Greensboro Reporter

The prospect of a satanic club coming to Joyner Elementary School in Greensboro has split people into two groups, supporters and detractors.

The After-School Satan Club, a program offered by The Satanic Temple, has shown up in schools in other states, but more recently a Pennsylvania school board rejected its presence, The New York Post said last week. 

"Its sole purpose is to offer a safe and all-inclusive alternative to other religious programs," June Everett, campaign manager for the After-School Satan Club, said in a Sunday report from WFMY. 

But that response doesn't cut it for all people.

Supporters say if a school is going to allow religious clubs, it can't pick and choose which ones are represented, the report said. Opponents say it sounds too close to satanic worship to qualify as a religious club.

The club isn't just cropping up any place it pleases. 

The program only goes to schools that already have existing religious clubs or to schools where someone has expressed an interest in having the club, Everett said in the report.

She also scoffed at it being a stepping stone to satanic worship.

"So The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religion, meaning that we don't believe in an actual literal satan," Everett said. "What we do believe is Satan as a symbol to standing up to tyrannical authority, asking questions, and, you know, like, bringing, bringing the hypocrisy of our laws really, you know, forward."

Also at issue is the First Amendment, the report said. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that a school district cannot block free-speech rights of groups seeking use of a school district's limited public forum. That opened the door for any religious club to hold after-school meetings.

The club's first meeting was scheduled to be held on Friday, but Everett said that Guilford County Schools wants to examine district policies more thoroughly first.

"The request for use of the facility is not approved at this time," Rebecca Kaye, the school district's chief of staff, told WFMY. "We are reviewing with legal counsel the district's obligation to grant organizations equitable access to our public facilities."

Meanwhile, the club has advised its attorney to consider potential legal action if the district denies the group's facility-use permit, the report said.