'After School Satan Club' approved at California elementary school

California community is outraged over ‘Satan Club’ hosting meetings at elementary school – parents calling the decision to allow the club ‘disgusting’

• An elementary school in Kern County, California is facing backlash from parents and the community for allowing an ‘After School Satan Club’  
• The Satanic Temple is a nontheistic religious organization that is meant to ‘educate children and encourage critical thinking’ 
• Parents of students at Golden Hills Elementary School have expressed their outrage over the club’s approval, saying the decision is ‘disgusting’ 
• Those in support of the organization point to The Good News Club, a Christian-based group that is already allowed in the school 

Parents are outraged after finding out a California elementary school is allowing an ‘After School Satan Club’ on campus where there are children as young as five years old. 

The club was recently created at the Golden Hills Elementary School in Tehachapi, California, located in Kern County. 

In an interview with KBAK, one parent described the decision to allow the club, founded by the Satanic Temple and the Reason Alliance, as ‘disgusting,’ while another called it ‘a mistake.’ 

That kind of reaction was expected, according to Paul Hicks, the man who will lead the club at the Northern California school. 

‘We’ve already gotten threats against us,’ said Hicks, who is also a critical thinking professor. ‘As I would often say, there’s no hate like Christian love.’

The After School Satan Club is meant to ‘educate children and encourage critical thinking’

Parents are furious over the Tehachapi Unified School District’s approval of the club

The club is meant to ‘educate children and encourage critical thinking,’ according to Lucien Greaves, spokesperson for the After School Satan Club. 

Greaves says that in spite of the controversial name, the organization does not teach Satanism to children. 

‘We keep religious matters out of the teachings of the after school Satan clubs and people often ask us, “well then why include Satanism at all, being that people are going to be offended by it?”

Despite the claim from Greaves, parents and family members of students say that the whole situation completely unsettles them. 

‘Tehachapi said yes, and I think they made a mistake. I know my grandson will not be a part of this club,’ said Brenda Maher, another relative of a student. 

The Satanic Temple’s website describes the club as a way to educate without proselytization

‘I understand the school has to allow them because they allow other after school programs such as the good news, which is a Christian based after school program, that one I’m okay with, but I can’t imagine why anyone would want their child to attend this Satanic group,’ said Sheila Knight, a grandparent. 

The club’s presence also sparked outrage online with dozens of parents and community weighing in. 

In a post made in the Techapi Asks, Rants, and Raves Facebook page, one man wrote that he believes the club’s organizers are being deceptive with their tactics and the motives.   

‘So several people have told me that the new Satan after school club at Golden Hills elementary is not a religion, but a philosophy club … Then why did they choose Satan? Why not the Jean Paul Satre existentialism club? Why not the Descartes club?’ asked Joe Lathrop.    

‘They put Satan in the name for a reason. People should stop being intellectually dishonest and just own up to the fact that they want kids to worship Satan as a secular god,’ the man continued. 

This is a grab from the Satanic Temple’s own video explaining the purpose of the After School Satan Club

Members in the Facebook group agreed with Lathrop’s assertions. 

‘Its just sick that they are targeting elementary school kids. Those are babies,’ wrote one woman. 

‘The whole thing is a lark for a reaction,’ said a commenter.  

‘The hypocrisy of the School Board..saying they have no choice…just try starting a Neo Nazi Club or a Pro Life Club and see how fast they run,’ said another person. 

In a statement released by the Tehachapi Unified School District, officials stated that it is against the law to discriminate against groups founded on Faith. 

Hicks said it was the involvement of clubs like the Good News Club, already established on campus, that led to the decision to start The Satanic Temple endorsed group. 

‘There’s currently a Good News Club there which is teaching kids to go save souls for Jesus, at the school. We want to give an alternative point of view,’ Hicks said. 

School district officials explained the decision to allow  of the club by saying that they are legally unable to discriminate against groups founded on Faith 

FOX News host Tucker Carlson earlier this year spoke with Greaves live on air and quizzed him about the After School Satan Club and its teachings. 

He asked if Greaves and other organizers have faced pushback from parents and school administrators or if they were ‘passive like everyone else in America, kind of just letting it happen.’

Carlson argued that school districts allowing the clubs could be potentially harmful and could open the door for other clubs like it. 

‘What you’re saying is ridiculous, we both know it’s ridiculous,’ the FOX anchor said. 

Greaves argued back, saying that the club has every right to be on campus, just as much as the Good News Club.  

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NQVVp9bcjWI%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

According to a calendar on the Golden Hills Elementary School website, there are at least two meetings of the Good News Club in the coming weeks. 

The calendar does not show any dates for the After School Satan Club’s meetings. 

In 2001, the United States Supreme Court ruled that organizations like the Good News Club are permitted to meet on campus after hours. 

According to the organization’s website, the Good News Club is committed to ‘delivering timeless truths of the Bible in exciting, engaging ways. Children learn the Gospel, and many come to know Jesus as their Savior.’ 

The Satanic Temple says the on campus group does not attempt to teach Satanism to students, some as young as five years old 

The Supreme Court decision triggered other clubs and organizations, like the After School Satan Club, to start becoming more involved and branching out across the country. 

‘I’m not teaching these kids to be Satanic, I’m not teaching these kids that they need to hail Satan or identify as Satanists,’ Hicks claimed. 

‘There’s also a lot of confusion between The Satanic Temple and The Church of Satan, which are two different things,’ said Lauren Mae, a Tehachapi mom and volunteer with the After School Satan Club told SFGate. 

‘They definitely do seem to think that we are devil worshippers, which we are not. We don’t believe in a supernatural Satan,’ Mae continued. 

This is the logo for The Satanic Temple, which is the founder of the group

On the website for The Satanic Temple, the group states they do ‘not advocate for religion in schools,’ but ‘once religion invades schools, as The Good News Clubs have, The Satanic Temple will fight to ensure that plurality and true religious liberty are respected.’

A flyer released by The Satanic Temple says that meetings at Golden Hills Elementary will begin in December. 

Children will have to have a permission form signed by a parent or legal guardian before they are able to attend, however. 

‘Nobody has to engage with it who doesn’t want to, and children are going to need to have permission slips signed by their parents to have any involvement at all,’ said Greaves.

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