Photo by Dayne Francis | The Signal
Last updated: Nov. 6 at 6:13 p.m.
The Satanic Temple (TST), a social justice organization, has opened up its new Atlanta chapter, and is recruiting children from local elementary schools.
The Satanic Temple existed on a national level since 2014 first getting in the headlines when they stirred up controversy in June of 2015 for their statue of Baphomet, a goat- headed pagan deity, being placed alongside The Ten Commandments structure in front of the Oklahoma Capitol building, which was later elected to be torn down,” according to vice.com.
Chris Machok, a new member of the organization, said he was intrigued once he had discovered its message of separation of church and state and humanitarian outreach as an alumni of Union Grove high school. He wanted to see Atlanta’s youth provided with more variety in political and personal freedom of belief that was not given to him growing up in the south.
“We were all forced to pledge allegiance to (a) flag under God we didn’t even realize or understand growing up as kids,” he said.
The recently formed Atlanta chapter was established in June 2016 after popular demand by locals, according to Cody Waters, contact liaison and current member, to bring many secular-minded people together.
The chapter’s first major action came as a proposal of the After School Satan initiative, a response to Christian-based after-school programs already in place nationwide, but currently Cobb County Elementary Schools are the focus.
The goal of After School Satan, according to the group, is to either prompt the school district to put an end to the Good News Clubs, the evangelical after school groups in question, or to include After School Satan in order to provide the students with an alternative, scientific, and non-theistic view towards after school care.
Still Elementary, one school the organization sought to expand to, sent out a statement saying the school has yet to approve such a club, even if TST has already scheduled their first meeting on Oct. 31.
Donna Lowry, communications director of the school, said she had “no knowledge of the club being admitted.” She also said, “As far as I know, the program is still waiting to be approved.”
“Still Elementary School does not have an after school Satan club. The staff and leaders of Still Elementary School are focused on welcoming their students and families. Learning and student safety have been and will continue to be our top priorities,” a statement released by Still Elementary read.
Satanists on campus
Machok said the initiative should soon be spread to high school and college campuses as well.
“I think it would be perfect, [currently] if a high school kid labels himself as a Satanist he is put on the fringe. I would think college-wise there would already be quite a few Satanist clubs, a lot of smart people in college, you know,” he said.
Franklin Warlick, another TST member, recently received his certification of membership for the After School Satan program and has volunteered to work with the children when the program kicks off.
Warlick said he doesn’t believe Satanism should necessarily be present in higher-level education institutions.
“It’s more needed as an option when a religious group is in play. At higher levels people have the ability to make those choices on their own,” he said.
Which is not unlike the viewpoint of Rachel Williams, outreach leader at Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Georgia State. Williams said she’d feel concerned if there was to be a Satanist group on the university campus. She said she had heard stories of violence and animal cruelty paired with an uncomfortable experience she had in Haiti with Voodoo practitioners of which she relates to Satanism.
“I’m not really comfortable with the idea, but I want people to practice freely. It’s college,0 and you want people to express their thoughts. When you start to limit people, people get pushed to the side.”
Although she does not agree with their views, she still maintains that as long as there is no harm, no one would have any right to say they couldn’t be here.
Michael Nelson, president of Secular Panthers, said he would, “fully support a Satanist club at Georgia State.
Nelson also said of TST’s message, “While I don’t accept the supernatural bits, I agree with the humanistic mission of the Temple. Specifically, I think promoting empathy and rejecting tyrannical authority and pseudoscience are good things. This is similar to the mission of Secular Panthers, which provides a place of peaceful dialogue.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated The Temple of Satan. The correct name is The Satanic Temple.
It’s “The Satanic Temple,” not the “Temple of Satan.” The TST acronym might have corrected you. It might also be appropriate to note that Michael Nelson is wrong: TST explicitly, and very openly, renounces supernaturalism in favor of scientific materialism.
I want to join. Is there a website?
Yeah they do https://www.facebook.com/The-Satanic-Temple-220538341415523/ they have meetings every month and it’s announced there every month.
I would expect an organization like this to fact check their article prior to posting it.
The TST is not recruiting children.
The After School Satan Club is a direct response to the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) using public school property and openly targeting children for recruitment to their beliefs.
All TST curriculum is based on scientific fact and critical thinking and is not intended to teach any sort of worship of Satan or any other mythical being.
The CEF has spend decades working their way into public schools. They openly admit to targeting children at an impressionable age to recruit them, and in turn, their parents.
They openly admit this on their own web page.
http://www.cefonline.com/about/
For more accurate information on this topic see:
http://thegoodnewsclub.com/