Washington D.C., Aug 5, 2016 / 14:07 pm
As activists push "After School Satan" programs for elementary school students, it is likely an underhanded tactic to remove all religious programs from public schools, one lawyer says.
"What they're trying to do, I think, is scare people into saying 'let's shut down the forum'," Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA. "And they would eliminate all of these Bible clubs, prayer meetings, 'Good News Clubs' that are meeting all around the country."
The Satanic Temple – a group dedicated to promoting rationalism, individual liberty, and secularism – has announced its plans to establish "After School Satan" in several U.S. public school districts.
In a fundraising pitch on its website, the temple claims that "Fundamentalist Christian organizations are trying to turn public schools into indoctrination camps for children" and are "successfully eroding the separation of Church and State."