An atheist group that bills itself as being “satanic” is being forced to shut down its chapter in a Washington school after only one child expressing interest in its after-school program.
According to Christian Newswire, the club’s first meeting came to a quick end at the Point Defiance Elementary School in Tacoma due to its embarrassing turnout. The organization was allowed to operate at the school last year following various protests from parents offended by the measure.
The program, known as After School Satan, specifically targets schools with a heavy evangelical Christian presence. It is sponsored by the quasi-religious organization known as the Satanic Temple, which maintains its beliefs are atheistic in nature. The group is known to publicly support left-wing causes, such as gender confusion and LGBT issues. They are also known for their hostile attitude toward evangelical groups.
But what exactly is the Satanic Temple? If you visit their website, their mission seems rather harmless — but their underlying agenda is as sinister as their chosen name would imply.
“The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will,” the Satanic Temple’s About Us section reads. “Politically aware, Civic-minded Satanists and allies in The Satanic Temple have publicly opposed The Westboro Baptist Church, advocated on behalf of children in public school to abolish corporal punishment, applied for equal representation where religious monuments are placed on public property, provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict women’s reproductive autonomy, exposed fraudulent harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners and claims in mental health care, and applied to hold clubs along side other religious after school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations.”
In the past, the Satanic Temple has openly opposed Christian symbols being displayed in public, and has lent militant support for groups like Planned Parenthood that promote and perform abortions. The after-school program was designed to mainstream these radical views to impressionable children.
Despite the ideological-driven description above, the group appears to be more interested in simply antagonizing Christians than it is with spreading any actual values — progressive or otherwise. In fact, the programs specifically target schools with a Good News presence — a program which promotes traditional evangelical values. The description for After School Satan Tells you all you need to know.
“We’re not interested in converting children to Satanism,” the program’s description reads. “However, we feel that our presence in schools that are burdened with the loathsome stink of the Good News Clubs serves an anti-indoctrination function, illustrating to children that opposing religious perspectives can be held by moral and responsible people who don’t live in fear of divine retribution.”
The meeting’s abject failure is good news for Christian parents offended by the group. More importantly, it also tells us that attempts to turn children away from God are not as easy as radical ideologues like to believe. Hopefully, more children in the United States will follow this example.
~ 1776 Christian
