Americans looking for a way to keep their kids busy after a day of heavy book-learnin’ will soon have a new alternative: After School Satan Clubs. The Satanic Temple, which labels itself as “an atheistic religious organization that uses the symbol of Satan to inspire civil justice,” will soon be petitioning public schools across the U.S. to allow them to offer after school programs. The group is pushing for inclusion with other programs such as the ‘Good News Club’, a Christian fundamentalist after-school program which the group says “robs children of the innocence and enjoyment of childhood, replacing them with a negative self-image, preoccupation with sin, fear of Hell, and aversion to critical thinking.” The US Supreme Court ruled in 2001 to allow for religious after school programs to operate at public schools, which opens the door for the group to do likewise. “It’s critical that children understand that there are multiple perspectives on all issues, and that they have a choice in how they think,” Doug Mesner, the Satanic Temple’s co-founder, told the Washington Post. [1]
The Satanic Temple aren’t a group that professes to worship Satan, rather they are more concerned with egalitarianism and the separation of church and state. The group told the Washington Post meetings will include a healthful snack, literature lesson, creative learning activities, a science lesson, puzzle solving and an art project. [1] The Satanic Temple also created a tongue in cheek video in support of the program which declares it will be an after school club focused on rationalism, free inquiry and fun. “While the Good News Clubs focus on indoctrination, instilling children with a fear of hell and God’s wrath, After School Satan Clubs will focus on free inquiry and rationalism,” Mesner told the Washington Post. “We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of an everlasting other-worldly horror.” [1]
