Readers react to support for Satan Club’s rights
It’s sad when bullies win.
And that’s precisely what happened in Saucon Valley School District.
On Friday, Superintendent Jaime Vlasaty rescinded the district’s approval for the After School Satan Club to hold meetings at the middle school. Only four days earlier, Vlasaty said the club had a right to use school facilities because the district previously has allowed other religious organizations to use them.
“By law, the District cannot discriminate among groups wishing to use the SVSD facilities,” she told parents in a letter last Monday.
In reversing course Friday, Vlasaty said the club failed to meet the requirements of School Board Policy 707. That policy says school properties can be used by organizations if their use “does not interfere with the educational program of the schools.”
The policy also says: “The Board reserves the right to deny permission to use Saucon Valley District facilities when it deems this action to be in the best interests of the school district.”
In her letter to parents Friday, Vlasaty said that as a result of the club’s violation of the policy, “the educational programming and activities of the District has been significantly impacted and it has caused unequivocal disruption to the District’s daily operations.”
But the club hadn’t even met yet. How could it violate the policy?
The only thing that changed between last Monday and Friday was that some crackpot threatened the school district because he was unhappy with it agreeing to host the After School Satan Club.
That threat prompted the district to cancel classes and activities last Wednesday. That’s certainly a disruption. But that wasn’t the club’s fault.
I suspect this isn’t over. The matter likely will dominate discussion at Tuesday night’s school board meeting. And it very well could end up in court.
I’m not crazy about the idea of a Satan Club meeting in a school. Anything with the word “Satan” should be avoided, in my opinion. As I wrote in my column Friday, if my kids showed me a flier about such a meeting, there’s no way in you-know-where that they would be attending.
But I recognize feelings don’t matter. Legal obligations do. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling requires equal access to public facilities.
I anticipated receiving a lot of criticism when I wrote Friday that despite my personal beliefs, I supported the right of the club to meet. It’s an emotional situation. Some readers didn’t hold back in chastising me. I was surprised, though, at how many had my back. They recognize that living in America means respecting rights of those they may not agree with.
Here is a sample of what some readers said about my support for the club’s right to meet at the school.
“If this Satan club is allowed to flourish throughout the country you can expect even more mass shootings than we’re already plagued with while you espouse Constitutional obligations to the dead.”
“It’s wrong to claim that the U.S. Constitution is clear on issues like religious speech in schools. It’s wronger still to quote a Clarence Thomas decision to support such a claim. To understate the case, Thomas is one of the least respected justices in Supreme Court history by Constitutional scholars. And the Court over the centuries has swung wildly on the meaning of the Establishment Clause, which many find to be inherently contradictory.”
“What now? Do we let skinhead Neo-Nazi clubs in? They at least have no religion. Thomas should be ignored and no religious group should use school facilities.”
“They are not a religious group. This is what is wrong with America. No common sense and I don’t care what the courts say about this.”
“The After School Satan Club might not be the preferred name to be affiliated with a school district, but by allowing other religious organizations to use their space, they had no other choice.”
“I see this urge to censor coming from all directions these days, often culminating in political violence. I salute you for being a reasoned voice against such nonsense.”
“I completely agree with your position on this after school club. Allowing one person to derail this is wrong. They should be identified and dealt with through our legal system.”
“Resistance to these types of issues our kids will face only arouses more curiosity from kids and creates push back from them. Without overreacting, this too will pass.”