Satanic clubs, whose members do not worship the devil, usually formed in response to presence of religious groups in schools

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.

  • Hugohase
    25•11 months ago

    Sad that something like this is even needed but the US world is full of bigoted hypocrites that want to turn the country world into a religious state wasteland.

    • DarkThoughts
      8•11 months ago

      The majority of western countries are nowhere near as religious as the US. Maybe something like Poland.

      • @Syrc@lemmy.world
        10•11 months ago

        Italy, especially south Italy, is ridiculously religious. We’re also one of the few modern countries that actually have laws on blasphemy.

        We keep telling people we’re not a religious state but then everyone brings out the knives when someone says maybe having a cross in every class isn’t exactly peak neutrality.