Michael Levenson
Sat, December 16, 2023
Earlier this week, a flyer began circulating online about a new organization coming to Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova, Tennessee, about 17 miles east of Memphis.
“Hey Kids!” it read against a backdrop of colored pencils. “Let’s Have Fun at After School Satan Club.”
The club was organized by The Satanic Temple, a group that has gained widespread media attention and infuriated conservative Christians in recent years by sponsoring similar student clubs in other school districts, filing challenges to state abortion limits in Indiana and Texas, and placing pentagrams and other symbols alongside Christmas displays in statehouses.
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OK, so what’s really going on here?
The Satanic Temple does not actually worship Satan, its leaders say.
The Satanic Temple was founded in 2013 by two men who call themselves Lucien Greaves and Malcolm Jarry, both pseudonyms.
Based in Salem, Massachusetts, famous as the home of the 17th-century witch trials, it calls itself a nontheistic religion and engages in activism to defend pluralism, secularism and religious rights, according to its website.
Greaves, whose name is Doug Mesner, said the temple does not believe in Satan as described in the Bible but considers the concept to be a “mythological framework” that encourages people to question authority and follow “the best available evidence.”
“Satan,” Greaves said, “is the embodiment of the ultimate rebel against tyranny.”
A display draws anger, and vandalism, in the Iowa Capitol.
The temple is open about challenging what Greaves calls “our theocratic overlords.”
To that end, it displayed a statue in the Iowa Capitol this month that featured a mirrored ram’s head symbolizing the occult figure Baphomet. Next to it was a sign that read, “This display is not owned, maintained, promoted, supported by or associated with the State of Iowa.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, called the display “absolutely objectionable,” encouraged Iowans to pray and reassured them that a Nativity scene — “the true reason for the season” — would also be displayed.
During an appearance on the campaign trail in Iowa on Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida blamed his Republican rival, Donald Trump, for giving the temple a “legal leg to stand on” because the IRS granted it tax-exempt status as a religious organization in 2019, when Trump was president.
“My view would be that that’s not a religion that the Founding Fathers were trying create,” DeSantis said on CNN.
In fact, the First Amendment to the Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and goes on to guarantee freedom of speech and the press. Courts have ruled that religious groups may pay to use government buildings, and holiday decorations have been allowed in public places.
That doesn’t mean everyone appreciates The Satanic Temple’s idea of a holiday decoration. On Thursday, someone knocked the ram’s head off the statue in the Iowa Capitol. The Iowa State Patrol said that Michael Cassidy, 35, of Lauderdale, Mississippi, had been charged with criminal mischief in the matter.
A conservative website called The Republic Sentinel began raising money for his defense, and quoted a statement from Cassidy that he had beheaded the statue to “awaken Christians to the anti-Christian acts promoted by our government.”
The temple justifies its actions on First Amendment grounds. Speaking to The New York Times before the statue was destroyed, Greaves said the temple was not exploiting some “unfortunate loophole in the Constitution,” by placing a statue of Baphomet in the Capitol.
“This is what religious liberty is,” he said. “This is what free expression looks like. It doesn’t have to be painful if we understand its value. We should look at this with some pride.”
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What is the After School Satan Club?
The temple says it started the clubs in 2016 to provide an alternative to other after-school religious clubs, particularly the Good News Club, a Christian missionary program. Students play puzzles and games and do science projects, nature activities and community service projects.
The temple says there are four active After School Satan clubs in the country — in California, Ohio, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, where the temple recently reached a $200,000 settlement with the Saucon Valley School District. The temple had accused the district of blocking it from using a middle school where the Good News Club also met.
The Supreme Court, in a 2001 case pitting the Good News Club against a school district in New York state, ruled that public schools must open their doors to after-school religious activities on the same basis as any other after-hours activity that school policy permits.
This ruling also opened the door, metaphorically, to Satan.
The Satanic Temple says it starts clubs only in places where parents have requested one. It claims that the parents of 13 children at Chimneyrock Elementary had signed permission slips for the first After School Satan Club meeting there on Jan. 10.
The Times was unable to find a parent who signed a slip who was willing to be identified on the record.
The club was allowed to rent space from the school, which has students from prekindergarten to fifth grade. In an email to parents, school officials said the club “has the same legal rights to use our facilities after school hours as any other nonprofit organization.”
The interim superintendent of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Toni Williams, said at a news conference with Christian pastors Wednesday that she was “duty bound to uphold board policies, state laws and the Constitution.”
“But let’s not be fooled,” she said. “Let’s not be fooled by what we have seen in the past 24 hours, which is an agenda initiated to ensure we cancel all faith-based organizations that partner with our school district.”
Althea Greene, chair of the Shelby County Board of Education, encouraged people to pray and “be vocal.” She describes herself as a bishop and pastor of Real Life Ministries.
“Satan has no room in this district,” she said.
A local pastor, William Adkins, said it was crucial not to allow “any entity called ‘Satanic Temple’ to have time — private time — with our children.” But he acknowledged that he was not sure how to bar the group without violating the Constitution.
“This is in fact what I call Satan personified,” he said. “They put us in a trick bag, and we almost can’t get out of it, using the Constitution against us.”
c.2023 The New York Times Company
After School Satan Clubs and pagan statues have popped up across US. What's going on?
Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY
Sat, December 16, 2023
A Satanic church with a 10-year history of fighting for the First Amendment and religious freedom by launching after-school clubs is once again under attack from Christian conservatives, this time in Iowa.
Founded in 2013, Massachusetts-based The Satanic Temple has battled multiple districts, most recently in Pennsylvania, over its legal right to operate its After School Satan Clubs. The church, which is formally recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt religious organization, often opens after-school programs in areas where Christian groups already operate, in an effort to counter Bible-based theology.
This year it also began begun offering mail-order abortion pills from a New Mexico clinic, and earlier this month, installed a goat-headed display of the pagan figure Baphomet inside the Iowa Capitol that a self-described Christian on Thursday night told Fox News he destroyed. He was arrested by Iowa State Police.
A man prays in front of the vandalized satanic display at the Iowa State Capitol on Friday.
The destruction of the Satanic temple's Iowa display follows a familiar pattern for the church, which has faced stiff opposition from Christians angry that it invokes the name of their religion's enemy.
The Satanic Temple says its members do not believe in Satan as a magical or spiritual being, but instead use the name as a metaphor for opposing mainstream religions and free thinking. Members also focus on altruism, logic, science and bodily autonomy as part of their belief system.
"People assume that we're there to insult Christians and we're not," TST cofounder Lucien Greaves told the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, last week. "And I would hope that even people who disagree with the symbolism behind our values, whether they know what those values (are) or not, would at least appreciate that it's certainly a greater evil to allow the government to pick and choose between forms of religious expression."
Free speech battle over 'disgusting' Satanic Temple display at state capitol in Iowa
What happened to the Satanic display at the Iowa Capitol?
Tucked alongside a staircase on the first floor of the Iowa Capitol, The Satanic Temple display featured a person-sized model of Baphomet, its horned goat head mirrored like a disco ball.
Some Christians objected to the display, but Gov. Kim Reynolds noted it was legally allowed because lawmakers had already permitted a Nativity scene. That drew condemnation from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is courting Christian conservatives in Iowa as he runs for the Republican presidential nomination.
After days of coverage about the display, former military pilot and Mississippi politician Michael Cassidy destroyed the display Thursday, he told Fox News. The Iowa State Police arrested him on suspicion of fourth-degree criminal mischief. In response, Cassidy posted a Bible verse about the devil and launched a fundraiser for his legal defense.
On Friday, Cassidy kept going, posting that, "To Christians who defend Satanic altars when they speak with their church, family, friends, coworkers, or on X: Would you use the same argument if you were speaking with God? Think on that."
DeSantis, a Harvard-educated lawyer, offered his support to Cassidy and said he would contribute to Cassidy's legal defense. He also rejected the idea that The Satanic Temple is a real religion. TST organizers say one of their primary missions is to remind Americans that under the First Amendment, they are free to worship however they want.
The Satanic Temple of Iowa display at the Iowa State Capitol, seen here days before it was destroyed.
Tucked alongside a staircase on the first floor of the Iowa Capitol, The Satanic Temple display featured a person-sized model of Baphomet, its horned goat head mirrored like a disco ball.
Some Christians objected to the display, but Gov. Kim Reynolds noted it was legally allowed because lawmakers had already permitted a Nativity scene. That drew condemnation from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is courting Christian conservatives in Iowa as he runs for the Republican presidential nomination.
After days of coverage about the display, former military pilot and Mississippi politician Michael Cassidy destroyed the display Thursday, he told Fox News. The Iowa State Police arrested him on suspicion of fourth-degree criminal mischief. In response, Cassidy posted a Bible verse about the devil and launched a fundraiser for his legal defense.
On Friday, Cassidy kept going, posting that, "To Christians who defend Satanic altars when they speak with their church, family, friends, coworkers, or on X: Would you use the same argument if you were speaking with God? Think on that."
DeSantis, a Harvard-educated lawyer, offered his support to Cassidy and said he would contribute to Cassidy's legal defense. He also rejected the idea that The Satanic Temple is a real religion. TST organizers say one of their primary missions is to remind Americans that under the First Amendment, they are free to worship however they want.
The Satanic Temple of Iowa display at the Iowa State Capitol, seen here days before it was destroyed.
What does The Satanic Temple stand for?
TST has fought legal battles in Indiana, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Texas over its right to offer services and programs alongside more mainstream religions.
It also has tried to erect a 7-foot-tall statute of the winged goat god Baphomet alongside the Ten Commandments in several states, in addition to the now-destroyed Iowa display. The church often has partnered with the ACLU to challenge school districts, local governments and states members' legal rights to free speech and free expression of religion.
The Satanic Temple says it has members in a dozen countries and around the United States. The church's mission is to "encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits."
It has seven specific tenets, including personal freedom and bodily autonomy, fallibility and the struggle for justice, and it specifically rejects the concept of Satan as a supernatural being. Instead, the church uses Satan as a symbol of rebellion, questioning and personal sovereignty.
Church leaders acknowledge that their actions sometimes seem designed to troll Christians but point out their existence forces the public to think about the role religion plays in society. In particular, they warn of the danger of letting evangelical Christians dictate and dominate so much public discourse in a country founded on the principle of the free expression for all religions.
"To embrace the name Satan is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions. Satanists should actively work to hone critical thinking and exercise reasonable agnosticism in all things," the church declares. "Our beliefs must be malleable to the best current scientific understandings of the material world − never the reverse."
What is the After School Satan Club?
It's not about the Christian version of Satan, for starters. Although that's the name of the clubs, organizers say their after-school programs have no religious component. Instead, they're designed to give students a space to hang out without being proselytized by Christians or threatened with eternal damnation if they don't conform.
The image of Satan used to promote the clubs is a cheerful-looking devil wearing a mortarboard and bowtie, and the church's website specifically notes that anyone seeking to sell their soul or get rich should "please look elsewhere." The after-school clubs have typically been launched only in areas where Christian Bible study groups already operate.
Last month, a Pennsylvania school district agreed to pay the church $200,001 after a judge found the district violated its First Amendment rights by banning it from operating an after-school program alongside an existing Bible study group.
The clubs are typically small, based on their applications to school districts, but have drawn fierce opposition from Christians because the church invokes Satan.
"To the Satanist, embracing 'blasphemous' imagery takes on a religious significance of its own, signifying personal liberation from superstition," Greaves wrote. "The imagery has personal, positive meaning for us, regardless of what it may mean to others."
And because TST's belief system includes the right to bodily autonomy, it has threatened to sue districts if they hit any students who are church members. According to the federal Education Department, the following states still permit some forms of corporal punishment in schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
Federal statistics show that about 20,000 students received corporal punishment during the 2020-21 school year.
The church also offers mail-order abortion medicine via an accredited New Mexico health care clinic.
It's not about the Christian version of Satan, for starters. Although that's the name of the clubs, organizers say their after-school programs have no religious component. Instead, they're designed to give students a space to hang out without being proselytized by Christians or threatened with eternal damnation if they don't conform.
The image of Satan used to promote the clubs is a cheerful-looking devil wearing a mortarboard and bowtie, and the church's website specifically notes that anyone seeking to sell their soul or get rich should "please look elsewhere." The after-school clubs have typically been launched only in areas where Christian Bible study groups already operate.
Last month, a Pennsylvania school district agreed to pay the church $200,001 after a judge found the district violated its First Amendment rights by banning it from operating an after-school program alongside an existing Bible study group.
The clubs are typically small, based on their applications to school districts, but have drawn fierce opposition from Christians because the church invokes Satan.
"To the Satanist, embracing 'blasphemous' imagery takes on a religious significance of its own, signifying personal liberation from superstition," Greaves wrote. "The imagery has personal, positive meaning for us, regardless of what it may mean to others."
And because TST's belief system includes the right to bodily autonomy, it has threatened to sue districts if they hit any students who are church members. According to the federal Education Department, the following states still permit some forms of corporal punishment in schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
Federal statistics show that about 20,000 students received corporal punishment during the 2020-21 school year.
The church also offers mail-order abortion medicine via an accredited New Mexico health care clinic.
Lucien Greaves is cofounder of The Satanic Temple.
Why do Christians get so upset about The Satanic Temple?
In the Christian religion, Satan is the devil and tempts believers into forsaking their god through evil.
In Iowa, Republican state Rep. Brad Sherman, a Christian pastor, opposed the now-destroyed Baphomet display, arguing that because the Iowa Constitution expressly refers to a Supreme Being, the state should display the Ten Commandments and block any displays from The Satanic Temple.
He argues it is "a tortured and twisted interpretation of law that affords Satan, who is universally understood to be the enemy of God, religious expression equal to God in an institution of government that depends upon God for continued blessings," the Des Moines Register reported.
In ruling against the Pennsylvania school district that tried to block the After School Satan Club, a federal judge noted that federal law prohibits what's known as a "heckler's veto," where people opposed to a speaker create such an unwelcome environment that government officials then feel justified cancelling the speaker, even though it was the opponents who created the hostile environment.
Greaves and other TST officials have noted that Christians often act as if they are the "real" religion of the United States, despite religious freedom being expressly granted by our nation's founding documents.
What about other Satanists?
Just as there are multiple versions of Christianity, there are multiple churches that invoke Satanism, including the Detroit-area Temples of Satan church. Some of those churches practice
The Satanic Temple expressly rejects those practices.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Satanic Temple's statues, After School Satan Clubs: What to know
Satanic display inside Iowa State Capitol destroyed, man charged: officials
Adam Sabes
FOX
Thu, December 14, 2023
The Satanic Temple's display inside the Iowa State Capitol was destroyed on Thursday, according to police.
A spokesperson for the Iowa State Police told Fox News Digital that Michael Cassidy, 35, was arrested after allegedly tearing down the Iowa Satanic Temple’s Baphomet display.
He was charged with 4th-degree criminal mischief.
In a text message to Fox News Digital, Cassidy confirmed he tore down the satanic display, which was erected last week by The Satanic Temple of Iowa to represent the group's right to religious freedom.
"It was extremely anti-Christian," Cassidy told Fox News Digital when asked why he tore the statue down.
THE SATANIC TEMPLE SETS UP PUBLIC DISPLAY INSIDE IOWA CAPITOL BUILDING: 'VERY DARK, EVIL FORCE'
Display that was erected at the Iowa Capitol by The Satanic Temple of Iowa last week.
Cassidy previously ran an unsuccessful campaign in 2022 to unseat Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss.
The former congressional candidate didn't elaborate on why he tore the statue down, but posted a Bible verse Thursday night to X after being charged.
"1 Peter 5:8 KJV Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour," he posted.
Thu, December 14, 2023
The Satanic Temple's display inside the Iowa State Capitol was destroyed on Thursday, according to police.
A spokesperson for the Iowa State Police told Fox News Digital that Michael Cassidy, 35, was arrested after allegedly tearing down the Iowa Satanic Temple’s Baphomet display.
He was charged with 4th-degree criminal mischief.
In a text message to Fox News Digital, Cassidy confirmed he tore down the satanic display, which was erected last week by The Satanic Temple of Iowa to represent the group's right to religious freedom.
"It was extremely anti-Christian," Cassidy told Fox News Digital when asked why he tore the statue down.
THE SATANIC TEMPLE SETS UP PUBLIC DISPLAY INSIDE IOWA CAPITOL BUILDING: 'VERY DARK, EVIL FORCE'
Display that was erected at the Iowa Capitol by The Satanic Temple of Iowa last week.
Cassidy previously ran an unsuccessful campaign in 2022 to unseat Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss.
The former congressional candidate didn't elaborate on why he tore the statue down, but posted a Bible verse Thursday night to X after being charged.
"1 Peter 5:8 KJV Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour," he posted.
The Baphomet statue at The Satanic Temple in Salem, Mass.
In a Facebook post, The Satanic Temple of Iowa wrote that the display was "beyond repair."
"We ask that for safety, visitors travel together and use the 7 Tenets as a reminder for empathy, in the knowledge that justice is being pursued the correct way, through legal means," the group wrote. "Happy Holidays! Hail Satan!"
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds condemned the display's presence, but said it should be countered with more speech.
"Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple’s display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable," Reynolds said. "In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the Nativity scene that will be on display ― the true reason for the season."
Co-founder of The Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, previously told KCCI Des Moines that the display would remain up for two weeks.
"We're going to really relish the opportunity to be represented in a public forum. We don't have a church on every street corner," Greaves said. "My feeling is if people don't like our display in public forums, they don't have to engage with them. They don't have to view them."
He’s accused of taking out a Satanic Temple statue at a state capitol. Now he’s being charged with criminal mischief
Hanna Seariac
Fri, December 15, 2023
A damaged Satanic display is shown at the Iowa state Capitol on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. The display, which has prompted outrage by some people who say it’s inappropriate at any time but especially during the Christmas holidays, was damaged Thursday. | Scott McFetridge, Associated Pres
A Republican candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives and former Navy pilot was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief in relation to the destruction of a Satanic Temple display. If convicted, he could face up to a year in prison and a $2,560 fine.
Inside the Iowa Capitol building, the Satanic Temple has a Baphomet statue, a goat-headed Satanic symbol, that was damaged, according to The Associated Press. The candidate accused of damaging the display is Michael Cassidy.
The installation of the display has been the subject of controversy.
“Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple’s display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said, per Fox News. “In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the Nativity scene that will be on display — the true reason for the season.”
Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis offered financial support to Cassidy’s legal defense.
“Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a ‘religion’ by the federal government,” DeSantis said on X. “I’ll chip in to contribute to this veteran’s legal defense fund. Good prevails over evil — that’s the American spirit.”
According to Newsweek, the crowdfunding campaign raised $20,000 before it concluded.
Cassidy wrote on X on Friday, “I’ve been notified of more potential legal charges unfortunately, so I’ve opened the legal fund donation back up. All donations in excess of what is directly related to my defense shall be donated to a Christian legal fund. Thank you again.”
Former Navy pilot Michael Cassidy speaks to potential voter Heather Berry in Magee, Miss., June 15, 2022. Cassidy, a Republican running for the Mississippi House of Representatives is facing charges after being accused of destroying a Satanic Temple display inside the Iowa Capitol. Cassidy also ran for the U.S. House last year, narrowly losing in the GOP primary. | Rogelio V. Solis, Associated PressMore
Jason Benell, the president of the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers, described the “targeting” of the display as “encouraged by legislators.” He wrote in a news release, “This is unacceptable. When our leaders make it permissible to destroy religious — or non-religious — displays they find religiously objectionable, they are abdicating their responsibility to safeguard the freedom of expression of the citizens they represent.”
Cassidy was reportedly released after his arrest. According to The Associated Press, he previously ran against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michael Guest and lost in a primary runoff.
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