Reading, Writing, and Satan
23rd December 2022
On December 13, the school board of Chesapeake, Virginia postponed voting on whether to authorize the establishment of an “After School Satan Club” at a local elementary school. Parents describing themselves “at their wits’ end” over the idea protested the proposed vote. The proposal emanated from the Satanic Temple, a group of political activists who identify themselves as a religious sect and portray After School Satan Clubs as a counterpart to fundamentalist Christian Good News Clubs, which they maintain constitute an unconstitutional effort by the “Religious Right” to infiltrate public education and erode the separation of church and state. Lawyers representing the Satan Club said the school must provide space for the club because of its affiliation with religion, protected by the First Amendment.
According to June Everett, “campaign director” for the proposed club and an “ordained minister” in the Temple, the club, far from worshiping the devil and espousing evil, “is intended to foster creativity and promote empathy,” and attempts to establish a “constructive and positive alternative” to other religious after-school clubs. She reports having first been drawn to the Temple five years ago after her first-grade son was “traumatized” on the playground by classmates who taunted him for not attending the Good News Club, and warned that he would burn in hell if he didn’t accept Christ as his savior.