Parents Furious as School Approves Satanic Temple Back-to-School Event

Parents of the kids who attend Northern High School in Pennsylvania were furious over the school's decision to allow a Satanic Temple to host a fund-raising back-to-school event on campus.

Northern York County School District approved the back-to-school event just months before rejecting the establishment of an After School Satan Club under a different set of officials. According to Fox News, community members were livid because the Satanic group had been attempting to enter the school district for some months now.

Mom Jennifer McAllister said that it's crazy to have a Satanic cult in the community, but Lucien Greaves, the co-founder of the Satanic group, said they are merely showing that there are other religious representations. He said it would become a serious problem of discrimination if other back-to-school prayer events were allowed by the school except theirs.

The Satanic event will take after a Dillsburg Community Worship and Prayer at the school's auditorium this September. It will include arts and crafts, science presentations, and various family activities. Funds raised during this event will return to the community through the group's various outreach programs.

School district superintendent Steve Kirkpatrick said that allowing the group's event and renting out the school's facilities to the Satanic Temple does not mean endorsing a religious faction.

No interest in converting kids to Satanism

According to Daily Star, the group has no interest in converting children as they do not believe Satan exists, but they have trained educators to provide learning opportunities. Public school students, after all, are free to engage in their preferred activities regardless of their religious beliefs, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

The Satanic Temple also runs open activities for parents and guardians to join. It has been pushing for an After School Satan club to give the kids a "contrasting balance" or an alternative in their knowledge and perceptions about the world.

However, one parent said during the school district's meeting that no one will benefit from having this kind of club, especially since Satan intends to harm "all the time."

In May, parents were also outraged after the Satanic Temple launched its activities in a North Carolina school. Tempe Moore organized a protest/prayer rally attended by 50 people to inform the Satanic group that they "do not want this in our schools."

Satanic Temple will still sue Northern York County School District

Meanwhile, despite allowing their one-time event, Greaves said they will still pursue litigation against the school district for rejecting their proposal to open an After School Satan Club last April.

Greaves told ABC 27 that their upcoming back-to-school event was supposed to officially launch the club in Northern York County. It was supposed to be a celebration of equal access and non-discrimination, but the rejection underscored the inconsistencies of the school board.

The co-founder also said that he sees how some parents may not be inclined to have their children undergo evangelization. However, he pointed out that Christian clubs in schools are doing something similar as well, except they don't have "Satan" named in their events.