Memphis: Parents and faith leaders are up in arms against the elementary school in the US state of Tennessee following reports that After School Satan Club (ASSC) plans to establish its branch and offer its activities to children.
The parents led by local community and faith leaders expressed their anguish and outrage after flyers appeared at Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova detailing the activities of “After School Satan Club” starting from January 10, 2024.
Chimneyrock elementary school comes in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) district. Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) granted permission to After School Satan Club (ASSC) to start its activities citing principle of “equal access”.
"As a public school district, we're committed to upholding the principles of the First Amendment, which guarantees equal access to all non-profit organizations seeking to use our facilities after school hours," Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) said in a statement, The CBS News reported.
"This means we cannot approve or deny an organization's request based solely on its viewpoints or beliefs”, it said.
The After School Satan Club, a group organised by 'The Satanic Temple'. It is a non-theistic religion based in Salem, Massachusetts, known for its role in the 17th-century witch trials, according to The New York Times.
The temple says it advocates for pluralism, secularism and religious rights and denies worshipping Satan.
But parents and faith leaders in the Tennessee community members expressed outrage at the report of ASSC opening its brach in a local school, The Guardian reported.
In a meeting with more than 40 pastors and other religious leaders, the district board chair, Althea E Greene, said:
“Satan has no room in this district.”
Jenny Kincaid, a grandparent of a student at Chimneyrock, told the local Memphis news station Action News 5:
“I’m about to come unglued right now. I cannot believe … this is a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school and they’re letting a satanic club come in here?”
Rev. Bill Adkins, pastor of Greater Imani Church, said he believes in the First Amendment but his "liberality is being challenged."
"We cannot allow any entity called Satanic Temple to have private time with our children," Adkins said.
"I can't go into the school building and pray. But yet we can rent a facility to the Satanic Temple and they can give a party for children. It's ridiculous. It's absurd."
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