Satanists Take Aim at Christian Kids Programs, Leader Responds

The founder of a Christian organization that provides kids with religious instruction during the public school day is responding to Satanists' attempts to offer their own alternative programming to children. Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy and author of the book, "During School Hours: WHY and HOW LifeWise Academy is Reinstalling Religious Education into the Public School Day," told CBN News he believes The Satanic Temple's "Hellion Academy of Independent Learning" (HAIL) being offered to children at an Ohio elementary school is a direct "response" to his LifeWise academy programming.   "The messages that we're getting from those who are launching the program are somewhat mixed," Penton said. "At times, they will say this is explicitly an attempt to scare the school board and communities into shutting down all religious programs like ours ... Other times, they'll say, 'Oh, but you shouldn't be scared of this because it is going to teach kindness, and values, and that type of thing.'" From Penton's perspective, it's "not super clear exactly what the program is about," though, like LifeWise, it enables children to leave the premises to take part in The Satanic Temple's alternative effort. Listen to him explain. • Watch the weekly "Newsmakers" TV show each week on CBN News (https://cbn.com/news/newsmakers) • Watch the weekly "Newsmakers" TV show on CBN's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrOrpssK0sq-3JqBRP6qXDDLlCt9J7Q7s) • Download the free CBN News App (http://cbnnews.com/app)