Still Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia is home to a (Christian) Good News Club. And since Fred Mephisto, the head of the local chapter of The Satanic Temple, is a graduate of the same District, he’s been leading the charge to make sure the school also offers an After School Satan club this year.

But it’s not going very well. That’s in part because the District refuses to even say if it received his application. (The article is behind a paywall.)

Mephisto said the chapter emailed the district its application to start an after-school program, called After School Satan, on August 1. He said FedEx delivered a hard copy of the application Monday and the group has called Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s office twice. “We haven’t heard anything back,” Mephisto said. Mephisto, who said he graduated from a Cobb school, said the temple views the district’s lack of response as the district denying the application.

They seem to think that if they ignore him, he’ll just go away. They’re wrong.

The only response from the District is one that makes no sense:

District spokesperson Donna Lowry said the district is keeping with its original statement: “There is no club there (at Still).”

If she’s referring to the Satan club… well, she’s right. There isn’t one. That’s what Mephisto is trying to fix. If she’s referring to the Christian club, then she’s lying.

So what will the Temple do?

I asked spokesperson Lucien Greaves, and he told me in an email that a lawsuit may be in the District’s future:

It’s odd that, in response to the question of whether or not Cobb County School District intends to answer our request for an after-school club, they reply with a non-sequitur merely saying that they have no such club. This indicates a calculated official refusal to acknowledge our request, and failure to reply to us could constitute a “de facto” rejection of our after-school club application. If it does turn out that the school district has deliberated to institute this apparent policy of official ignorance toward our request, a case for discrimination is clear. We are currently discussing legal options.

You know who’s really quiet during this conversation? All those Christian legal groups that say they’re fighting for “religious freedom.” They don’t give a damn if non-Christians are oppressed, do they?



