How to Address the Satanic Temple’s Influence in Education with a Christ-like Approach
The Satanic Temple (TST) continues to expand its presence in public schools across the United States with the latest addition of the Hellion Academy of Independent Learning (HAIL) afterschool program.
According to TST, the initiative is meant to counteract the Christian Release Time Religious Instruction (RTRI) programs, which allow students with parental permission to leave campus for religious instruction for an hour each week. The group argued that the expansion of Christian RTRI programs such as Joy El Club and the Lifewise Academy across the country excludes non-Christians and promotes Christianity; thus, it aims to provide an inclusive alternative through its hail program.
"It is sad these programs feel the need to use the peer pressure to gain adherents to their religion," noted TST Director of Campaign Operations Erin Helian. "However one measures a religion, it is not a good look to prey upon children by bribing them with field trips and snacks."
What Helian is attempting to imply here is that these Christian clubs are using coercion as a means to create converts through their activities. But that's not true. For Christians know that all we can do is preach the gospel and let God do the work (1 Cor. 3:16-8). At the end of the day, we can only do our part to share the Good News and pray for those whom we witnessed.
With the growing expansion of TST in schools and society in general, Christians should be aware of them and address the matter biblically.
That being said, how can Christians address the matter?
A Godless Worldview
First of all, TST, founded in 2013, is atheistic in nature and provides a more humanistic approach when it comes to life, such as logic and reason. What Christians need to understand is that that isn't sufficient, as people without Christ are still lost in their sins. Moreover, they are against God, especially atheists who argue against His existence. But as stated in the apostle Paul's epistle to the Romans, "although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans 1:21). It's not that they disbelieve in God's existence, they refused to give him honor and thanksgiving. They want nothing to do with Him, and so they carry on without Him.
Due to their atheistic worldview, they advocate for bodily autonomy. Not long ago, they opened a second telehealth abortion in Virginia, over a year after opening their first facility in New Mexico. According to a press release, the facility will be "free of charge" like the first one and is their attempt at pushing back against abortion restrictions following the overturning of Roe V Wade in 2022.
"As abortion rights continue to be a central issue in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, we remain steadfast in our mission to expand access and protect bodily autonomy," the group concluded. "We know the urgency of this work, and we will not stop until we have made a lasting difference."
Abortion and the Sanctity of Life
TST's push for abortion is antithetical to the biblical worldview's advocacy for the sanctity of life. Every person is made in the image of God (Genesis ); therefore, they have dignity and value. As the psalmist David said in Psalm 139, "I praise You, I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (v14). In the previous verse, he acknowledges that God is responsible for creating him from the moment he is in his mother's womb, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb."
With that in mind, Christians can understand the sanctity of life when seeing that God's hand is involved prior to the moment of birth. Therefore, performing abortions is also an attack on God's work on the unborn. It is both murderous and dishonoring to the Lord, especially since the TST tends to describe abortion as a "religious ritual." For an organization that asserts itself to be atheistic, its adamant push and practice for the termination of a pregnancy is Satanic, as it encourages a culture of death under the guise of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.
Christians should also be aware of how the TST intends to insert itself in the afterschool clubs against the increase of religious education in school. Aside from the typical argument for the separation of church and state, the organization is also open to the plurality of religion in public spaces.
"We don't believe in the biblical Satan or any sort of supernatural Satan. We do look to Satan as a symbol and nothing else," June Everett, campaign director for HAIL, told The Hill." Our goal is never to aggressively grow our programs. Our goal is to just be there as an alternative for the people that want us there. If they want to hang the Ten Commandments up and we have somebody who wants to push for the seven tenets to be hung up, The Satanic Temple would fight for that."
Everett says if someone pushes TST's seven tenets to be displayed in public schools just as the Ten Commandments have been. The integration of Christian content into public education has been evident in states such as Texas, which recently approved Bible-based lessons in schools, Louisiana's mandate requiring the placement of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and Oklahoma, requiring Bibles in every classroom. However, as Everett stated, the TST's goal is to be present as "an alternative" to those seeking it.
When it comes to Christianity, we know that there will be many who will advocate for alternatives. We have seen that throughout history, and we continue to do so today. However, with alternatives comes pluralism, which is in favor of having multiple worldviews and is viewed as on equal par with one another. In reaching the lost, we affirm that Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation (John 14:6). There is no such thing as alternatives, for there is no alternative outside of Christ.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/fstop123
Originally published December 27, 2024.
