Is There a Satan Club in Your Child’s School?
Is there a Satan Club in your child’s public school? There very well could be. Let me give you a little background and then some advice. 
Back in 2001, the United States Supreme Court heard a case by the name of Good News Club v. Milford Central School District. This case was brought because a school district refused to allow Child Evangelism Fellowship to hold Good News Clubs in schools in its district. The school district thought that having religious clubs on school property was some sort of violation of separation of church and state, or endorsement of religion by the school. 
The Supreme Court ruled that the school district must give the same accommodations to a Good News Club as any other club. For example, if a chess club gets to use a classroom and meet immediately after the last bell, the school couldn’t restrict a Good News Club from having that same access just because the Good News Club has a religious perspective. That would amount to discrimination based on religious viewpoint. That would be a violation of First Amendment rights to free speech and free practice of religion. The First Amendment says the government may not prohibit the exercise of these freedoms.
Now, the First Amendment also says the government may not ESTABLISH a particular religion and force people to practice it. So, the school district’s attorneys argued that having a religious club on public school property could lead children to believe that the school or government was somehow establishing or endorsing a particular religion. SCOTUS considered that argument and concluded that there is greater danger that children will get the idea that they may not speak about God on public property than there is danger that kids will get the idea that the school is endorsing a particular religion. After all, the clubs meet AFTER school, and all kinds of clubs are free to meet. Keep in mind that parents must give permission for any child to attend any club after school.
Child Evangelism Fellowship was pleased with the victory and has been able to help many school districts around the USA understand that they must allow the Good News Club to have the same access as other clubs. This SCOTUS ruling also helped to win another ruling which clarified that teachers may also volunteer in Good News Club.
Now here’s where it gets sticky. The Satanic Temple was upset to see Good News Clubs having less resistance, so to make a point, they decided to start Satan Clubs in public schools. They choose a school with a Good News Club and insist that permission slips be made available to the children. Of course, when parents see that a Satan Club is coming, they get upset and go to the school board. The board can’t allow one and not the other, so the hope is to close down all clubs and thus get rid of Good News Clubs. Perhaps pressure on the Good News Club to leave in exchange for the Satan Club to leave would solve the problem.
So, here’s my advice. The best strategy is to call their bluff. Sure, start your Satan Club. See how many parents give permission for kids to attend. See how well it’s run and how long it lasts. Their track record is dismal. They will say that they don’t actually teach kids about Satan, it’s more about humanism and so-called tolerance. Which is ironic when they’re actually being intolerant! 
It is concerning that kids may feel that going to a Satan Club has a cool, naughty, novelty about it. And even if the content seems innocuous, it wears down inhibition to attending a truly Satanic event or organization when older. 
The fact that Satan Clubs don’t do well is no reason to dismiss concern. Besides this overt attempt to win the hearts of kids, there are many more insidious attempts to win kids over to the dark side. The best defense is a good offense. Even if you don’t have children of your own in public school, but especially if you do, I encourage you to help out in a Good News Club. The best strategy is for your church to adopt a club. For more information, go to cefonline.com.

#1
Many people don’t know it’s legal to hold an after-school Good News Club in public schools. The US Supreme Court heard a case by the name of Good News Club v. Milford Central School District. This school district refused to allow Child Evangelism Fellowship to hold Good News Clubs in schools in its district. They thought having religious clubs on school property was a violation of separation of church and state, or endorsement of religion by the school. They found out that Americans are allowed to practice free speech and practice freedom of religion even on public school property. To learn more about this landmark case, go to cefonline.com
#2
The US Supreme Court ruled that public schools must give the same accommodations to a Good News Club as any other club. For example, if a chess club gets to use a classroom and meet immediately after the last bell, the school can’t restrict a Good News Club from having that same access just because the Good News Club has a religious perspective. Different rules would amount to discrimination based on religious viewpoint. That would be a violation of First Amendment rights to free speech and free practice of religion. Many people have the wrong idea that we can’t bring our faith onto public property. To learn more about this landmark case, go to cefonline.com
#3
The First Amendment to the US Constitution says the government may not ESTABLISH a particular religion and force people to practice it. So, attorneys argued to the Supreme Court that having a religious club on public school property could lead children to believe that the school or government was establishing or endorsing a particular religion. The Court considered that argument and concluded that there is greater danger that children will get the idea that they may not speak about God on public property than there is danger that kids will get the idea that a school is endorsing a particular religion. Learn more about this case at cefonline.com.
#4
Child Evangelism Fellowship has been able to help many school districts around the USA understand that legally, they must allow the Good News Club to have the same access to school property as other after-school clubs, and not discriminate based on religious viewpoint. The Good News Club court victory set a precedent that helped to win another important ruling which clarified that teachers may volunteer in Good News Club, even at their own school where they teach. To not let teachers participate in an after-school Good News Club violates their freedoms of speech and religion. To learn more about these landmark cases, go to cefonline.com.
#5
The Satanic Temple was upset to see Good News Clubs have legal access to school property after schools. So they decided to start Satan Clubs in public schools. They choose a school with a Good News Club and insist that permission slips be made available to the children. When parents see a Satan Club is coming, they get upset and go to the school board. The board can’t allow one and not the other, so the hope is to close down all clubs and thus get rid of Good News Clubs. Stay calm and call their bluff. The best defense is a good offense, so help out in a Good News Club by encouraging your church to adopt a club. To learn more, go to cefonline.com
#6
You may have heard about The Satanic Temple starting Satan Clubs in schools that have Good News Clubs. They claim that they don’t ACTUALLY teach kids about Satan, they just teach about self-autonomy and tolerance for all ideas. First, encouraging kids to attend a Satan Club and decide it’s not really evil is to break down their inhibitions to attending satanic events in the future. Second, worship of self is idolatry. Third, acceptance of all ideas is dangerous--Kids need to learn objective truth and discernment. Even if you don’t have kids in your local public school, but especially if you do, I encourage you to help their classmates by volunteering in an after-school Good News Club.