Last year I ran for school board in my Orange County, California district - Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD). I lost, but not before a couple of huge stories burst into the national media out of our district. You may remember the story about the transgender teacher who had a “queer library” displayed in the classroom that included pornographic and sexually mature material. The teacher, a female who identifies as a male named Flint, has since left the school.
It’s been a bumpy ride for parents to say the least, so I was both shocked and fatigued to discover the latest weirdness being thrown at the children of CUSD.
The Satanic Temple’s After School Satan Club purports to be “an after school program that promotes self-directed education by supporting the intellectual and creative interests of students.” The website goes on to claim “proselytization is not our goal, and we’re not interested in converting children to Satanism.” But if that is really the case, the rest of the language on the after school page doesn’t feel as benign.
The After School Satan Club does not believe in introducing religion into public schools and will only open a club if other religious groups are operating on campus. ASSC exists to provide a safe and inclusive alternative to the religious clubs that use threats of eternal damnation to convert school children to their belief system. Unlike our counterparts, who publicly measure their success in young children's "professions of faith," the After School Satan Club program focuses on science, critical thinking, creative arts, and good works for the community. While engaged in all of these activities, we want clubgoers to have a good time
And then this:
We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of everlasting other-worldly horrors.
Orange County is one of the last bastions of red California, although the county has taken on a significant purple tint lately. It isn’t San Francisco or Los Angeles. This is, after all, the land of the megachurch. In short, you wouldn’t think you’d see this here. That seems to be the point according to satanists.
The club’s founder, Doug Mesner aka Lucien Greaves, is an anti-Christian activist who has been replicating his program in places like Tennessee and Colorado. In a 2013 interview with Vice, Greaves described the usefulness of the First Amendment in pushing Christian views out of the public square. He called it a “poison pill.”
The satanic club may very well have a first amendment case to host an after school program. Still, if the majority of parents feel uncomfortable with such a club existing in their schools, where is the line drawn?
Greaves has a strategy and is executing it. Will CUSD parents have a say in the matter? The January meeting of the CUSD Board of Trustees is Wednesday night in San Juan Capistrano. Open comments begin at 7p.m.
I’ll add this, as a CUSD parent and a Christian…this is not for nothing. This is not a benign act. There is a reason the world doesn’t turn to satanists for…well…anything. It is an extremely dangerous thing to normalize satanic worship, normalize children being near satanic worshippers, or normalize teaching children to harbor such blatant animosity for their Christian peers and family. None of this belongs in a school, even if it’s after hours.
I haven’t contacted the school yet. I’m really just writing this in my capacity as a local parent and I’m just getting this news at 11p.m. tonight, but I’ll be at the meeting on Wednesday and I’ll keep you updated.
