Satanic clubs, whose members do not worship the devil, usually formed in response to presence of religious groups in schools

Community members in a Tennessee school district want to banish Satan from their children’s halls after the formation of a new club was announced.

The After School Satan Club (ASSC) wants to establish a branch in Chimneyrock elementary school in the Memphis-Shelby county schools (MSCS) district.

The ASSC is a federally recognized nonprofit organization and national after-school program with local chapters across the US. The club is associated with the Satanic Temple, though it claims it is secular and “promotes self-directed education by supporting the intellectual and creative interests of students”.

The Satanic Temple makes it clear its members do not actually worship the devil or believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural. Instead Satan is used as a symbol of free will, humanism and anti-authoritarianism.

  • Alteon@lemmy.world
    1981·
    1 year ago

    Me and my wife are both members of TST and we LOVE the work they do. The Tenets they promote are loving, self-respecting, and do justice towards an ideal world of Individualism, anti-authoritarianism, and critical thinking - i.e. everything that Christianity and modern conservatism in general are eager to suppress. We regularly donate to them, and we constantly purchase stuff through their store to help support them.

    • CherenkovBlue@iusearchlinux.fyi
      341·
      1 year ago

      Same, also a member of TST and a practicing romantic Satanist. It’s brought a lot of strength, clarity, and confidence to my life.

      • ickplant@lemmy.world
        11·
        1 year ago

        That sounds interesting, I know I can try googling but I would love to hear from the source. What is a romantic Satanist?

        • CherenkovBlue@iusearchlinux.fyi
          18·
          1 year ago

          Check out the book “Compassionate Satanism” by Lilith Starr. You can buy it on TST’s website, I am not sure about availability on other platforms.

          Romantic Satanism holds up the depiction of Satan from Romantic period literature as an ideal. The book has a nice analysis of Satan’s use at that point as a rebel against authoritarianism who fought for Enlightenment. Romantic Satanists are non theistic and do not believe in the supernatural. TST is an organization of Romantic Satanists but you don’t have to be a TST member to be one; the seven tenets of TST are a major guiding force as well.

          Totally suggest reading the book - it’s fascinating and well written.

    • shadowSprite@lemmy.world
      18·
      1 year ago

      Out of curiosity, how does one join the Satanic Temple? I never hear anything about them except when they show up in the news, and the more I hear about them the more I love them.

    • Smite6645@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      5·
      1 year ago

      Open question to anyone: how much shit do you get being TST members? Do you just keep it on the downlow? I can very much imagine consequences if it got around at work, etc. Any repercussions may be illegal, but a lot of people are “ask questions later, sort it out in court if it gets there” types.

      • Alteon@lemmy.world
        6·
        1 year ago

        My work associates are all extremely liberal so they were actually pretty stoked. A couple others had no idea what it was, but LOVED the concept after it was explained to them.

        A good friend of mine who’s a Christian Pastor was the only one that was like…shocked. lol. After he chilled out and I got to explain it to him, he was all in favor of it. He’s not a big fan of the mainstream evangalism shit that’s going on, so TST being a way to fight the encroachment of the alt-right/Supply-side Jesus on our government was a big win for him.

    • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
      4·
      1 year ago

      I want the Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Abortion Clinic lunchbox, and I want it now! That merch is AMAZING!