Uproar as after-school Satan club forms at Tennessee elementary school
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.
If the founders didn't just want to stir the pot, they would call the club "free-will humanitarian anti-authority club".
After a bit of prodding ChatGPT suggests: "Free Spirits for Global Empowerment and Liberty" (FSGEL), which is a million time better then invoking satan, just to get on people's nervs.
Missing from the article is this group's primary, unstated motive: they only attempt to create such clubs in schools that actively promote similar, religious clubs. This tactic only works in schools that have previously demonstrated their intent to promote religion.
Any school can insulate themselves from this tactic by not becoming a church.
Yes, and?
I don't quite understand, Satan is a contentious figure in Christianity (and maybe other Abrahamic religions? idk, not knowledgeable about it) and it's reasonable to be worried or concerned as an adult about what interests the youth might have. And it really seems the opposition is simply speaking platitudes. They haven't demonstrated 1. it is not a faith, and 2. it causes harm. The folks who are opposed surely can't have their preferred beliefs determine the beliefs of others in areas where it's clear there is not immediate harm.
Sorry, I don't understand your post. Who are you arguing for? Who are "the folks who are opposed"? Those opposed to the ASS-Club?
Been a while since I used lemmy. Yeah I don't remember what I meant, sorry.