A Pennsylvania school district has rejected a parent’s request to launch a satanic group’s After School Satan Club at an elementary school.
According to The Christian Post, the Northern York County School Board in Pennsylvania voted 8-1 earlier this week to turn down the “After School Satan Club” request at Northern Elementary School.
In a video clip from the meeting, parents and other attendees erupted into applause after the vote.
The request came from Samantha Groome, who said she wanted her children to be able to participate in extracurricular activities that were non-religious. Many of the schools already have a Joy El Christian club that meets after school.
The Pennsylvania school district is not the first to receive a request for an After School Satanic Club. Earlier this year in Moline, Illinois, the Jane Addams Elementary School promoted its After School Satan Club by passing out flyers about the group.
The school district allowed the after-school club because the district did “not discriminate against any groups who wish to rent our facilities, including religious-affiliated groups.”
The school also allows the Good News Club, an after-school child evangelism fellowship group, to use its facilities.
An after-school Satan club also operates in Lebanon, Ohio, at an elementary school. The Ohio elementary school also has a Good News Club.
In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that After School Satan clubs can hold meetings and operate a “limited public forum” on school property after hours.
According to the After School Satan Club handbook, the club is not about “offering any materials or lectures … about satanism.” The handbook says the group is about “free inquiry and rationalism.”
“While the classes are designed to promote intellectual and emotional development in accordance with The Satanic Temp’s tenets, no proselytization or religious instruction takes place.”
Related:
Board's Approval of 'After School Satan Club' for Elementary Students Sparks Controversy
Christians Protest First-Ever Satanic Temple Convention: 'We're Here to Say that Jesus Is Lord'
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Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.