The After School Satan Club in an elementary school in Tacoma, Washington was forced to shut down when only one child joined.
CBNNews.us is reporting on the club, which was introduced at Point Defiance Elementary in Tacoma, Washington this past December and lasted just 10 months before shutting down due to lack of interest.
The clubs, run by The Satanic Temple, began to open in schools across the country as a way to counter Good News Clubs which are sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF).
In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Good News Clubs, which present the Gospel to children, have a First Amendment right to meet on campus after school.
The Satanic Temple decided to challenge these clubs by using their First Amendment right to provide a different message to children. However, after just 10 months in the Tacoma school, they discovered that their counter message isn’t resonating with students.
“As we predicted, the so-called Satanist club fizzled,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, which represents CEF.
Staver says the clubs are less about Satanism and more about atheists trying to force schools to shut down faith-based clubs.
“The so-called Satanist Temple and its after-school club had nothing good to offer students, so it was only a matter of time before it fizzled out. The so-called Satanic Temple group is not legitimate. It’s a handful of atheists masquerading as so-called Satanists whose only reason for existence in schools is to be disruptive and oppose the Good News Clubs,” Staver said.
Liberty Counsel has offered pro bono legal counsel to any schools targeted by the Satanist Temple group.
“Good News Clubs teach morals, character development, patriotism and respect from a Christian viewpoint. Public schools welcome these clubs because they improve the behavior of the students and the Supreme Court has sided with ese clubs,” said Staver.
Jordan Lorence with Alliance Defending Freedom says the creators of the clubs are just plain “jerks.”
“The people running new Satan Clubs to compete with Christian school school clubs don’t actually believe in Satan. They just want to be jerks to people who do,” said Lorence.
Lorence also believes that the group is deliberately using the inflammatory name “Satan” as a way to provoke school officials to stop all outside clubs which would effectively get rid of Christian groups.
CBN reports that After School Satan Clubs, which promote evolution, gender confusion, and abortion, are being offered at schools in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Pensacola, Portland, Salt Lake City and Springfield, Missouri.
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