Well, here we go again. It seems that Doug Mesner, co-founder and
spokesman for the Satanic Temple, wants to open After School Satan Clubs in public elementary schools beginning this academic year. Already, chapter heads from New York, Boston, Utah, Arizona, Minneapolis, Detroit, San Jose, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Florida have put their heads together to talk strategy.
But honestly, this whole Satanic Temple thing is just a publicity ploy. These people don’t actually believe in Satan. What they are in reality is a group of Atheists who do not believe in the existence of any kind of supernatural reality – including Satan. The clubs they are proposing are actually Atheist clubs.
Their motivation for doing this is quite straightforward. They are specifically anti-Christian and want to have a means of sharing their anti-God religion with elementary school children. The truth is, they are upset that Christians are allowed to have Good News Clubs in the schools, and want to counter the influence of Christianity by having their own clubs. They intend to try and directly go up against the Good News Clubs.
Legally, it seems that something like this cannot be stopped. In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that to exclude an after-school program based on the religious views of its sponsors was a violation of the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This suit was brought on behalf of Christian groups that wanted to sponsor Good News Clubs in schools. What we have here is the Satanists using this same ruling to get themselves accepted by claiming that their viewpoint, also, cannot be discriminated against. And, of course, this is true.
Now, the very idea of a Satan Club (Atheist group) for elementary school kids is repulsive on its face. But if Christians want to have the freedom to conduct their own after school clubs, we can hardly make efforts to censor groups that have a different point of view. No, the solution to this problem lies in a different place.
American society is a very different place than it was back before the 1960s, when the dominant worldview in the nation was Christian Theism. As much as it hurts to say it, our society is now dominated by Naturalism – the very worldview that the Satanists follow. And the way to overcome this is not by seeking to eliminate opposition by force of law. Rather, we must share the truth of Christ with them and let God work to create in them a change of heart. That is the only legitimate way.
Herein lies the problem: Too few Christians are up to the task of standing up to the beliefs of these Atheists. The truth is, what Atheists believe to be a philosophy based on science, is nothing of the sort. Atheism is a religious belief system pure and simple. And the means for standing against it is to expose their belief for what it is – a false religion.
But to do that, Christians are going to have to step up to the plate. We have to learn our own worldview beliefs and the beliefs of those who are going up against us. We have to grasp why what we believe is true and what they believe is false. We have to learn to share our message in a way that lays bare the false beliefs. And finally, we have to actually get out in the weeds and share the witness.
This is not going to be easy, and is not going to be pleasant. It will require intentionality, hard work, and persistence. But it can be done – if Christians, as a whole, become willing to pay the price and take a stand.