Supreme Court ruling leads to jokes about the Church of Satan

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that Maine cannot exclude religious schools from a state tuition program in the case Carson v. Makin.

In a 6-3 ruling, this decision sets a precedent for other states, that schools who choose to subsidize private schools cannot discriminate against religious ones.

As the decision was released to the public, several people took to Twitter expressing how displeased they were with the final ruling. Many felt that it could impact the separation of church and state, something founders of the United States expressed concern over when declaring independence from England.

People channeled their angry feelings into the form of comedy where many made the same joke about how under the new rule schools affiliated with non-traditional religions like the Church of Satan would benefit.

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"The best version of this story is if [Church of Satan] opens a high school in Maine and names its team mascot the Angels," Erin wrote on Twitter.

"What ever happened to the separation of church & state? On the other hand does this now pave the way for the [Church of Satan] to finally launch a federally funded kindergarten class?" Ted tweeted.

In response to the jokes about it, the Church of Satan wrote "Satanism does not condone the indoctrination of children" as per one of the rules they adhere to is "do not harm little children."

Despite its name, the organization does not worship Satan or promote evil rather it believes in human autonomy, self-determination, atheism, and more in a mostly peaceful way.

In a separate tweet the group added "Our positions do not change with press cycles. We are not here to be your political punchline."

Chief John Roberts delivered the majority opinion of Carson v. Makin and noted that "a State need not subsidize private education but once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious."

Justice Sonya Sotomayor wrote the dissenting opinion in which she highlighted the concerns that others expressed.

"This Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build," Sotomayor wrote. "If a State cannot offer subsidies to its citizens without being required to fund religious exercise, any State that values its historic antiestablishment interests more than this Court does will have to curtail the support it offers to its citizens."

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