The Satanic Temple will be allowed to keep hosting a club at a public middle school in Pennsylvania after a federal judge ruled last week.
The satanic group, which claims killing unborn babies in abortions is a spiritual “ritual,” recently launched “After School Satan Clubs” at Saucon Valley School District, near Allentown, and other public schools across the country to push its radical pro-abortion, anti-Christian views on impressionable young children. The clubs meet in elementary, middle and high schools.
In a preliminary injunction last week, U.S. District Court Judge John Gallagher said the school district was wrong to rescind approval of the club, and must allow it to continue meeting on school grounds, according to the Catholic News Agency.
“… the District must permit the [After School Satan Club] (ASSC) to meet at the location and on the dates upon which the parties contingently agreed … during the current school year,” the judge wrote.
ABC 6 News reports Gallagher also said the school district’s decision violated the Satanic Temple’s First Amendment rights.
On Feb. 16, the school district approved the club’s request to meet at the middle school, but later rescinded its approval after many parents and community members protested; the district also received a school shooting threat that mentioned the club, CNA reports.
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Here’s more from the report:
Groups not affiliated with the district that use school facilities must make it clear in their advertising that their events aren’t sponsored by the public school system. The district rescinded its approval on Feb. 24 because it said some of The Satanic Temple’s posts and fliers violated the policy. The group then filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that it was discriminated against because of its viewpoints, which the district denied. …
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of The Satanic Temple by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Dechert LLP.
The Satanic Temple says the clubs teach children about “critical thinking, benevolence, empathy, problem solving, creative expression and personal sovereignty.” It claims the club will not attempt to convert children, and its members do not worship Satan.
But the club is just one of several of The Satanic Temple’s efforts to attract children into its cult-like group. Another project, “Devil’s Advocate Scholarship,” welcomes children to write essays and create art for a prize of $666, a biblical reference to the anti-Christ. The prompt last year for elementary school students was “What do you hate most about school?”
The group also runs a “Hellion Academy of Independent Learning,” in which students can be released from school once a week for a time of religious learning.
The Satanic Temple is deeply involved in abortion advocacy, and pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood have been going into schools for years to indoctrinate children with its pro-abortion agenda. Former abortion workers have warned that the abortion industry uses sex education programs to encourage risky sexual behavior and sell abortions.
Breitbart once described the work of the Satanic Temple as a “pro-abortion crusade to come to the aid of America’s largest abortion provider,” Planned Parenthood. It has filed multiple lawsuits in different states to overturn pro-life laws, though its attempts thus far have failed.
The Satanic Temple claims that an abortion is a “religious right” as well as a “ritual” that it likens to communion or baptism for Christians. In 2020, it even raffled off an abortion to raise money for its lawsuits.
Some of its members also attempt to intimidate peaceful pro-life sidewalk counselors through gruesome protests. In 2016, pro-life advocates outside of a Detroit, Michigan Planned Parenthood faced a disturbing scene when a group from the Satanic Temple arrived to counter-protest wearing baby masks and carrying whips. They held a similar protest on Good Friday in 2017.
