Satanic temple launches after-school club prompting protests

The launch of an after-school club run by the Satanic Temple has sparked protests from angry parents.

The so-called 'Satan Club', for children to attend while they wait for their parents to pick them up from school, was first held at the Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline, Illinois last month, and offers youngsters the chance to take part in activities and games but it is giving people bad vibes.

As well as the protests, Reece Kauffman, president of Child Evangelism, which operates the Christian Good News Clubs, has accused the Satanic Temple of "doing the work of Satan, whether they want to acknowledge it or not, because this is what Satan would do."

He added: "Satan, the term itself, means evil. And this is not the influence you want to bring upon your children."

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

But Lucien Greaves, a spokesperson for the Satanic Temple told Fox News that the after-school club would allow people to see that "good people can have different perspectives, sometimes on the same mythology, but not mean any harm." He added they would not be "teaching children about Satanism", but simply that students would 'know that this is taught by Satanists.'

He added: "The after-school Satan Clubs were conceived of in order to give an alternative to [the] religious indoctrination [of] after-school programs".

Perhaps everyone is making a fuss about nothing, though. After all, the club reportedly has only attracted the same two children to each of its meetings so far.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.