After School Satan Club

[Thomas Veil]

Another ‘After-School Satan Club’ is approved, this time at an Ohio elementary school

Another ‘After-School Satan Club’ — with a mission to “focus on free inquiry and rationalism” — has popped up with school district approval, this time at an Ohio elementary school.

The school district has gone to great pains to emphasize that they do not endorse or sponsor the club.

They do add that they are not legally allowed to discriminate against this group.

“The District has approved these types of groups in the past, one example being the Good News Club, which is an after-school child evangelism program. The Good News Club has met after school at Donovan Elementary School for years.”

…Schools cannot discriminate against religious speech when a religious organization club is held on district grounds following a 2001 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Good News Club v. Milford Central School.

“The pre-existing presence of evangelical after school clubs not only established a precedent for which school districts must now accept Satanic groups, but the evangelical after school clubs have created the need for Satanic after school clubs to offer a contrasting balance to student’s extracurricular activities,” The Satanic Temple says.

In other words…sauce for the goose!

And, uh, lest anyone take the name too seriously…

…the After School Satan Club says it does not have interest in converting students to Satanism, but instead focuses on “the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us.”

The program says it uses games, projects and thinking exercises that emphasize science and a non-superstitious view of the world.

Nothing wrong with that. In fact, Flying Spaghetti Monster knows we could use more of it nowadays!

Nevertheless, you just know this is going to set off a bunch of hand-wringing from the uber-conservative types.

And you do have to appreciate the irony of a school district denying that they necessarily support a club that endorses rational thinking.

 

[AG_PhamD]

I don’t see why public schools are entertaining any after school religious clubs…

As someone who went to Hebrew schools preschool through 8th grade, 2 years of public school, and 2 years of prep school, the idea of a public school having extracurricular religious clubs is bizarre.

But if you’re going to have an after school affiliated Jesus club or whatever, then I don’t see why you can’t have any other religion like satanism or even atheism.

 

[DT]

And you do have to appreciate the irony of a school district denying that they necessarily support a club that endorses rational thinking.

Though I do have some questions for the teacher who sponsors this club ...

 

[SuperMatt]

I don’t see why public schools are entertaining any after school religious clubs…

As someone who went to Hebrew schools preschool through 8th grade, 2 years of public school, and 2 years of prep school, the idea of a public school having extracurricular religious clubs is bizarre.

But if you’re going to have an after school affiliated Jesus club or whatever, then I don’t see why you can’t have any other religion like satanism or even atheism.

A 2001 Supreme Court decision requires that schools allow it.

Good News Club v. Milford Central School | Supreme Court Case, Religious Freedom

Good News Club v. Milford Central School, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 11, 2001, ruled (6–3) that, under the First Amendment’s freedom of speech clause, a religious group in New York state could not be denied the use of a local public school’s facilities after school hours, since

www.britannica.com

 

[Thomas Veil]

You gotta admit, though...that school does have a great alma mater song.

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