An eastern Pennsylvania school district has agreed to shell out $200,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit from the Satanic Temple and allow students to attend controversial Satanic After School Club meetings on school property.
The Saucon Valley School District agreed to pay $200,000 in legal fees and promised to provide the club with the same access to campuses as other organizations, despite earlier bitter protests.
The lawsuit was filed with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, which called Thursday’s agreement “a victory for free speech and religious freedom.”
The district, about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, had initially agreed to allow school facilities to be used for the Satanic After School Club, whose motto is “Educating with Satan.”
He was accused of discrimination earlier this year when he withdrew the permit following a fierce public outcry, which culminated in protests and even a threat in February that led to the closure of schools for a day.
Saucon Valley School District parents and community members met the February 2022 approval of an “After School Satan Club” with protests, leading the district to withdraw permission for the club to operate. meet on campus.FOX43
“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and that the school district has agreed to stop all discrimination against us,” said June Everett, director of programming for the Satanic Temple’s Satanic After School Club.
“Thanks to the court order we were able to celebrate [After School Satan Club] meetings at Saucon Valley High School and the children who attended were very happy.
“It is because of them that we took up this legal fight in the first place, and we will not hesitate to do so again if other school districts continue to enact discriminatory policies.”
The After School Satan Club used the ironic motto “Educating with Satan.” FOX43 The After School Satan Club was launched in the district by advocacy group The Satanic Temple in response to FOX43
The lawsuit centered on the Satanic Temple’s claim that the First Amendment rights were violated when the public school district refused to grant the After School Satan Club the same right to convene that is extended to other religious groups such as the Good News. Christian-based club.
A federal court agreed, granting the temple emergency judicial relief, arguing that the club was denied equal access to school facilities “based on the Satanic Temple’s controversial views on religion and negative community reactions.” about”.
In a statement to reporters, Saucon Valley School District Attorney Mark Fitzgerald denied that the district had discriminated against the club.
Following their victory in the ACLU lawsuit last March, June Everett, director of the Satanic Temple, said students at Saucon Valley High School were “overjoyed.”
“By enforcing its policies regarding facility use, the district maintained a safe educational environment for its students in the face of credible threats of violence that had already caused school closures and community panic,” Fitzgerald said.
Everett, the club director, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the district’s Satanic After School Club will remain on hold because the district-backed Good News Club had apparently disbanded. However, he said they would look to resurrect it if the Christian club were to resume.
Despite its name, the Satanic Temple actually has nothing to do with fire and brimstone or devil worship.
Rather, he claims to use satanic imagery in subversive and sometimes satirical ways to advocate for equal representation and highlight examples of “religious hypocrisy” in which he sees Christianity endorsed or promoted by schools or other public institutions over other belief systems.
The organization has more than 700,000 members in North America, Europe and Australia.
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn