After School Satan
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| Entity Type | The Satanic Temple program |
|---|---|
| Established | ~2016 |
| Website | thesatanictemple.com |
After School Satan is an after school program project of The Satanic Temple, an American political activist religious organization based in Salem, Massachusetts, and is sponsored by Reason Alliance Ltd., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It was created as an alternative to Christian-based after school groups, specifically at schools that host the Evangelical Good News Club.[1] It was created as an alternative to Christian-based after school groups, specifically at schools that host the Evangelical Good News Club.[2][3][4]
The program does not teach about Satanism nor attempt to convert club-goers, instead they teach about rationalism and understanding the world around us. It is against the beliefs of the Satanic Temple to teach religious practice in schools, which is opposite to how the Good News Club functions.
The Satanic Temple does not worship or believe in a literal Satan, or in anything supernatural, rather, they use Satan as a symbol of freedom from the rules of right-hand path religions.
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The Satanic Temple announced it was pursuing After School Satan clubs in cities across the United States, including Atlanta, Los Angeles]], Salt Lake City (Taylorsville), Pensacola, Fla.; Washington, D.C. (Prince George County, Md.); Tucson, Ariz., Springfield, Mo.; Seattle, Wash. (Mount Vernon and Tacoma) and Portland, Ore.[4][5][6][7]
Despite widespread media attention to the announcements initially, only one school in Tacoma, Washington, ever served any students, teaching a single child from a nearby school once per month from December 2016 to June 2017.[8][9] The program did not return the following year, and by the fall of 2017, TST representative Chalice Blythe confirmed in an interview there were no active programs.[10][11].
In January 2022, a second After School Satan program in Moline, Ill., met to teach students, with planned monthly meetings through May 2022.[12]
References
- ↑ Did the IRS 'Fast Track' Tax Exempt Status for After School Satan Clubs?. Snopes.
- ↑ FAQ. Retrieved on January 5, 2017.
- ↑ Yes, an after-school Satan Club could be coming to your kid's grade school. Retrieved on January 5, 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Portland OKs "After School Satan" for elementary kids. Retrieved on January 5, 2017.
- ↑ Satanic Temple brings 'After School Satan Club' to Portland school. Retrieved on January 5, 2017.
- ↑ State's first After-School Satan Club set to open. Retrieved on January 5, 2017.
- ↑ Find a Club. Retrieved on January 9, 2017.
- ↑ After-school Satan club tests the limits of church and state. Retrieved on January 16, 2022. Erin Botello is Veronica’s After School Satan Club educator, and a member of the Satanic Temple in Seattle. “Veronica is our only student,” she says. “She has come to every meeting that we have held ... She is fierce. She has a great head on her shoulders, she also has a very supportive family who also shows up with her to the meetings.”
- ↑ JudicialWatch.org, Invoice for December 2016 to June 2017 indicates seven monthly two-hour room rent and utilities amounted to a cost of $154.00, with the official requestor group "Reason Alliance Ltd" and funds provided by Reason Alliance Ltd. (PDF, pages 3-14)
- ↑ Tacoma’s After-School Satan Club is on pause for now, says Satanic Temple of Seattle. Retrieved on January 5, 2017. The club met once a month with kids from all elementary grade levels during the second half of last school year, but it doesn’t have the resources to continue this year, according to the Satanic Temple of Seattle. “It was a matter of funding, and also volunteers who couldn’t take the time out of work because it’s right in the middle of the work day, so we didn’t have enough volunteers,” said Temple leader Lilith Starr.
- ↑ Recruiting Tomorrow's Satanists - The Jim Jefferies Show. Retrieved on January 16, 2022. 03:43: Jim Jeffries: There's 3,800 Good News Clubs across America.How many branches do you have? 03:48: Chalice Blythe: We don't have any in operation.
- ↑ Small protest outside Moline elementary school greets 1st After School Satan Club. Retrieved on January 20, 2022. Protestors against the new monthly meetings (organized by the nationwide Satanic Temple) carried signs and waved at cars that honked horns in support. Moline police had a squad car and a community service officer at the scene when school got out for the day. Local 4 was not allowed to film inside the school, so there was no way to ascertain how many students attended the new Satan Club.