September (Web-only) 2002

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Satanists in school and Washington — only without the whole "Satan" thing
Break out the parachute pants and Rubik's Cubes — the satanic panic of the 1980s is back. Only this kind of Satanism doesn't look like anything of the Geraldo Rivera/Mike Warnke variety. These Satanists say they're really just atheists who like the more shocking label.

Atheists, however, aren't amused. Picking up on an earlier New York Times piece, The Washington Times today reports on Satanists' involvement in The Godless Americans March on Washington, scheduled for November 2.

"This is supposed to be a march of those without religion," Ed Buckner, executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, complains. "We don't believe there is Satan or any other god."

American Atheists, which is planning the march, says the Satanists are still invited since they're "godless."

("I myself am personally offended that representatives from the Christian community were not invited to take part in the Godless Americans March," Gene Edward Veith sarcastically remarked in a recent issue of World. "A number of feminist theologians, seminary professors, and Episcopalian bishops hold views that are far closer to those of the Council of Secular Humanists than any recognizably Christian theology.")

Meanwhile, students at San Mateo (Calif.) High School got a somewhat shocking announcement over their public address system recently: they were invited to join The Satanic Thought Society. About three dozen students showed up, but some students and parents are outraged. "It's just a negative that doesn't belong in the school," Pam Cachay, whose daughter attends the school, told the San Mateo County Times. She and other parents tried to stage a protest yesterday, but the Times ...