The Satanic Temple plans to introduce its After School Satan Club to elementary schools across the nation.
"It's critical that children understand that there are multiple perspectives on all issues, and that they have a choice in how they think," co-founder Doug Mesner
told The Washington Post.
The group's support of the devil is tongue-in-cheek, the Post reported. Leaders, who reject all forms of supernaturalism, oppose after-school religious programming in their fight for separation of church and state.
Satanic Temple leaders from New York, Boston, Utah, Arizona, Minneapolis, Detroit, San Jose, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Florida discussed strategies for their program on July 10. One strategy included a promotional video, which the Post commented, "feels like a mash-up of a horror movie trailer and a 'Saturday Night Live' sketch."
"While the Good News Clubs focus on indoctrination, instilling them with a fear of Hell and God’s wrath, After School Satan Clubs will focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us,"
the group's website proclaims. "We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of everlasting other-worldly horrors."
Good News Clubs, established by the Child Evangelism Fellowship, teach evangelical Christianity. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that schools could not exclude after-school programs based on religious views, 3,560 Good News Clubs were established in public schools nationwide.
"I would definitely oppose after-school Satanic clubs, but they have a First Amendment right to meet," said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which was involved in the Supreme Court case. "I suspect, in this particular case, I can't imagine there's going to be a lot of students participating in this. It's probably dust they're kicking up and is likely to fade away in the near future for lack of interest."
The group's dark promotional video said the clubs focus on rationalism, free inquiry, and fun.
Twitter users shared mixed reactions to the After School Satan Clubs.
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