The NYC Satanic Temple Declares May 15th "Protect Children Day" for Schools

This could be an interesting social discussion. The NYC Satanic Temple has declared May 15th to be 'protect children' day. They want to hand out religious literature in the schools and have children register with their temple for more information.

Satanic Temple Press Release

The Satanic Temple, a religious organization based in New York City, has declared May 15th “Protect Children Day” with the mission of putting an end to corporal punishment and the use of isolation rooms in schools for Temple followers and those who share these beliefs. The Protect Children Project campaign encourages students to register at the project website, as the temple will then notify their respective school boards that their deeply held beliefs oppose physical and psychological abuses, including the use of corporal punishment, physical restraints, and isolation rooms as forms of punishment.

In the latest census, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education reported that over 210,000 students were struck during the course of a single year, with cases of physical restraints numbering over 39,000. In light of such shocking statistics, the Temple hopes that the Protect Children Project will be an effective method of combatting these abuses. In addition to online registration where students can affirm their beliefs and allow for the Temple to place their school board on notice on their behalf, a letter that outlines these beliefs is available for download for students to sign and deliver to their school principal. Parents and volunteers all over America are encouraged to download copies of this letter and physically distribute it to students at their local schools on May 15

Okay ... so far we have ...

- an organization against abuse of children. GOOD.
- a religious organization asking children to 'register at their website'. NOT SO GOOD.

Next we have this which could be problematic -
handing out religious themed literature in public schools ...

In addition to making a letter available to students and their parents, The Satanic Temple is also providing educational fact sheets on corporal punishment and solitary confinement, a Satanic-themed activity book and FAQs so that students can understand their religious rights in the school setting. “We want children to know that they are permitted to pray to Satan in school and that they can even share their religious beliefs with others in accordance with certain guidelines,” Greaves said.

Mission Statement from the Official Website of the NYC Satanic Temple

The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people. In addition, we embrace practical common sense and justice. As Satanists we all should be guided by our conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by our individual wills. We believe that this is the hope of all mankind and the highest aspiration of humanity.

As an organized religion, we feel it is our function to actively provide outreach, to lead by example, and to participate public affairs wheresoever the issues might benefit from rational, Satanic insights.

States Allowing Corporal Punishment and # of Children Hit - from 2008

Alabama 33,716
Arizona 16
Arkansas 22,314
Colorado 8
Florida 7,185
Georgia 18,249
Idaho 111
Indiana 577
Kansas 50
Kentucky 2,209
Louisiana 11,080
Mississippi 38,131
Missouri 5,159
New Mexico 705
North Carolina 2,705
Ohio 672
Oklahoma 14,828
South Carolina 1,409

We lived in Alabama all through the 1990's. The public and private church-school teachers had paddles in their rooms. When we left there was a news story about a teacher who had her paddle taken away for a month because the kids were too bruised. She was complaining in the paper that she couldn't maintain discipline without the paddle and that for the next month all heck would break loose or something ....

Side note - while looking for information on this group I found this.
It's not exactly on topic, but some here will find it interesting, I'm sure ...

Satanic Group Plans to Turn Westboro Baptist Church Founder Gay in the Afterlife

A New York-based satanic organization has announced plans to turn the founder of Westboro Baptist Church gay after he has died. The Satanic Temple has stated that when Fred Phelps, who is presently in hospice care in Kansas dies, they will perform a "pink mass." Lucien Greaves, spokesperson for the Satanic Temple, explained to the publication VICE that he promised to perform the pink mass for Phelps.

reply to post by FlyersFan


The irony abounds...and quite frankly, this only further solidifies my appreciation for Satanism in contrast to other religious establishments and how they interface with the public education system.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Maybe they could lobby congress to change the Pledge of allegiance to reflect "one nation under satan", too? After all the other religious fanatics changed the pledge:

Congress added “Under God” to the Pledge in 1954 – during the Cold War. Many members of Congress reportedly wanted to emphasize the distinctions between the United States and the officially atheistic Soviet Union.

Five facts

Handing out literature in schools?
No.

reply to post by Kali74

That's what I'm thinking. An organization wanting to stop hitting children in school is great. But one that requires children to register at the religious organizations website .. and that hands out religious pamphlets in the school?? NO!

reply to post by FlyersFan


Yeah. I don't have much issue with Satanism (not my thing) and I suspect this might be similar to what they were trying to do with Satanist statues at any courthouse that had the 10 Commandments, however... I'm not comfortable with kids signing up for a website that can have implications of them being tracked by the thought police for the rest of their lives. That's an adult decision.

I have to say though, I like that they push the way they do. It's a whole different discussion when something moves from "what if Satanists or Muslims or Pagans push for religious overstep into schools, justice etc..." to it actually being a thing. You want one religion in schools? You have to let all religions in schools, including Satanism.

reply to post by Kali74

Exactly. All or nothing. And I'd rather have nothing. It makes me nervous as well about having minors sign up on a religious website. Minors putting their names anywhere on the internet could be dangerous, let alone with a religious group.

reply to post by FlyersFan


And this is Different from a youth minister going to schools hanging around at lunch and handing kids things how?

Not sure if it like that in schools now but when I went to school there was a guy who would do this.. Awesome person by the way.. And no i dont follow the christian religion... or Satanic for that matter...

FlyersFan
reply to post by Kali74

 

That's what I'm thinking. An organization wanting to stop hitting children in school is great. But one that requires children to register at the religious organizations website .. and that hands out religious pamphlets in the school?? NO!

I can't help but think they are just trying to bring to light the hypocrisy of the right wing. I think their plan is to get told "no" when they are trying to pass out religious literature and then see if the conservatives defend their "religious freedoms" like they always claim to do when schools get on their cases for passing out bibles.

I'm pretty sure they don't expect to be able to actually pass out religious propaganda and I imagine that's part of the plan here.

reply to post by FlyersFan


While I think that any organization that advocates for the protection of children is a wonderful thing handing out religious materials and asking children to register with their organization is a huge no no! Separation of church and state is in place for a reason and as the Satanic Temple is in fact an official religious organization they should know better!

AfterInfinity
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

The irony abounds...and quite frankly, this only further solidifies my appreciation for Satanism in contrast to other religious establishments and how they interface with the public education system.

What are you talking about, it's not half obvious Satanism is your national religion.

reply to post by FlyersFan


The Constitution says SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!

*Sorry. Had to get it out there before some progressive said it fir-. . . . wait, what?

Church of Satan?

Oh, then they're probably good with that.


Never mind.

beezzer
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

The Constitution says SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!

*Sorry. Had to get it out there before some progressive said it fir-. . . . wait, what?

Church of Satan?

Oh, then they're probably good with that.


Never mind.

Makes you wonder which is worse, A Satanic Temple offering or a Jesuit one lol
Either way, get ready for "Teach Children to Worship Satan" brochures in the near future, courtesy of NYC Co.

reply to post by Cuervo


I'm going with this. Something tells me that there are several layers to this that are going unmentioned in the article. It forces the religious right to either be hypocritical about pushing religious propaganda in schools or defend Satanism. Somehow this reads as a win-win situation in these guys' books. Heck, I'm already seeing these things happen in this thread. It's almost like these Satanists are trolling Christians while promoting a good cause.

168617
it's not half obvious Satanism is your national religion.

Thankfully America has no 'national religion'. And we have a secular government so that religious extremists can't impose their beliefs on others. Countries with a 'national religion' and 'religious rule of law' tend to be more than a bit backwards.

So no .. Satanism isn't our 'national religion'.

Religious demographics USA

The majority of Americans (73%) identify themselves as Christians and about 20% have no religious affiliation. According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) (2008) 76% of the American adult population identified themselves as Christians, with 51% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant or unaffiliated, and 25% professing Catholic beliefs. The same survey says that other religions (including, for example, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism) collectively make up about 4% of the adult population, another 15% of the adult population claim no religious affiliation, and 5.2% said they did not know, or they refused to reply. According to a 2012 survey by the Pew forum, 36 percent of Americans state that they attend services nearly every week or more.

76% Christian
4 % Other
15 % No religious affiliation
5 % No answer

Satanism would be part of that 4 % that is shared with Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism ...
Obviously, not only is it not the 'national religion', it's practiced by a very small minority of people.

G0v0D47

beezzer
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

The Constitution says SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!

*Sorry. Had to get it out there before some progressive said it fir-. . . . wait, what?

Church of Satan?

Oh, then they're probably good with that.


Never mind.

Makes you wonder which is worse, A Satanic Temple offering or a Jesuit one lol
Either way, get ready for "Teach Children to Worship Satan" brochures in the near future, courtesy of NYC Co.

I'd be all for the Jesuit coming in and teaching.

I'm too old school to see the benefits of Church of Satan.

But then again, I'm an old fart.

beezzer
I'd be all for the Jesuit coming in and teaching.

The real brainiacs of the Catholic church are the Dominicans. Jesuits are a close second. IMHO
Either way ... book worms. Science nerds. And really into Phenomenology.

reply to post by FlyersFan




Just because the Satanists are saying it's for a good cause, I'd liken it to NAMBLA opening up a daycare because "they care about children."

I'm just not buying this.

reply to post by beezzer

The red flag is the part about having the kids go to their church website and register themselves. I wouldn't want my minor child registering anywhere online let alone with a 'church' that the family doesn't agree with. Minors registering their names, and probably addresses, ... yikes!

I'm surprised no one made a comment about this part of the opening post ...

Satanic Group Plans to Turn Westboro Baptist Church Founder Gay in the Afterlife

A New York-based satanic organization has announced plans to turn the founder of Westboro Baptist Church gay after he has died. The Satanic Temple has stated that when Fred Phelps, who is presently in hospice care in Kansas dies, they will perform a "pink mass." Lucien Greaves, spokesperson for the Satanic Temple, explained to the publication VICE that he promised to perform the pink mass for Phelps.