co-founder, says that all kids should have access to a more secular way of thinking. “It’s critical that children understand that there are multiple perspectives on all issues, and that they have a choice in how they think,” he said.
Mesner’s group says that healthy snack snacks will be provided and the curriculum includes a literature lesson, creative learning activities, a science lesson, puzzle solving and an art project. Each enrolled child will receive a membership card and must have a parental permission slip in order to participate.
Unfortunately (or however you choose to look at this), it isn’t likely that their petition will be rejected by school officials, because for the sake of being fair, this would mean no extracurricular activities could take place including the Christian Good News Clubs.
Washington Post:
“In 2001, in a case that commanded the resources of powerful legal advocacy groups on the religious right, including the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Liberty Counsel, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that to exclude an after-school program on account of the religious views of its sponsors amounted to a violation of free-speech rights. The CEF then went on a tear, and by 2011, it reported 3,560 Good News Clubs, putting them in more than 5 percent of the nation’s public elementary schools.”
Do you guys think that the Satanic Temple should assemble in schools just like Christians do?
All I know is I’m praying for all of them. *runs into prayer closet*
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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/an-after-school-satan-club-could-be-coming-to-your-kids-elementary-school/2016/07/30/63f485e6-5427-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_afterschoolsatan-5pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
