"This is how rotten our nation has become": ChimneyRock Elementary School Satan Club sparks outrage

Parents of students from the ChimneyRock Elementary School in Memphis have expressed concern after the school announced that it was hosting an After School Satan Club. While the community members were weary of the extracurricular activity, the district’s interim superintendent announced that they could not vote against it.

According to Fox 13 Memphis, the flyer for ChimneyRock Elementary School’s Satanic Club meeting read:

“HEY KIDS! LET’S HAVE FUN AT AFTER SCHOOL SATAN CLUB”

The event is to take place on January 10, 2024, at the school’s library from 4:30 pm. Students will reportedly take part in activities based on the “Seven Fundamental Tenants and emphasize a scientific, rationalistic, nonsuperstitious worldview.” It was announced that attending the event is not mandatory for all of the school’s students and neither is it sponsored by the Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

According to The Satanic Temple, their mission was to “encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.”

The organization’s After School Satan Club campaign director June Evertt said that they were asked to bring the club to Tennessee parents. She said in a statement to Fox 17 that they wish to have the same access, rights, and privileges as other religious clubs hold.

As soon as netizens heard about the club at the Memphis school, they took to social media to express their shock and disdain about the club. While many wondered if it was a joke, one person claimed that a club like the After School Satan Club showed how "rotten our nation has become."

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“After school blasphemy”: ChimneyRock Elementary School’s After School Satan Club event sparks outrage online

As mentioned earlier, a school in Memphis, Tennessee, announced that it would be hosting an After School Satan Club on January 10, 2024. While the news left parents of the students concerned, it also had netizens condemning the organization and the school.

Social media users took to X, formerly Twitter, to claim that they couldn't believe that an educational institution was allowing the Satanic Temple to teach their students. While some called it "blasphemy," others said it was "heartbreaking."

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District interim superintendent claims to have no choice but to let the Stanic Club conduct meeting at ChimneyRock Elementary School

The district’s interim superintendent Toni Williams revealed that they could not reject the organization’s event. In a statement, Williams said that while he didn't endorse or "support the beliefs of this organization," he did support the law.

He added that as a public school district, they are required to grant equal access to all non-profit organizations to facilitate all after-school activities. He noted that they have to grant access irrespective of the organization’s faiths and beliefs.

“Let’s not be fooled by what we’ve see in the past 24 hours. Which is an agenda initiated to ensure that we cancel all faith-based organizations that partner with our school district,” Williams added.

Concerned ChimneyRock Elementary School student parents were shocked and enraged. One parent Courtney Dennis opined that the meeting shouldn't be held in an educational institution. Meanwhile, Jenny Kincaid, the grandparent of a ChimneyRock Elementary School student, expressed feeling "unglued."

“I cannot believe- this is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school, and they’re letting a Satanic club come here?” Kincaid added.

It is worth noting that school districts have faced repercussions for denying The Satanic Temple to rent out spaces to conduct events. Last year, they reached a settlement with the Saucon Valley School District after the latter blocked them from hosting the After School Satan Club meeting in school facilities. This led to the district not only giving the organization a space to conduct events but also having to pay them $200,000 in attorneys’ fees.