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Christian Vet Who Beheaded Satanic Statue in Iowa Statehouse Seeks Dismissal of Hate Crime Charge, Says Satanic Temple Isn’t a Real Religion

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The Christian veteran charged in the beheading of a Satanic statue placed in the Iowa Capitol is seeking to have the hate crime charge against him removed because the Satanic Temple group is not considered a relgion.

In a Friday court filing, attorney Sara Pasquale for Michael Cassidy wrote that the “violation of individual rights” enhancement in the case is inapplicable as well as unconstitutional, according to the Des Moines Register.

Pasquale wrote that the law regarding crimes motivated by “the person’s (victim’s) race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability” was not applicable in Cassidy’s case, as the display was owned by the Satanic Temple and is a legal entity, not an individual that can have a race, sex, disability, or practice a religion.

“It could never be said, save in Wonderland, that Best Buy is Buddhist,” Pasquale wrote.

Pasquale noted that the Satanic Temple is not a religion for the purposes of the statute, as a religion entails “a system of faith and worship,” and the Satanic Temple has specifically said they don’t have “a belief in a personal Satan. She also noted comments made by a temple leader in which it was a “common misconception” that “the Satanic Temple is a theistic religion that worships Satan as an entity.” (Read more from “Christian Vet Who Beheaded Satanic Statue in Iowa Statehouse Seeks Dismissal of Hate Crime Charge, Says Satanic Temple Isn’t a Real Religion” HERE)

First Satanic Temple Kids Club Comes to Elementary School

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The Satanic Temple plans to launch its first after-school program in Tennessee at an elementary school just outside of Memphis come January, a development that sparked widespread controversy within the community.

Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova, part of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), will play host to the After School Satan Club. The Satanic Temple announced the club on Tuesday. The organization claimed that it offers a “non-theistic religion” with Satan present as a metaphorical literary figure, and that its after-school clubs don’t attempt to convert children to any religious ideology.

“The Satanic Temple supports children to think for themselves,” read a flyer. “All After School Satan Clubs are based on activities centered around the Seven Fundamental Tenets and emphasize a scientific, rationalist, non-superstitious worldview.”

MSCS issued a statement on Tuesday defending the club’s access to the campus as a First Amendment right and deserving equal treatment granted to the Good News Club, a Christian organization, further noting that the IRS recognizes the Satanic Temple as a public nonprofit charity. MSCS directed community members to read about the Satanic Temple in The Washington Post and LA Times.

“[W]e cannot approve or deny a request based solely on the organization’s viewpoints or beliefs,” said MSCS.

(Read more from “First Satanic Temple Kids Club Comes to Elementary School” HERE)

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‘Big Plans for Next School Year’: After School Satan Club Looks to Expand to High Schools

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An after-school club connected to the Satanic Temple is looking to expand to high schools, and the club’s campaign director said it has “big plans” for next school year.

The clubs, which are associated with the Satanic Temple, started in 2020 and caught the attention of parents seeking an alternative to religious clubs, according to June Everett, the campaign director for the club. Everett claimed the club is considering teaching some of the Satanic Temple’s seven core tenets in the clubs, as well as expanding its clubs to high schools, according to the Hill.

“We have a lot of big plans for next school year,” Everett said.

The problem the club faces is that unlike in primary schools, in which clubs are largely run by adults, students at high schools must be more actively engaged in the club to keep it running.

However, Everett stated that a new partnership between the club and the nonprofit group Secular Student Alliance could help expand the club’s availability to other schools, including high schools. The Secular Student Alliance states on its website that it is the only national organization dedicated to atheist, humanist, and other nontheist students. (Read more from “‘Big Plans for Next School Year’: After School Satan Club Looks to Expand to High Schools” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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‘Parents Need to Wake Up’: Advocates Sound Alarm About Satanist After-School Clubs Sprouting Across the Country

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The Satanic Temple (TST) made headlines in 2022 for fighting for the right to create after-school clubs for students and has recently been launching new groups across the country, raising concerns for religious advocates about the potential impact Satanism may have on students’ perception of faith.

A TST “After-School Satan Club” was approved in December 2022 at a Virginia elementary school, provoking many parents, who were disturbed by the push to indoctrinate children into Satanism, to protest the club, according to RealClearEducation. TST has announced the formation of multiple new clubs in New York, Pennsylvania and Colorado in just the past month and religious advocates have taken note of the trend, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that the normalization of Satanism could be detrimental to students later in life.

“A satanic club is the antithesis of religion,” Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest women’s public policy organization, told the DCNF. “Groups like this have free speech rights but Satanism is not a religion. The fact that there are more of these clubs popping up means kids are searching for something to believe in.”

“The decision to promote the Satanic Temple in schools is a concerning development in districts across the country,” Delano Squires, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family. “This group has no more ‘right’ to students and schools as a Neo-Nazi club demanding representation. Schools should use wisdom and discernment with regard to decisions related to extracurricular activities.”

TST argued on its Twitter account that an upcoming vote at a Virginia school would determine whether its club should be on “equal footing” with other school groups, particularly religious clubs.

(Read more from “‘Parents Need to Wake Up’: Advocates Sound Alarm About Satanist After-School Clubs Sprouting Across the Country” HERE)

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Satanic Temple Plans to Open Abortion Telehealth Clinic

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There’s a new abortion service coming soon to New Mexico, but don’t expect to see Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham at the grand opening.

The Satanic Temple is planning to open a telehealth clinic staffed by medical professionals, including former Planned Parenthood employees, offering prescriptions for abortion pills free of charge for those willing to perform the organization’s spoken-word “abortion ritual.”

The specter of Satanists getting into the abortion business sounds like something ripped from the pages of the Babylon Bee, but Erin Helian, the Satanic Temple’s “religious reproductive rights director,” insists that the project isn’t satire.

“I can assure you we are opening a real telehealth clinic in New Mexico,” Ms. Helian told The Washington Times in an email. “Opening date will be February 14th. Many members of our well-trained medical staff come from other reproductive access clinics, such as Planned Parenthood. We will also have licensed RNs available 24/7 for our patients.”

TST Health will operate entirely online with no brick-and-mortar presence, but clients must have a New Mexico mailing address and be located in the state at the time of their virtual appointments. The prescription, which costs about $90, would be filled by the clinic’s pharmacy and mailed in a “discreet package.” (Read more from “Satanic Temple Plans to Open Abortion Telehealth Clinic” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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New Sponsor on Arizona Highway: the Satanic Temple

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The Adopt-A-Highway idea, in which a group can submit a bid to the Department of Transportation to adopt a section of highway to clean up for the quid pro quo of having its name on a sign on the highway, has a new user whose name might give freeway drivers pause: the Satanic Temple Arizona. The group has adopted a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 10 near Casa Grande.

America Curl, a member of the Satanic Temple, contacted the Department of Transportation last summer. Curl recalled, “I just want to clean up a highway, please give me a highway to cleanup, and they said fine.” Curl filled out an online form and paid the necessary fee, adding, “Then, you put what you want on the signs. We wrote the Satanic Temple of Arizona. Then, you submit through DOT, and they get back to you really quickly.” . . .

Stu de Haan, one of the founding members of The Satanic Temple Arizona, stated, “People have this perception that one side does the good stuff and the other side does all the bad stuff. What we are really showing here is that Satanism is a legitimate religion, even though it’s non-theistic, we are showing the people do have a sense of community and they want to get involved.”

De Haan asserted that the members of his group do not worship the devil; they just don’t believe in God. The members of his group showed up to pick up trash by using pitchforks just to mock those who criticize them. De Haan said, “A lot of what we hear is from the ’80s and ’90s called the ‘Satanic Panic,’ wild and atrocious myths that were just never proven to be true.” (Read more from “New Sponsor on Arizona Highway: the Satanic Temple” HERE)

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