Pagan school clubs? The teacher perspective

TWH –The Satanic Temple (TST) is once again in the news. This time they are working to establish After School Satan Clubs in schools that already have student groups which are organized by Christian ministries. TST’s mission is largely considered a push  to more thoroughly separate the functions of church and state. However, the efforts of this group has implications for members of minority religions, including Pagans, Heathens and associated traditions. To learn more about the religious clubs in the school systems, The Wild Hunt spoke with Pagans who are also teachers to find out about how religion is approached in their schools.

The intersection of religion and public education

For most of the United States, public school is out of session, and children are outside making mudpies, playing ball, climbing trees and building Minecraft fortresses on small electronic gadgets. Nobody is thinking about school. Well, almost nobody. June is “Public School Religious Freedom Month.” Or, at least it is in Pennsylvania; the state in which the historic 1963 Schempp case began.

Religion in Public Schools: a continuing struggle

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On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rejected the appeal of Ohio science teacher John Freshwater, who was fired for teaching Creationism in the public school system. The case, Freshwater v. Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education, first made its way through the Ohio courts, where it was ultimately ruled that “the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education had ‘good and just cause’ to terminate John Freshwater’s teaching contract.”