In a recent article in the Dayton Daily News, Law Professor Charles J. Russo of the University of Dayton argued that schools should allow “After-School Satan Clubs” to meet in public schools.
“Without endorsing or condemning Satan Clubs, or banning them, and other clubs, as some boards have done, basically risks ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water,’ accomplishing little, if anything. Moreover, banning Satan Clubs risks turning them into victims who may gain greater sympathy and support. Finally, denying Satan Clubs the same access as religious and other groups creates impermissible double standards, violating their right to free speech and sending a message, however unintended, that schools are not open to all points of view.”
Stripping away the excess verbiage, Mr. Russo is saying that schools should let the Satanists in because the law allows it. Moral considerations appear to play no role in his reasoning, nor does any responsibility to protect children from evil influences. There seems to be no concern for the salvation of souls that could be endangered by these classes.
A Marian University?
Tragically, such thoughts should come from the University of Dayton—a college founded by the Society of Mary. This Catholic institution should be on the front of defense against Satan and all his evil works.
The University still speaks glowingly of its Catholic origins in the video, The Heritage of Nazareth. Historically, one particularly beautiful legacy is its “Marian Library.” The school’s current (March 2024) online catalog describes it.
“The Marian Library houses the world’s largest dedicated collection of materials on the Blessed Virgin Mary. It contains information about the Virgin Mary found in works on scripture, doctrine, history, tradition, art, culture, spirituality, and devotion…. Since its opening in 1943, the Marian Library’s outreach has taken many forms in order to reach all who wish to know, love, and serve Mary.”
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Perhaps the University of Dayton needs to recall that Our Lady’s first assigned task was to crush the head of the serpent (see Gen. 3:15). She is also known as the dread of demons.
Support from “Mainstream” Media
The clubs that Professor Russo defends are sponsored by The Satanic Temple. According to a December 2023 article in The New York Times, one of the founders of the organization said that “the temple does not believe in Satan as described in the Bible but considers the concept to be a ‘mythological framework that encourages people to question authority and follow ‘the best available evidence.’”
He continued. “Satan is the embodiment of the ultimate rebel against tyranny.” The goal, he says, is to challenge “our theocratic overlords.” He says members focus on free thinking, logic, science and bodily autonomy as part of what they believe. The After School Satan Clubs frequently advertise as “a fun and inviting place for students to learn and make new friends.”
Despite these claims, the group surrounds itself in Satanic imagery, has and sells grotesque statues of Baphomet and uses the Hail Satan greeting. It claims abortion as a “religious ritual.” In the article “Refuting Nine Lies Used to Push After-School Satan Clubs,” TFP Student Action shows the real face of the Satanic Temple. For example, the article lists several “harmless” rituals approved by TST:
Unbaptism, where participants renounce the True Faith;
Destruction Ritual where participants destroy an object they own that symbolizes a source of pain in their lives, which exorcists claim can often mean something like a crucifix or a bible;
Defiance Ritual where a person pledges to challenge the status quo and
Black Mass, which celebrates blasphemy and sacrilege, attacks God and the true Catholic Mass.
It is no wonder that parents are concerned about having this influence operating inside their schools.
Dismissing Satan as Harmless
One reason that Satanists can get away with passing themselves off as free thinkers and secularists is that the public at large, including many religious people, know little about Satan. The prevailing concept of the devil is a mixture. Part of it comes from pre-Christian superstition, for instance, the Greek concept of Hades. Another source is John Milton’s Paradise Lost, with its heavily Calvinist emphasis. Over the years, Hollywood has presented Satan in several guises—comic, sympathetic or even endearing. The result is usually an absurd mix of notions easily open to ridicule.
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Unfortunately, the modern Church seldom mentions the devil. To modernist clergy, it smacks of the medieval dogmas from which they recoil. For others, the whole idea of judgment conflicts with their sentimental notions that God would never condemn anyone. This spirit is evident in Pope Francis’s recent statement, “I like to think hell is empty.”
Traditional Catholic Teaching
The Catholic definition of Satan is specific. It comes out of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). That view is summarized in The Catholic Encyclopedia.
“[T]he Devil and the other demons are but a part of the angelic creation, and their natural powers do not differ from those of the angels who remained faithful. Like the other angels, they are pure spiritual beings without any body, and in their original state they are endowed with supernatural grace and placed in a condition of probation. It was only by their fall that they became devils. This was before the sin of our first parents since this sin itself is ascribed to the instigation of the devil: “By the envy of the Devil, death came into the world” (Wisdom 2:24). Yet it is remarkable that for an account of the fall of the angels, we must turn to the last book of the Bible. For as such, we may regard the vision in the Apocalypse, albeit the picture of the past is blended with prophecies of what shall be in the future:
“And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels: and they prevailed not, neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Apocalypse 12:7-9)”
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From the fall of man forward, Satan has been actively involved in seeking the perdition of every person by every means. The Church teaches that he is to be avoided and detested.
Only Two Options
It is long past time for Catholic universities and the Church as a whole to inform the world about the dangers of Satanism. It is scandalous that a university professor at a Catholic university would dismiss the Satanic classes as mere “bath water.”
Demons and other evil spirits are not the companions around which children should “learn and make new friends.” These clubs could be a gateway to demonic possession. Parents have the right to defend their children from harm.
God, in His mercy, does not allow Satan to take people without their consent. However, such consent is often given by those with little idea about the hazards they bring. People, especially children, need to stay away from every occasion and place that would open them to Satan’s influences. In his book Diary of an American Exorcist, Father Michael Rossetti explains.
“[I]f you are not calling on the one true God and Jesus, His Son (or the Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints, or St. Michael and the good angels), then there is only one other spiritual option, and that is Satan.”