The After School Satan Club is an after-school program sponsored by The Satanic Temple that seeks to meet in public schools where Christian clubs already meet. Despite its name, it doesn’t teach kids to worship a literal devil. It promotes a secular, human-centered worldview. Christian parents don’t need to panic, but they do need to pay attention and intentionally disciple their kids at home.
What Is the After School Satan Club?
The After School Satan Club first made headlines in 2016, when The Satanic Temple announced plans to start clubs in public elementary schools. Its stated purpose was to offer an alternative to Christian after-school Bible clubs, such as Good News Clubs, which meet in schools across the country. Because public schools that open their buildings to community groups generally can’t pick and choose based on viewpoint, the group has pursued the same access Christian clubs rely on.
The name is designed to provoke, and it works. But the group itself says it doesn’t believe in a literal Satan or in the supernatural at all. It uses Satan as a symbol of rebellion against religious authority, and its clubs focus on activities like science projects, puzzles and art, along with an emphasis on reason and free inquiry apart from God.
Why Does Its Worldview Matter?
So if no one is being taught to worship the devil, is there anything to be concerned about? Yes, though maybe not what you’d expect. The real issue isn’t spooky rituals. It’s a worldview that places human reason at the center and treats God as unnecessary. Secularism isn’t neutral. Every worldview answers big questions about who we are, where we came from, what’s right and wrong and what life is for, and a secular worldview answers them without God. The apostle Paul warned believers about exactly this kind of thinking:
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Paul wasn’t against thinking. Christianity has always valued reason, science and honest questions, because all truth is God’s truth. His warning was about philosophies that leave Christ out. Kids today are exposed to that kind of message far more through phones, streaming shows and everyday conversations than through any one after-school club. The club is simply a visible reminder that our children are being shaped by competing worldviews every day.
How Can Parents Prepare Their Kids?
The best defense isn’t hiding kids from the world. It’s equipping them to recognize truth and to know why they believe it. God gave parents the primary role in passing on faith, and he made it clear that this happens in ordinary moments, not just at church:
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
That means talking about faith over dinner, in the car and at bedtime. Ask your kids what they’re hearing at school and online, and listen without overreacting. Teach them the basics of the Christian worldview: God created us, sin broke the world, Jesus came to rescue us, and God’s Word is true and trustworthy. When kids understand what they believe and why, a shocking name or a clever argument loses much of its power.
How Should Christians Respond?
It’s easy for Christian parents to react to stories like this with anger or alarm. But fear is a poor teacher, and kids pick up on it quickly. Followers of Jesus can respond with calm confidence, because the outcome of the spiritual battle has already been decided:
1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
That confidence frees us to be kind to neighbors who disagree, to engage school leaders respectfully if concerns arise and to support the churches and Christian clubs that serve kids in our communities. Our goal isn’t simply to win an argument. It’s to raise kids who love Jesus, think clearly and shine as lights in a confused world.
The Takeaway
The After School Satan Club isn’t about devil worship, but it does promote a secular worldview that leaves God out. Christian parents don’t need to panic. They need to stay engaged, talk openly with their kids about faith and teach them to recognize ideas that depend on human thinking rather than on Christ.
