The co-founder and spokesman for the Satanic Temple told Fox News Digital that the group started the After School Satan Club {ASSC} as an alternative to other religious groups that were "proselytizing" to children.
"We started the after-school program in 2016, and since then we've had a number of them in operation in various places, some of them still in operation, some of them not for whatever reason," Lucien Greaves told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
"People don't understand a lot of the pro-social values we rally around. We want people to know we're active in the communities, and we're doing productive things."
Greaves' comments came after the Satanic Temple announced Tuesday that it is launching its first ASSC in Tennessee on January 10, 2024, at Chimney Rock Elementary Library. A spokesperson for ASSC, June Everett, told Fox News Digital that the club was requested by a parent at the school.
A Facebook post for the launch describes the Satanic Temple as a "non-theistic religion recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a church." The church views Satan as a "literary figure who represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny and championing the human mind and spirit."
When Fox News Digital reached out to Memphis Shelby Schools, who preside over Chimney Rock, for comment, it referred to a statement posted on Facebook in the evening – as some residents had questions about the "recent approval of a facility rental to The Satanic Temple."
School district officials said they’re committed to upholding the First Amendment for all non-profit organizations seeking to use their facilities outside of school hours.
ASSC added that the "Satan Club" will not attempt to convert students to any religious ideology. Instead, the Satanic Temple encourages "children to think for themselves."
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Greaves explained further that many religious after-school clubs are designed to "proselytize" and "convert" children.
"And there was a recognition that a lot of parents didn't approve of that kind of activity but were using after-school clubs as a kind of daycare," he said.
"So we wanted to give them an option to send children to something that wasn't going to proselytize because despite being run by the Satanic Temple, our after-school clubs don't contain items of religious opinion and don't proselytize."
"All After School Satan Clubs are based on activities centered around the Seven Fundamental Tenets and emphasize a scientific, rationalist, non-superstitious worldview," Greaves added.
ASSC volunteers will help teachers prepare "fun activities" centered around their Seven Fundamental Tenets.
Greaves described the kind of activities that the ASSC would facilitate in this after-school program as a self-directed learning process that entails playing games, solving puzzles, activities, and other things that are educational for the kids--where they can choose which ones they want to work with.
The Satanic Temple originally constructed a complex curriculum and consulted people in the field of education, but then changed it after realizing that it had become too elaborate.
"We really wanted to build something that would be a fruitful endeavor for the kids," Greaves said.
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There are people on hand who represent the club who will then guide the children through what the activities mean, what the lessons are, and what the solutions to the puzzles are. A lot of the activities end up being community project-focused, nature-focused, and science-focused. For example, a guest speaker brought in reptiles and a mouse to a club in Lebanon, CT.
"Each ASSC is unique as we encourage our volunteers to pick their own activities inspired by The 7 Tenets of The Satanic Temple," Everett told Fox News Digital.
Greaves said that there is always a demand for more of their clubs.
"They don't have to send their kids. We're not after them if they don't want any part of it," he said.
"I really hope that the after-school clubs are just a landing place for the people who feel like the other clubs are an option for them and do feel that there's a heavy-handedness to the proselytizing in other clubs," he added.
The ASSC ran at eight schools last year, and currently, four schools are running ASSC this school year.
Furthermore, there are active clubs in California, Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
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GNC also ran an after-school program at Chimney Rock Elementary. The Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) runs the GNC to teach the Bible through over 3000 clubs.
Moises Esteves, the Executive Vice President of GNC, told Fox News Digital that they do not "proselytize" to students.
"We're doing exactly what the Lord Jesus taught us to do as Christians and that is to share the Gospel to children who will listen, but we don't pressure children to convert to Christianity," Esteves said.
"That would be what we call a false conversion," he said.
Esteves also claimed that the Satan Clubs "only enter schools where Good News Clubs are located."
"It’s true," Everett told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We never want to be the only religious group operating at a public school. We go where parents that align with our beliefs and are members of The Satanic Temple invite us to go, and if the other religious club operating on campus leaves, or decides not to return—we don’t return. This just happened in Colorado."
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She went on to add, "I will note that we currently have 5 active ASSC’s. The Good News Club alone boasts about being in THOUSANDS of schools. A 2001 Supreme Court ruling protects them, and us. However, I have been finding school districts find clever ways to keep the Good News Club out—like enforcing an hour break between school dismissal and when outside clubs can start. The GNC wants nothing to do with that, and it causes parents to dig a little deeper when they are inconvenienced."
