Good news for fans of the goat-headed Baphomet! The children of at least one Portland, Oregon elementary school will now have a few more options in their after-school programming choices with The Oregonian reporting that The After School Satan Club just won approval to begin indoctrinating Beaver State children with messages of "science and rational thinking."
Sacramento Elementary School — a 420-student public school in the Parkrose Heights neighborhood of Portland will be the first to welcome the Satanists in, with the promise that they will "focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us." They add, "We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of everlasting other-worldly horrors.”
Finn Rezz, one of the chapter heads, told the Oregonian that the club will focus on promoting "benevolence and empathy for everybody," and will gather once a month on the same day that The Good News Club meets in the school. The Good News Club, for those who don't know, bills itself as "a Bible-centered organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living."
After School Satan was thus formed as a counter measure for the anti-religious, and they note in their FAQ that they're allowed to do so because Satanism is a recognized religion, and a 2001 Supreme Court Case, Good News Club v. Milford Central School, allows such after-school clubs as "limited public forums." It's trying to balance out the evangelicals, you see, not about devil worship, per se, but it's likely to spark some lively debate about the issue of evangelizing in schools.
If the Satanic Temple has their way, Sacramento Elementary School will just be the first of many. "School districts across the nation are now receiving letters from The Satanic Temple explaining that we will be offering our clubs in their schools this coming school year, and parents in those schools can expect to be presented with a permission slip from their children in the first weeks of the Fall semester," explained Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves. "All of the districts we’ve approached are nearby to local chapters of The Satanic Temple, and each school district has hosted, or is now hosting, Good News Clubs in their schools. This being the case, we are sure that the school districts we’ve approached are well aware that they are not at liberty to deny us use of their facilities, nor are they at liberty to deny us any level of representation in the schools that they afford to other school clubs — such as fliers, tables, brochures, and school-wide announcements."
Below, the group's catchy little teaser video.
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