VICTOR JOECKS: Summerlin high school has a ‘Satan Club’

West Career &Technical Academy has a “High School Satan Club.” Parents beware.

Last week, a sophomore at West CTA asked his mom to withdraw him from the school. The mom didn’t want to give her identity. Her son wasn’t having academic trouble. He learned that his campus had a Satan Club.

I obtained an advertisement for the club. It said the group is “inspired by the 7 tenets of The Satanic Temple.” That was followed by, “We have snacks.”

Some people sell their souls for riches, fame and power. At West CTA the going price is apparently a Snickers bar and bag of chips. Doesn’t seem like a smart trade.

The mom, who spoke in Spanish through a translator, said the club made her son “uncomfortable” and “intimidated.”

“A bad influence shouldn’t be in a place that is meant to educate children,” she said. She added, “This is a direct attack on our kids and their beliefs and who they are.”

The district disagrees.

“Noncurriculum-related student clubs are student-initiated,” it said in an email. The group will be allowed to continue to operate “unless it is a substantial disruption or it is used to bully, harass or discriminate against others. Or if the club members engage in dangerous behavior that would make the school unsafe.”

The district claims it must allow the Satan Club because it allows other religious clubs. West CTA also has a Bible Club and Jewish Student Union.

This contention stems from a larger assumption — that schools have no business promoting morality.

Leave aside that opposing bullying and dangerous behavior are moral claims. There are other problems. For one, the Founding Fathers believed that Americans needed Judeo-Christian values. “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports,” George Washington said in his 1796 Farewell Address.

Next, look at the past several decades. In the 1960s, the Supreme Court removed prayer from public schools. This hasn’t produced soaring secular test scores. Last year, fewer than 45 percent of district third graders were proficient in English. There are lots of contributing factors, including an increase in single-parent households, teacher unions and immigration. But the secularization of schools hasn’t helped.

Finally, students aren’t merely academic blank slates who need their brains filled with information. They are moral beings who need direction and purpose. A major justification for publicly funded schools is that they prepare students to be better citizens. Instilling common moral values is an essential part of that, even while avoiding theological differences.

Moral values must have a theological foundation. It’s prudence, not hypocrisy, to deny the benefits of our country’s value system to those who seek to undermine it. That’s what a Satan Club does.

Or as Trustee Lorena Biassotti said, “I can’t believe this is a real debate — if it’s appropriate to allow Satan around our kids.”

She continued, “We lose the moral ground when we normalize evil.”

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.