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A young member of theSatanic Templewas granted a religious accommodation from theElizabeth School District, arguing that the district’s digital hall pass system conflicts with her beliefs. The parents of the Elizabeth High School student had requested that she be exempted from the system, but their request was initially denied, according to TST. That’s when the Temple’s lawyers stepped in.
“This was a cut-and-dry case of a TST member’s bodily autonomy being violated by invasive digital controls,” says Eliphaz Costus, campaign director of the Temple’s Protect Children Project.
Using the digital hall pass system to monitor and restrict the time students spend in therestroomapparently goes against TST’sthird tenet, which states, “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.” The student will now be able to use physical hall passes to access the restroom at any time and for any duration, according to the school district.
Members of the Satanic Temple don’t actually believe in the devil or Hell. It is a non-theistic group that frequently advocates for the separation of church and state. There are approximately 12,000 registered members in Colorado, including both of the student’s parents, according to TST.
The Temple’s lawsuits have resulted in monuments of the Ten Commandments being removed from state capitols inOklahomaandArkansas, after they attempted to erect large Satanic statutes alongside them. TST has also attempted to fight abortion bans by asserting that they interfere with the religion’sabortion ritualpractices.
According to TST, the Temple’sProtect Children Projectis focused on shielding students from “abuses” by school officials, such as corporal punishment, solitary confinement and restricted bathroom access.
The Minga digital hall pass system in question hasreceivedbacklashin someschoolsfor violating student privacy. The surveillance technology is intended to reduce the time students spend roaming hallways by tracking when and why a student requests a hall pass, and issuing acountdown timerthat notifies teachers when the student has been out of class for longer than allotted, like when using the bathroom.
Elizabeth High School adopted Minga at the beginning of the second semester this school year, according to the school district.
“The district believes that Minga is an important and necessary tool at the high school level,” says Jeff Maher, spokesperson for the Elizabeth School District. “At the same time, the district is deeply committed to honoring parental rights and to the principle that families — not schools — are the ultimate arbiters of the values by which their children are raised.”
Source: Drudge Report
