The Satanic Temple's hilarious response to a pro-religion court ruling

There are plans to distribute "The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities"

Published September 16, 2014 7:50PM (EDT)

Sculpture created by the Satanic Temple               (MSNBC)
Sculpture created by the Satanic Temple (MSNBC)

Last month a judge ruled that religious pamphlets could be distributed in a school district in Orange County, Florida, according to Raw Story. In the wake of this ruling, the Satanic Temple is handing out its own religious literature to Orange County schools: "The Satanic Children's Big Book of Activities."

The judge ruled that if Christian materials -- Bibles and other literature -- were allowed to be disseminated, atheist literature should be allowed as well.

The Satanic Temple, which was able to petition for a goat-headed statue in Oklahoma, is responding to this ruling with kid-friendly literature of their own.

Satanic Temple spokesman, Lucien Greaves, explained to Raw Story:

"[The organization] would never seek to establish a precedent of disseminating our religious materials in public schools because we believe our constitutional values are better served by respecting a strong separation of Church and State.”

“However, if a public school board is going to allow religious pamphlets and full Bibles to be distributed to students — as is the case in Orange County, Florida — we think the responsible thing to do is to ensure that these students are given access to a variety of differing religious opinions, as opposed to standing idly by while one religious voice dominates the discourse and delivers propaganda to youth.”

Greaves also explains that it is a good opportunity for children to learn about, and be exposed to, other religions.

"I am quite certain that all of the children in these Florida schools are already aware of the Christian religion and its Bible," Greaves told Raw Story. "And this might be the first exposure these children have to the actual practice of Satanism. We think many students will be very curious to see what we offer."

Update:

The workbook, which can be found here, has word puzzles, games and short blurbs including:

"Whopper is big and sometimes scary because he has trouble saying what's on his mind. Help Damian and Annabel use their patience and open-mindedness to decipher what he wants to say."


By Sarah Gray

Sarah Gray is an assistant editor at Salon, focusing on innovation. Follow @sarahhhgray or email sgray@salon.com.

MORE FROM Sarah Gray


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Bible Florida Religion Satanism Schools