In retaliation to a religious bill pushed by Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis, Satanists may soon be walking the halls of its public schools.
How did this happen? It all started with a law that took effect this week, opening schools to additional counselling and support to students from outside organizations.
The law allows religious chaplains into schools. The move was aimed at bringing Christianity into the public schools. DeSantis had made it clear that he intends to restore the tenets of Christianity in public education.
In response to that, the Satanists feel that if the far right can insist on Christian education being introduced to schools in various ways, then they, too, have the right to introduce their beliefs.
However, The Satanic Temple says that it has no plans to introduce any kind of rituals or dark arts to schools. The organiz66ation champions Satan not as a demon but as a sign of rebellion against authoritarianism.
Its co-founder, Lucien Greaves, says that its plan is to highlight violations of the constitutionally protected separation of church and state.
“You have theocrats pushing further and further, signing unconstitutional bills into law, and they realise there’s no consequence. And they also realise that when people see these laws passed, and the outrage comes, they’re not even necessarily going to recognize or realise when those laws are later overturned by the courts.”
Greaves said that by doing this they are giving people the impression that these things are legal and this is just the environment we live in.
He added that The Satanic Temple members would volunteer if any of the school districts in any of the state’s 67 counties sign up for DeSantis’ chaplain programme. So far no school has done so but it is early days yet.
DeSantis, however, remains unmoved by this possibility. In fact, he has said that no Satanic Temple members will be allowed in schools as it is not a religion.
He said during the signing of the bill some time back, “Some have said that if you do a school chaplain programme that, somehow, you’re going to have Satanists running around in all our schools. We’re not playing those games in Florida. You don’t have to worry about that,” he said at the signing.
However, The Satanic Temple is recognized by the US government as a church. It was established in 2014 with a mission to “encourage benevolence and empathy [and] reject tyrannical authority.”
It has also been working for freedom of religion in public schools with its After School Satan clubs. The clubs offer an alternative to Christian after-school groups for students who don’t identify with any religion or are agnostic or atheists.