A Satanist group working to start elementary after-school programs across the country is finding it difficult to do so in Tucson.
The Satanic Temple is on a nationwide campaign to operate after-school clubs it says are based in science. The group’s Tucson chapter has applied to operate such a program at Roskruge Bilingual K-8 School, on East Sixth Street across from Tucson High Magnet School.
On Monday, the Tucson Unified School District notified the group that the application cannot proceed unless it finds a faculty sponsor from Roskruge. The group said it’s in the process of doing so.
The Tucson group previously drew worldwide attention after its squabble with the Scottsdale City Council over its ability to deliver an invocation, or prayer, at the start of City Council meetings like other religious groups are allowed to do.
It does not appear the group actually worships Satan, according to the group’s website. Rather, Satan serves as an icon for “the heretic who questions sacred laws and rejects all tyrannical impositions.”
“We’re here to offer an alternative to kids,” said Stu de Haan, a Tucson attorney who represents the Satanic Temple. “We’re not here to proselytize.”
Several religious groups operate after-school programs in public elementary schools around the country, he said.
A 2001 Supreme Court ruling concluded that schools may not discriminate against religious organizations operating after-school clubs on school premises.
That would mean the Satanic Temple should enjoy the same privileges, de Haan said.
The Supreme Court decision was prompted by litigation brought by the Liberty Counsel, a legal group known to represent parties seeking religious freedom, on behalf of the Good News Club, a nationwide after-school club program run by the Child Evangelism Fellowship.
The Satanic group singled out the fellowship and the Good News Club as having paved the way for religious groups to run programs on school grounds.
There are about 4,500 Good News Clubs nationwide and 69,000 worldwide, said Ron Tant, assistant vice president of USA ministries for the fellowship. The clubs help build character, attitude and a “relationship with God,” he said.
Roskruge K-8 also has a Good News Club, said Stefanie Boe, a TUSD spokeswoman.
In response to the Satanic Temple’s launching after-school programs, Tant said: “There are many more groups that have used that Supreme Court law to operate on public school campuses.
“Equal access law makes it very clear that any group cannot be discriminated against,” he said. He declined to comment specifically on the Satanic Temple’s proposal.
