Ohio children can attend classes at the Satanic Temple during school hours

Schoolchildren in Ohio can now spend part of their school day learning the teachings of the Satanic Temple through the state’s Religious Release Program.

The Temple’s Hellion Academy of Independent Learning (HAIL) announced it will begin offering classes once a month during school hours for students at Edgewood Elementary School in Marysville starting in December.

The new off-campus classes offer an alternative to the Bible study offered through the religious exemption program, which was created at the request of local parents, Satanic Temple leaders said.

June Everett, an ordained minister at the Satanic Temple, told WCMH Channel 4 that parents were the ones who approached her with the idea of ​​introducing HAIL into their schools.

The requests came as parents sought an alternative to LifeWise Academy, an Ohio-based Christian program that takes participating students out of class for 55 minutes once a week to study the Bible.

Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, LifeWise operates in over 170 school districts in Ohio.

“We’re not trying to shut down LifeWise Academy, but I think a lot of school districts don’t realize that when they open the door to one religion, they’re opening the door to everyone,” Everett said.

The sensational Satanic Temple program is not affiliated with or approved by the local school district or board members, and its teachings are a far cry from the red-horned underlord its name evokes.

According to the flyer, HAIL is intended to strengthen students’ “critical thinking,” “good work in the community,” “compassion and empathy,” “self-directed learning” and “creative expression.”

“We are not devil worshipers. Different Satanists in the United States will give you different answers depending on what they personally believe,” Everett told WOSU.

“But by and large we are non-theistic, meaning we do not believe in supernatural deities, and that includes God or Satan.”

LifeWise Academy executives, including CEO Joel Penton, said HAIL’s program offerings are just further evidence that the state legislature should pass bill HB 445, which would provide “greater clarity” to declassified religious education programs.

“LifeWise is not afraid of other organizations that offer discretionary religious education,” Penton said in the statement to WOSU.

“We believe that all families should have the opportunity to receive religious education while at school, and we trust parents to make the best choice for their children.”

The proposed bill would represent a change to the existing bill that authorizes the programs in the first place. The goal is to delete the word “may” and replace it with “shall,” requiring all school districts to adopt a policy that allows students to leave school to receive religious education, rather than making it optional is.