Is Satan After School Club Stirring Satanic Panic Among Religions?

Parents are always looking to keep their kids busy with extracurricular activities. But now, the latest option for an after school program is sponsored by a Satanist and may bring back flashbacks of the so-called satanic panic decades ago.

However, in 2016, while the word “Satan” still tends to make certain people uncomfortable, it has not stopped the Satanic Temple from introducing a program called the "After School Satan Club" to public elementary schools. The organization is making an effort to challenge Christian evangelical after school clubs by giving children an alternative.

The New York Daily News reported that the purpose of the after school program is to teach children that evangelical materials being taught in schools only represent one religious opinion among a sea of others. The program will focus on rationalism science and free inquiry rather than worshipping Satan.

Those who consider themselves ‘80s babies may recall the frenzy known as the satanic panic: a time when moral panic ignited the war between traditional values and demonic perversion. Many believed the innocence of children everywhere was at risk of being destroyed.

Thanks to the media, advocacy organizations, religious groups, politicians, fiction and word of mouth, people allowed their collective fears to get the best of them and truly believed that devil worshippers plotted to molest and torture their children, according to How Stuff Works.

Satanic Temple spokesperson Doug Mesner, who goes by the alias Lucien Greaves revealed why the after school program is so important.

He explained, "It's critical that children understand that there are multiple perspectives on all issues, and that they have a choice in how they think.” The term “Satan” is used as a "metaphorical construct" that symbolizes the group’s opposition to tyranny.

The "After School Satan Club" is available to students in the school districts of eight states and Washington, D.C.