MOLINE, Ill. (TND) — A new extra-curricular activity is turning heads and causing a parental uproar at an elementary school in Illinois.
Jane Addams Elementary is hosting an "After School Satan Club" according to flyers allegedly handed out by The Satanic Temple which were also later spread all over social media.
Hey Kids, let's have fun at After School Satan Club!" says the flyer, which also doubled as a permission slip for the club, complete with requests for children's addresses, birthdates, and parental contact information.
The club offers to teach children grades one through five "critical thinking", "benevolence & empathy", and "personal sovereignty", among other things. Volunteer teachers who are part of the club have all "passed criminal background checks", according to the flyer.
On its website, The Satanic Temple lists applying "for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property" and organizing "clubs alongside other religious after-school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations" as two of its main goals. This club, and these flyers, are seemingly a part of that effort.
Photos of the flyers were spread online, where they met a mixture of criticism and support.
"Just another reason to homeschool," says @TheCandanceShow, the official Twitter account for political commentator Candace Owens' show in its quote tweet of the flyer.
"When you call the left demonic you’re mocked as a conspiracy theorist," says conservative commentator and TV show host John Cardillo in his quote-tweet.
Others online were in support of the club, often claiming detractors didn't fully understand the club's goals.
"Reading the fine print... I'm fine with this. They're not devil worshippers, they're non-religious and science-based. Works for me," says one Twitter reply.
"If you can have a Christian club, why not? Satanism has good things in it. But I bet all you lot criticising it haven't even studied it," another Twitter user says.
Some internet commentators offered a middle ground, saying while the club is "distasteful," it was protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
"If Fellowship of Christian Athletes is allowed, or a Muslim Student Association, etc., as an after-school club, the First Amendment protects this club too, distasteful though it may be," says a Twitter user replying to the viral post.
Responding to backlash and parental concerns, Moline-Coal Valley Schools Superintendent Dr. Rachel Savage says in a posted news release the elementary school and its teachers are not involved with the program, but the school district is allowing "community use" of its "facilities"
Since we have allowed religious entities to rent our facilities after school hours, we are not permitted to discriminate against different religious viewpoints," said Savage.
Denying the "Satan Club" allowance to rent space in a publicly-funded school after school hours would open the school district to a discrimination lawsuit it will not win, Savage says. The litigation would likely take "thousands upon thousands of tax-payer dollars away from our teachers, staff, and classrooms," the superintendent warns.
Savage added flyers were not distributed to all students at the school and only 30 flyers were sent by the club to the school to be placed in the lobby.
"Flyers and promotional materials for facility rentals that are religious in nature, qualify for lobby display only," Savage explains. "The flyers were on a table in the lobby and that is what some students picked up."
Savage states she knows how "distressing" the situation surrounding the flyers and club has become. She offers comfort to those upset by saying a parent from within the school district has reached out to set up a "child evangelism fellowship club" at the elementary school.