A near-unanimous school board vote struck down a proposal to create an After School Satan Club at the Northern York Elementary School. https://t.co/C8bmwoMJXP
— TribLIVE.com (@TribLIVE) April 21, 2022
On Tuesday, the Northern York Elementary school board voted 8-1 against a proposed After School Satan Club. Thomas Welch was the lone board member voting for the club whose proposal was initiated by Samantha Groome, a district resident.
Lucien Greave, the co-founder of the Temple of Satan that created the national After School Satan Club, said that the school board meeting ‘unnecessarily traumatized those who wanted the club to be brought to Northern York County.
Greaves called the experience unnecessarily traumatizing for those who wanted the group brought to Northern York County and said religious freedom does not come down to a school board’s vote.
“They had the first meeting, and people didn’t show up. They were hoping to humiliate and intimidate us and drive us out So they allowed people to show up and shout us down, then do their show trial and say they will not allow us to run the club,” Greaves said.
“They are a disgrace to their public post and they have no right sitting in those chairs,” Greaves said.
Greaves said the group tried to do everything in their power to meet the standards district policy set and to work with them as smoothly as possible.
“They instead decided to make a controversy out of it and turn it into the spectacle it became. That’s very regrettable,” Greaves said.
Close to 300 people gathered at the school board meeting to voice their opposition or support of the proposed Satanic club. The overwhelming majority emphatically opposed the push to start the club. Many in the crowd were of the Christian faith. They used their faith as a basis for the dissent.
Jodie Osborne of Wellsville delivered an impassioned speech citing scripture.
“I’m sad all we are talking about is Satan. It’s not about Satan, it’s about God,” Osborne said. “Wrongs will be righted, and if we don’t start standing now, we’re going to lose our nation.”
In one video, someone can be seen raising a cross in opposition to a supporter of the club.
Tensions running high at a Northern York Co. School Board meeting as one woman expresses her support for the “After School Satan Club” at an elementary school. @fox43 pic.twitter.com/KdChdJWbeg
— Chelsea T. (@ChelseaJOnTV) April 19, 2022
Another mother shared how a Satanic group gave her daughter step-by-step instructions on how to kill herself.
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Jackie Bieber, a recent arrival in Dillsburg, said she just lost a child to a suicide website run by a Satanic group.
“They gave her step-by-step instructions. We move over here, and now we find out there’s an after-school Satan club,” Bieber said.
If a school district allows an after-school Bible study program, they can't discriminate against a similar program simply because it's affiliated with the Satanic Temple. It's really that simple. https://t.co/MxWr7aAhNH
— American Atheists (@AmericanAtheist) April 21, 2022
Not to be outmaneuvered, Lucien Greave threatened further legal action.
“If they deny us the use of a public facility, which they have no right to do it’ll have to move into litigation, costly litigation that the community is going to have to pay for,” Greaves told FOX 43 after the club was voted down.
Fox News interviewed Lucien, who argued for the Satanic clubs.
Tucker argued that there are specific ideas that are not allowed to be shared in schools even though the Supreme Court upholds freedom of speech. He argued that a club that supports Satan is on the same level as a club that would openly promote hate against gays or certain races.
Lucien countered, saying that if Christian groups can have clubs that promote their faith, then the Satanic Club should have the same right as any other group.