The news in Saturday's Denver Post (p. A4) that the After School Satan Club — is launching its first Colorado chapter next week at the rural Paonia K-8 school, fairly boggled my mind. The club is claimed to be "part of a national effort organized by The Satanic Temple to provide an alternative to evangelical Christian after-school clubs."
This according to June Everett, "a Colorado Springs-based ordained Satanic Temple minister who oversees the After School Satan Club program nationally."
Well, as the DPost reporter (Hernandez) put it: "The devil is in the details when it comes to what the club actually does."
In order to console Christians we're informed (according to the Satan Temple minister):
"it doesn’t proselytize or teach
kids about Satanism. Instead, the After School Satan Club is
focused on community service projects, science activities, and arts and crafts,
she said. Attendees don’t have to be members of the Satanic Temple or show
their undying devotion to the Dark Lord — but they will need a signed parental
permission slip to join."
The Satanic Temple’s website itself declares that the group will also focus on: “free inquiry and rationalism.”
But writing here as an atheist and rationalist, why would they need to enlist a mythical entity like "Satan" if the club is simply to do community service projects, science projects, arts and crafts? Oh yeah, and promote free inquiry and rationalism.
In the same line, this elicits the question of how rational it really is to invoke arguably the most inflammatory symbol one can imagine. Knowing it will inflame emotions from orthodox Christians, Muslims and which is certain to arouse them to fury. Indeed, the Post article already notes these clubs have "generated pushback in other states ", including threats aimed at any assemblies. In Pennsylvania, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a letter Friday to the Saucon Valley School District warning district officials that their decision to deny the club access to school facilities violates the First Amendment. The district initially approved the Satan Club’s application but revoked it after receiving threats of violence.
So why would the same reaction not be expected here in Colorado, if the group is again effectively sticking a thumb in Christian peers' eyes? The truly rational person would expect that but several commenters on the Post's article forum dismissed the fears, writing in more or less commonality (synopsis):
"Look, these kids are basically just taking a stand against arbitrary authoritarianism and providing a bulwark against Christian bullying. And Satan- even if mythological - is the perfect foil for that. Also being allowed to use the language they want. Besides, Christians believe in talking snakes, conscious burning bushes, God-men who walk on water, immaculate conceptions and the like."
Some also correctly referenced the orthodox (e.g. evangelical, fundamentalist) penchant for using threats of "Hell" to intimidate, coerce and bully non-believers. For example, my late youngest brother (Mike) - who used to run (for a brief spell) an I-Net church, often posted garish images of all those he had consigned to his version of Hell, e.g.
But ultimately he went too far in proposing a "national registry for atheists" which soon got exposed and made him a target for atheist fury, i.e.
Pastor Mike Makes the Atheist Blogs!
So one can in an analogous way argue that the error of setting up a "Satan club" at a school is almost as gobsmacking inflammatory (to Christians) as Pastor Mike's national registry was to my fellow atheists. Yet we're informed by Ms. Everett - quoted in the Post in a Friday interview:
“We are proud of who we are and
trying to show our communities that we’re trying to have a positive impact. We are not devil worshippers and do not
believe there is an actual devil waiting down below to collect everybody’s
souls, but we believe in Satan as a symbol of standing up to tyrannical
authority.
“People at the Satanic Temple
consider themselves their own god. We hail ourselves and look to
ourselves to be able to do good in the world and better ourselves and have it
be better than we found it.”
Everett added for emphasis that devil worship "is definitely not in the cards". But then if you are trying to make a positive impact why use an inflammatory symbol to do it? It makes no rational sense. We learn more about Ms. Everett's motives reading that (ibid.)
"Everett said she found the Satanic Temple after her son was bullied by students in an evangelical after-school group."
Adding that a coworker mentioned the Satanic Temple "might have an alternative program that would better suit her family."
Okay, so it seems obvious then that the choice of this inflammatory symbol for Everett's school clubs was deliberate. A kind of a punch back at the Christian -evangelical bullies who tormented her son. It makes a kind of logical sense but remains a bad move, an unforced error if one really seeks to demonstrate positive impacts.
Still, we learn from the piece that Delta County District 50-J Assistant Superintendent Kurt Clay told KVNF radio in Paonia, CO this week that the club is allowed and parents have been notified about its planned Monday launch. According to Clay:
“In this particular case, it’s
considered a religious group and we allow other religious groups to use our
facilities as well. In fact, in Delta County, we
have from time to time other churches rent some of our facilities and so once
we allow one we have to allow all.”
But I am still unconvinced the new Satan K-8 school group can be considered a "religious" group - as opposed to a social club with a misnomer. Besides, the harm that has been done in the name of religion - of nearly all kinds - is monumental. (Read the book, 'The Harm Done By Religion' for multiple perspective.) At the very least, religion amplifies polarization by separating fellow humans into "sheep" and "goats".
It thus appears Mr. Clay is simply desperately reaching for justification to include it and not have half the parents in the 50-J district to come after him with pitchforks and torches. Indeed, the school district’s superintendent, in the interview with KVNF, acknowledged there has been talk of potential protests. He informed the Post:
“There’s a big thing that they’re
going to picket and riot and so on. We don’t allow any of those
things on our property and that won’t be allowed on the school district
property."
But again, what did he - or Ms. Everett - expect? To just carry on as if nothing was awry? Everett, likely in response to the warning remarks, quickly emphasized the positives again. To wit, through April 14, the Satanic Temple of Colorado is hosting Menstruatin’ with Satan "to collect period products for to donate to shelters across the state."
But I'm still led to ask why - if this school group is out to do so much good work in the community - they have the need to invoke a historically divisive entity like "Satan". Even if mythological, its invocation is designed to troll religious groups and polarize our society even more than it is. Ms. Everett claims she wants to "dig deeper" to inform the community about its basis.
I would also suggest encouraging the students in the club to learn more about the history of the entity they have named their club after. If they are going to use an inflammatory name for their club they ought to at least be aware of the historical basis of the entity.
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