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The Tennessee Conservative [By Rebecca Scott] –
The After School Satan Club (ASSC) and the Satanic Temple continue to set their sights on Chimneyrock Elementary School and Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS).
On March 19, 2024 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Satanic Temple against MSCS which alleges that “MSCS is unlawfully discriminating against the Satanic Temple by charging it excessive rental rates, charging unexpected and exorbitant security fees that MSCS has not charged to other similarly situated organizations, and by attempting to block and hinder the Satanic Temple’s ASSC meetings.”
According to the lawsuit, the Satanic Temple says that other clubs like the Good News Club sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship, are charged significantly less money to hold its club at Chimneyrock Elementary.
The Satanic Temple maintains that this is a first amendment issue and that the treatment they are receiving is both “illegal” and “discriminatory.”
The lawsuit alleges that the treatment is “motivated by the MSCS officials’ and community members’ overt hostility toward and disdain for the Satanic Temple and the ASSC.”
In January of 2024, community members gathered outside of Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova, Tennessee, to protest during a meeting of the Satanic Temple’s After School Satan Club.
While the campaign director for the Satanic Temple’s ASSC, June Everett, previously told The Tennessee Conservative that the club “only goes where it has been invited” and that the ASSC was actually requested by a Chimneyrock parent, other parents express serious concerns regarding the presence of the ASSC at their school.
The flyer originally used to invite students to participate in the club claimed that the club is not an attempt to convert children but is instead meant to help children think for themselves through a “scientific, rationalist, non-superstitious world view.” The flyer also stated that the Satanic Temple “is a non-theistic religion that views Satan as a literary figure who represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny and championing the human mind and spirit.”
However, some parents are understandably concerned that this is an attempt at indoctrinating children and infiltrating schools in ways that are not acceptable to many families.
The policy of Memphis-Shelby County Schools is to withhold comment while litigation is pending.
View the lawsuit HERE.
Rebecca Scott is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative.
You can reach Rebecca at Rebecca@tennesseeconservativenews.com
