BOISE -- The Satanic Temple will roll out its new After School Satan Clubs at nine elementary schools across the United States this fall.
The locations include California, Georgia, Utah and Oregon. The clubs will open at schools where evangelical Christian after-school programs are already in place.
Satanic Temple members will lead these Satan Club meetings. They say kids will learn about science, basic critical reasoning, art and other educational stories.
The Satanic Temple said while it would prefer that no religion be taught in public schools, this is an opportunity to provide balance in places where evangelical clubs dominate the conversation.
“I think a lot of people probably equate Satan with the literal human Satan of the Bible,” said Satanic Temple member Shiva Honey. “We're not promoting evil actions or anything like that. In fact, we're trying to work in our communities to better them as opposed to doing anything nefarious.”
Boise Public Schools spokesman Dan Hollar said in a statement: “In working with the community, we have a number of District policies in place that may address this situation should we be contacted by this group. Please know, to my knowledge, we have not been contacted by this organization.”
The Satanic Temple said that while there are no plans to open a club in Idaho, it is not outside the realm of possibility.
They say as interest spreads and more chapters develop they'd be very interested in opening more After School Satan Clubs across the country.