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.

    • Captainvaqina@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Wait, are you referring to the well documented, sprawling history of child sexual abuse committed by clergy and covered up by the church?

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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        I’m talking about the edgy title of the club which competely contradicts its description.

        I know many Christians don’t read the Bible but I didn’t know atheists can’t read at all.

    • TurboWafflz@lemmy.world
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      You do know that people are allowed to use names from things they don’t actually believe, right? If someone called their club The Zeus Club, would you think they believed in Zeus or just that they thought it was a cool name?

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If they were called “The Zeus Worshippers” I would indeed believe they worship Zeus.

        It’s called “Satanic Temple”. This isn’t a vague reference to atheism.

        • hips_and_nips@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Oh, so with that logic you believe the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea is a democratic republic.

          I guess you’ve also never heard of the English idiom “don’t judge a book by its cover”.

        • lingh0e@lemmy.world
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          Did you know that Cub Scouts isn’t compromised of bear cubs?

          Did you know that the only baseball teams that take part in The World Series are North American?

          Did you know that Dr Pepper is neither a doctor nor a pepper?

          So what’s really up your craw?

          • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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            In both your examples at least half the name is relevant to what it is about.

            This club is not about Satan nor about a Temple.

            I understand that atheists have to be really edgy but there are actual Satanic temples and people who worship Satan so using that name is plain misleading as it’s stealing a different religion.

            • lingh0e@lemmy.world
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              Lol. I love how consumed you are with trying to argue about this, insisting that this is just atheists trying to be edgy…

              They are trolling stupid assholes and you are absolutely taking the bait.

              Congratulations, you’re a stupid asshole.

        • TurboWafflz@lemmy.world
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          Really? I mean maybe think about it in a different context, what if you saw an album from a band called The Zeus Worshippers, would you think “ahh yes, religious music” or would you think “ooh, sounds like an interesting metal band”

    • ssboomman@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I mean anything will sound insane once you stripped all meaningful context from the situation. Clearly you can see the difference here now, right? Like even if these people did worship satan who cares? They should have religious freedoms right?

    • chitak166@lemmy.world
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      What? It’s sad watching people do what you do on both sides.

      Just say your words, man. Make your own arguments. Don’t be like “THEY REALLY MEAN THIS: XXX” and then it’s a bunch of bullshit just to support your agenda.

      It’s a tell-tale sign that someone is reddit-brained beyond belief.

    • Sidyctism@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      And the worshippers of the flying noodlemonster believe in the noodlemonster too? No of course not. These are political groups that exists to point out the hipocrisy in the understanding and application of the first amendment or similar laws in other countries (mostly favorably to christianity, disfavorably to other religions).

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      After school accuser club isn’t associated with Christianity but is actually there to call out their hypocrisy? Weird huh

          • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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            No the question is why they’re calling something not related to worshipping Satan a Satanic Temple and then pretend that this name doesn’t directly imply they are worshipping Satan.

            You’re all doing your very best to avoid to the actual argument.

            • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
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              They literally chose the name to be antagonistic to Christians, and judging from your comment chain, it appears to be working as intended.

            • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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              They aren’t pretending they don’t imply that. They’re explicitly stating that they don’t, but that it shouldn’t matter even if they did.

            • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
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              It’s much the same way christians say they worship Jesus, but in reality most of them worship wealth and power, then cover up for pedophiles as long as they say the magic words.

              Satanists pay lip service to Satan exactly the same way, and dare I say because, Christians pay lip service to Jesus. The difference is Satanists arent hypocrites about their disbelief.

            • Facebones@reddthat.com
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              No, you’re doing your very best to prove the ENTIRE POINT of all of this -

              That Y’all want Christianity to be the official state religion that can be pushed on children by the state, and all other religions or belief systems should not be allowed in public arenas, areas, etc etc.

    • starman2112@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Do you think The Satanic Temple actually believes in Satan, or are you just upset that they call themselves that despite not believing in Him?

    • Syrc@lemmy.world
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      So should we all put in jail kids from the cited “Christian Evangelical Bible Club” because they believe in a book which exalts sexism and rape, or are they allowed to play the “well, actually” card because they’re a majority?

    • marx2k@lemmy.world
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      You should reflect on the fact that the ASS club has essentially laid out idiot bait and your ended up taking it.

      Consider that for today