New Push For After School Satan Clubs

Before very long, American children may be able to join and attend clubs dedicated to the indoctrination of schoolchildren towards the service and worship of Satan, much the same way as the average Sunday school, where children gather together to learn to serve and worship Jesus and understand the Bible.

The 'after-school Satan Club' could be coming to a kid's grade school near you, faster than you may think or expect. 

Rick Anderson for the LA Times recently explained that the Satanic Temple, an organization based in Salem, Massachusetts, continues to make headlines with its latest venture.

As Anderson explains, Lilith Starr --a devil's advocate in every sense -- is in a rush to get her After School Satan Club (ASSC) started. As founder of the Satanic Temple of Seattle, she's under pressure from national satanic headquarters -- located in the Colonial witch trials city of Salem-- to launch a counter-offensive against grade school Christianity by opening an after-school Satan Club.

"I think many people have the misunderstanding that we are some kind of tongue-in-cheek troll group," said Starr, 44, a Harvard grad who sometimes dresses in church robes and, when circumstances demand, paints her lips and part of her face black.

"But in reality, we are a very serious religion, with our own shared narrative, culture and symbols, a code of ethics -- our Seven Tenets -- and worship in the form of activism."

The national movement is attempting to establish a dozen After School Satan Clubs across the country. Local chapters have applied for space at public grade schools in cities including Atlanta, Detroit, Washington, Portland, Ore., Tacoma, Wash., Salt Lake City, Tucson, and Los Angeles.

The clubs are all seeking school district approval, with the Atlanta-area club saying it hopes to hold its first meeting by Halloween.

The Los Angeles Unified School District appears to be the only school district to outright reject the club. 

In response to a Los Angeles Times inquiry Monday, the district issued a statement stating the club proposed for Chase Elementary School in Panorama City "does not meet the minimum requirement of having the school's approval and, therefore, will not be offered at the school."

Anderson noted that the rejection could lead to a legal challenge: "The Christians may have the force of Heaven behind them, but the Satanists have the U.S. Supreme Court", he stated.

A 2001 high court ruling in a civil case brought by the Child Evangelism Fellowship eventually permitted school clubs to proselytize in public classrooms after hours. 

It also opened the school door for students of any faith, or no faith, to be taught the ways of Satanism. Fifteen years later, with the Christian-based Good News Club having expanded to hundreds of schools across the U.S., the Satanists are responding.

While Good News Clubs are effectively Bible and faith classes for children, the Satan Clubs intend to preach humanistic evolution of humankind rather than what they describe as the "superstitions" of organized religion.

"We believe strongly in religious plurality and we fight for equal representation for all religions," Starr said. "Whenever religion enters the public sphere, like the Good News Club at public schools, we take action to ensure that more than one religious voice is represented, and that is our intent with the After School Satan Club."

 "We think [satanic clubs are] especially important when religious clubs target young children ages 5 to 12," said Starr, "because at these ages it can be hard for children to distinguish between official educators and the teachers proselytizing to them in the after-school clubs."

Starr, whose autobiography is called "The Happy Satanist," has an English degree from Harvard and a master's in journalism from Stanford. She remarried and found Satanism reading her husband's Satanic Bible, eventually forming the Seattle temple in 2014. 

She said the group, which now has 78 members, meets every other week in libraries, an occult book shop and other locations, always closing sessions with a "Hail Satan" invocation. 

The phrase literally means "come forth, Satan" or "praise be to Satan".

A related story written by Dr. Susan Berry and published recently in Breitbart.com noted the Satanic Temple website statement's brazen attack against Christianity with the following quote:

While the twisted Evangelical teachings of The Good News Clubs "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," After School Satan Clubs incorporate games, projects, and thinking exercises that help children understand how we know what we know about our world and our universe.

The Satanic Temple's website also states Satan Clubs are "operated by local chapters of The Satanic Temple by volunteer members who have been vetted by the Executive Ministry for professionalism, social responsibility, superior communication skills, and lack of criminal history."

The public information meeting about the Tacoma pilot club is scheduled for Sunday, November 13 in Seattle. "Come by, meet your local Satanists, and learn more about what we do and how to get involved!" invites the Satanists. "All are welcome. Cookies and soda provided."

In a recent Christian Post article, Samuel Smith noted CBN News reporter said that in Starr's quest to set up a club at Point Defiance, the Satanist has received phone calls from parents associated with Point Defiance's (Tacoma) Good News Club who have voiced their displeasure with the ASSC.

However, Starr maintains the club is not about devil-worshiping or trying to get the students to convert to Satanism. It simply wants to give students "the tools they need to make their own decisions about the world."

However, a group of concerned parents is not buying Starr's explanation. Q13fox.com reported that a number of Christian parents and about a dozen church leaders from the area gathered at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Tacoma to discuss the prospects of the ASSC coming to Point Defiance and what steps they can take to prevent it.

"My son will not be at a school where they're preaching against what I believe," Bishop Michael Doss from Deliverance House of Prayer told those gathered at the church. 

"I still have a baby in Tacoma schools...and if I have to take my baby out of Tacoma schools, I'm going to homeschool because they want to allow this stuff, I'll do that."