The Satanic Temple is offering a religious learning program to students at an elementary school in Ohio as part of the state's religious release program.
Students at Edgewood Elementary School in Marysville, Ohio, can attend the Hellion Academy of Independent Learning, or HAIL, starting this month under the Release Time Religious Instruction, or RTRI, program in the state, with learning opportunities being offered off-campus during school hours once a month.
Other lessons under the RTRI program, including Bible study, are also offered to students at the school. HAIL is not affiliated with or approved by the local school district or board members.
HAIL seeks to strengthen students' critical thinking, good works in the community, compassion and empathy, self-directed learning and creative expression.
June Everett, the campaign director for the After School Satan Club and an ordained minister for the Satanic Temple, told WCMH that a parent reached out asking for a Satanic Temple program at the school.
Everett added that the Satanic Temple only offers programs for students when parents request them, and only in districts where there are other religious release programs.
She said the parent who asked for HAIL was searching for an alternative to LifeWise, an Ohio-based Christian program offering Bible lessons to students during lunch and recess once a week, because students who choose not to attend sometimes feel left out or ostracized.
"We aren’t trying to shut the LifeWise Academy down, but I do think a lot of school districts don't realize when they open the door for one religion, they open it for all of them," Everett said.
Everett said HAIL is only offered monthly as opposed to LifeWise's weekly lessons because the Satanic Temple has fewer resources and a smaller budget than LifeWise, which often partners with local churches.
The program in Marysville is the Satanic Temple's first release program in Ohio, but its sister program, the After School Satan Club, has operated in Dayton, Wilmington and Lebanon, Everett said.
The Satanic Temple and HAIL, Everett said, are often misunderstood.
"We aren't worshipping the devil and sacrificing babies and using blood. It’s actually the opposite," Everett said.
Everett told WOSU that Satanists, as a whole, "are non-theistic, meaning we don't believe in any supernatural deities and that includes, you know, God or Satan."
LifeWise CEO and founder Joel Penton said HAIL is a good example of why his organization supports Ohio House Bill 445, which would require school districts to implement a release instruction policy. Penton said the bill would offer clarity on how to implement the religious programs.
"LifeWise isn’t fearful of other organizations offering RTRI," Penton told WCMH. "We believe all families should have the opportunity to choose religious study during school hours and we trust parents to make the best choice for their children."
