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submitted 11 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Community members in a Tennessee school district want to banish Satan from their children’s halls after the formation of a new club was announced.

The After School Satan Club (ASSC) wants to establish a branch in Chimneyrock elementary school in the Memphis-Shelby county schools (MSCS) district.

The ASSC is a federally recognized nonprofit organization and national after-school program with local chapters across the US. The club is associated with the Satanic Temple, though it claims it is secular and “promotes self-directed education by supporting the intellectual and creative interests of students”.

The Satanic Temple makes it clear its members do not actually worship the devil or believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural. Instead Satan is used as a symbol of free will, humanism and anti-authoritarianism.

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[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 50 points 11 months ago

They can't without getting rid of all other extra curricular activities & I love that for them.

[-] EmergMemeHologram@startrek.website 23 points 11 months ago

Don't underestimate the evangelicals, they will cut off their nose to store their face and will cancel all the after school programs over this.

[-] ExLisper@linux.community 52 points 11 months ago

Don’t underestimate the evangelicals, they will ignore the laws and act like martyrs when punished for it. Then they will run for office as defenders of the constitution and church, get elected, push even more evangelical agenda on everyone, be exposed as homosexuals, retire and live comfortably ever after.

[-] ericisshort@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago

This guy understands evangelicals.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

Yeah they don’t want fair universally applies laws. They want preferential treatment.

[-] chitak166@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

They literally can't get away with cancelling all after-school programs.

[-] originalfrozenbanana@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago

Yeah but then they won’t have a nose and we’ll have a court case to win so

[-] voracitude@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Just remember what the SCOTUS looks like now.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

If SCOTUS did that then I'm sure there would be (checks notes) no consequences whatsoever.

[-] Facebones@reddthat.com 5 points 11 months ago

Yeah, I'm not convinced they aren't itching for the right case to come along to strip seperation of church and state to declare an official state religion.

[-] CAVOK@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago

Not all, right? Just the religious ones I hope.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

Usually the way it works if the school district digs in it's heels is, TST sues the district. The district realizes it cannot win in court because there is a staggering amount of precedent and law against them. Then the district itself shutters all after school programs officially. Except of course the teacher running the Christian club invites kids to off campus gatherings that occur after school. Then the district gets sued again.

[-] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago

No because this isn't a religious club.

[-] player2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

The Satanic temple is a non-theistic religious group, that's the entire point. They use religious groups' own tactics against them. If the school allows the Christian church to host a club, then they must allow the Satanic temple to host a club. TST doesn't have anything against after-school clubs and the school could simply choose to ban activities funded by religions.

[-] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

This isn't a Temple though, it's an After School Satan Club.

Satanic after-school clubs are usually established in a school district in response to the presence of religious clubs, such as the Christian evangelical Bible group the Good News Club. The temple says it “does not believe in introducing religion into public schools and will only open a club if other religious groups are operating on campus”.

It's more of an anti-religious club really.

[-] player2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 11 months ago

Right, because they're not evil, but it is still a club organized by a group that is recognized as an organized religion by the US government and has all the protections that come with it. The school will have to choose between allowing all religious groups into schools or none.

I'm just pointing that out since other commenters are insisting that they will have to ban all after school activities as a result which isn't true

[-] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

Alright, gotcha. Good point.

this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2023
1327 points (99.1% liked)

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