Delco Satanist: No Plans For After School Club After Threats In PA

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — On the heels of an after school Satanist club in the Lehigh Valley getting threats, Delaware County's eminent Satanist said he has no plans to operate such a club.

Threats were made toward Saucon Valley Middle School due to the inclusion of the "After School Satan Club," which is run by The Satanic Temple, a 501(c)3 non-profit religious organization in the United States.

The threats forced the school district to close Thursday, according to the Saucon Valley School District.

Inclusion of the club in the district is due to religious discrimination laws, the district said in a statement.

On the heels of the threats, Satanic Delco founder Joseph Rose said his organization has no plans to launch anything like it.

"No plans for an after school club," Rose told Patch when asked about a potential Satanic Delco after school group.

Rose said he limits Satanic Delco to people 18 and older.

After School Satan clubs mostly operate in school districts that also have the Christian-based Good News Club under the ideas of exposing hypocrisy, encouraging separation of church and state, and inclusion.

While Rose said the club and temple's goal largely align with his group's ideals, he views the clubs as a sort of religious indoctrination of children.

The clubs provide science and art activities that are in line with the temple's views, but do not outright teach Satanism.

However, Rose said in his view, the club's offering of snacks, employment of a cartoon version of Satan on its banners, and even movie nights leans toward indoctrination.

He highlighted another facet of the Satanic Temple he takes issue with: the Hellion Academy of Independent Learning, or HAIL.

"It's a school time release program where they specifically call it religious instruction," he said.

The curriculum is either run by or designed by Satanic Temple ministers, he said. "I've got kind of a real problem with it."

According to the temple, it does not hold any supernatural beliefs and views Satan as a literary symbol of rebellion against authority, not as a supernatural entity.

Satanic Delco's views are nearly identical to the temple's.

Rose formed Satanic Delco in early 2020 to do good for Delaware County and the surrounding area, but also because he became disillusioned with the temple itself, which he said has red tape and bureaucracy that hinders community action.

Satanic Delco has undertaken several charitable causes, including distributing kits to homeless Philadelphians, hosting a collection drive for the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, and rallying for hungry Delconians.

The group even offers a $666 scholarship for graduating Delaware County high school seniors who embrace "individualism, empathy, free-thought, and skepticism."

A major factor in Rose's criticism of the temple is his view that it prioritizes publicity over action.

Rose said, for example, the temple's recent announcement that it launched an abortion "clinic" with a name insulting Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his mother is not filling a role needed by those seeking abortions.

The "clinic," he said, is merely a website that acts as a middle man for providers of abortion pills in New Mexico.

"The main thing this accomplishes is headlines with 'The Satanic Temple' in them," he said.

He went on to say long term supporters and champions of the abortion movement even see the temple's foray into the debate as doing more harm than good.

"I try to remove my own bias, but it seems like almost every move they make, it's like, 'what are they f***ing doing,'" he said.

Rose said he feels increasingly less aligned with the temple, but that some Satanic Delco members are also members of the temple.

One of his members who also is in the temple was the recipient of direct threats, he said.