Jane Addams Elementary school in Moline, Illinois, is offering an “After School Satan Club” starting this year, meeting once each month up until the end of the 2021-2022 school year. The program is being held by The Satanic Temple, who claims the club will teach children “benevolence and empathy, critical thinking, problem solving, creative expression, and personal sovereignty”, according to the flyers sent to the school.
The Satanic Temple claims to be a human rights group who, according to their website, “provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict women’s reproductive autonomy, exposed harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners in mental health care, and organized clubs alongside other religious after school clubs in schools.” The Temple was founded by Malcolm Jarry and Lucien Greaves in 2013.
Lucien Greaves, also known as Doug Mesner, described Satan in an interview nine years ago with Vice, that Satan is, “a rebel angel defiant of autocratic structure and concerned with the material world. Satanism as a rejection of superstitious supernaturalism.”
Although Greaves and the Temple claim to not teach children about Satanism within the afterschool club, what exactly does this after school club plan to do?
Within the flyer, it advertises puzzles, games, science projects and more for the young children to participate in. June Everett, the campaign director for the after school Satan club said, “we offer an alternative club to religious indoctrination programs across the nation” and the clubs are “not a religious indoctrination program, nor do we teach about religion or offer religious opinions.”
Everett’s statements clearly display the Satanic Temple’s view of other religions as being “indoctrination programs”, whether it be faith or Bible lessons afterschool or any denomination of Christianity clubs for children.
Why have children be affiliated with a club named after the devil? Is it safe to have children as young as 6 and 7 be introduced to an afterschool club that affiliates itself with Satan?
Although the Satanic Temple claims that they do not intend to teach children Satanism, the Temple itself displays pictures of Baphomet on their website. Baphomet is a demon, or a false god that is commonly associated with the Temple and the occult.
Seven years ago, the Satanic Temple had a statue of Baphomet erected in Detroit, Michigan. The statue displays the false god with two young children at his side looking up at him in awe and wonder. They want to depict it as something good, something reassuring and comforting, something that young children can look up to; as literally displayed by the statue itself and in pictures from the Temples website.
Why is the Temple depicting a demon associated with evil practices, idol worship, and everything antithetical to Christianity to young children? Although they claim to not teach these elementary school children about Satanism, will they covertly influence the children with their beliefs?
The Jane Addams Elementary school has allowed the club to operate there and the Moline Coal Valley School District spokeswoman, Candace Sountris, made a statement that the school district and Board of Education, “doesn’t discriminate against any groups who wish to rent public facilities, including religious-affiliated groups.” The rules and regulations outlined by the school district and Board of Education indicates that the club is allowed to operate and will continue to operate at the Elementary school for the rest of the year.