Satanists Threaten to Sue Cobb County Schools

MARIETTA, GA — Remember when Patch first reported on a Satanic club that was setting up an after-school program at a Powder Springs elementary school?

Now, Fox 5 Atlanta is reporting that the Atlanta Chapter of the Satanic Temple is threatening to sue the Cobb County school system if it doesn't approve their application or shut down a Christian after-school club that is already operating at Still Elementary.

The organization's website says it plans to "leverage religious freedom laws to put after school clubs in elementary schools nationwide," laws that it says are established by decades of evangelical litigation."

On the first day of the school year, the Cobb County school system issued a statement, saying "Still Elementary School does not have an after school Satan club. The staff and leaders of Still Elementary School are focused on welcoming their students and families back to school this week.

"Learning and student safety have been and will continue to be our top priorities.”

The After School Satan clubs are being organized by the Satanic Temple. According to temple co-founder Doug Mesner, who USA Today reports also goes by the name of Lucien Greaves, “School districts across the nation have received letters from The Satanic Temple explaining that we will be offering our clubs in their schools this coming school year, and parents in those schools can expect to be presented with a permission slip from their children in the first weeks of the Fall semester.

"All of the districts we’ve approached are nearby to local chapters of The Satanic Temple, and each school district has hosted, or is now hosting, Good News Clubs in their schools. We are sure the school districts we’ve approached are well aware that they are not at liberty to deny us use of their facilities, nor are they at liberty to deny us any level of representation in the schools that they afford to other school clubs — such as fliers, tables, brochures, and school-wide announcements."

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