An elementary school is being forced to host what’s been dubbed an after-school Satan club, after a lawyer advised the school district it would lose a lawsuit if the club is denied.
The Satanic Temple applied for the after-school spot in a Washington state school after it found out a Good News Bible Club hosted meetings, reports the Skagit Valley Herald. A spokesman for the satanic group said a parent brought the Bible club to their attention over concerns children are being taught to evangelize their friends.
The spokesman told the Skagit Valley Herald its curriculum does not teach satan-worship or the worship of any deity, but teaches children “logic, self-empowerment and reasoning.”
A lawyer for the Mount Vernon School District advised against rejecting the club’s application in order to avoid costly litigation. “I think that if the school district denied that application, you would face costly litigation that would be distracting from your mission,” the attorney Duncan Fobes said at a meeting. “And would ultimately be unsuccessful.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that all schools must allow all organizations, secular or religious, to use school property if they allow one to have access. The Satanic Temple has applied for clubs in several districts around the country that have Good News Bible Clubs.
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