After-school Satan club returns to Moline school
The After School Satan Club (ASSC) is back for its third year of meeting at Moline’s Jane Addams Elementary School, 3520 53rd St.
The facility rental was approved and the rental is able to proceed as it has previously at Jane Addams, said Moline school district spokeswoman Candace Sountris.
In October, the Moline-Coal Valley School District prohibited the ASSC from operating on campus, citing a hoax threat made in early 2023, which they attributed to the presence of the club, the Satanic Temple Illinois posted this week on its Facebook page. “Rather than allowing our club to operate alongside other religious clubs on campus this year, the District offered an alternative location several miles away,” it said of Coolidge in Moline.
“After receiving strongly worded letters from the legal team at Americans United for Separation of Church and State and hearing from The Satanic Temple Iowa and The Satanic Temple Illinois congregation members at a recent Board meeting, the District responded in a letter stating, ‘[i]n the interests of avoiding litigation, the Board has determined that the ASSC may meet at Jane Addams Elementary School as requested’,” the Facebook post said.
“We are immensely thankful to everyone who championed the civil rights of our members in Illinois, including Americans United and the dedicated ASSC supporters from Iowa and Illinois who braved a snowstorm to address the school board. The returning ASSC students are incredibly excited to reunite with friends and dive into the club’s fun activities this year!”
Sountris from the school district said Friday there is no other information to share from the district.
ASSC campaign director June Everett said Friday that attendance at ASSC at Jane Addams has varied, but it’s usually under 10 students.
“Our activities are inspired by The Satanic Temple’s 7 Fundamental Tenets. A lot of the activities end up being based around science, art, community service, and learning about the world around us,” she said by email.
The ASSC website says it “exists to provide a safe and inclusive alternative to the religious clubs that use threats of eternal damnation to convert school children to their belief system. Unlike our counterparts, who publicly measure their success in young children’s ‘professions of faith,’ the After School Satan Club program focuses on science, critical thinking, creative arts, and good works for the community,” the site says.
“While engaged in all of these activities, we want clubgoers to have a good time.”
“Proselytization is not our goal, and we’re not interested in converting children to Satanism,” the website says. “After School Satan Clubs will focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us.”
Two years ago, some parents expressed concern that the group was holding meetings at Jane Addams. The school district said in January 2022:
“The Moline-Coal Valley School District and Board of Education have policies and administrative procedures in place which allow for community use of its publicly funded facilities outside the school day,” the district statement said, noting it doesn’t discriminate against any groups who wish to rent public facilities, including religious-affiliated groups.
“Religiously affiliated groups are among those allowed to rent our facilities for a fee,” the district said. “The district has, in the past, approved these types of groups, one example being the Good News Club, which is an after-school child evangelism fellowship group. Flyers and promotional materials for these types of groups are approved for lobby posting or display only, and not for mass distribution.”
The club was scheduled to meet yesterday, Jan. 25, and will meet at 2:45 p.m. at the Moline school on Feb. 8 and 22; March 7 and 21, April 11 and 25 and May 9, according to its Facebook flyer.
You can learn more about ASSC at its website HERE.
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