A planned Satanist after-school club is causing controversy in a community in Virginia, and organizers and parents on both sides of the debate gave their opinions to Fox News Digital.
The Satanic Temple sought to start an After School Satan Club (ASSC) for youngsters at the neighborhood B.M. Chesapeake has attracted global notice as the epicenter of a wildfire engulfing the southern Virginia region. Williams Elementary.
Response of Ordained Minister
June Everett, an ordained minister in The Satanic Temple and the campaign manager for ASSC, responded to parents who were upset about the club.
He stated that he would like the parents who are concerned about the club to understand that they are here because they collaborated with educators to create an after-school program that is interesting and enjoyable and supports the development and growth of young brains.
The Satanic Temple, in Everett’s words, seeks to establish such organizations “as a constructive and positive alternative to other religious after-school clubs that frequently glorify fear and indoctrination.
In the words of the ordained minister, ASSC “fosters creativity and initiatives [that] are frequently aimed to serve the society and encourage empathy.”
She was originally sent to The Satanic Temple five years ago when her first-grader “was terrified by his buddies on the playground one day, and they were participants in the Good News Club that was going place at the public elementary school he was attending at the time,” according to Everett.
Congregation
The congregation at her local chapter of The Satanic Temple welcomed Everett “with such open arms,” according to Everett, who earlier this week resubmitted an application to create an ASSC in Chesapeake when the previous sponsor withdrew.
In support of his claim, Everett cited the Child Evangelism Fellowship’s (CEF) stated mission: “to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living.”