CASA GRANDE, Ariz. - We’ve all heard the song "Highway to Hell."
But for drivers on Interstate 10 near Casa Grande, that’s what you might be thinking, because the Satanic Temple of Arizona has just adopted that stretch of road.
From The Girl Scouts to Neo Nazis to the KKK across the U.S., the Adopt A Highway program has been used by controversial groups to drive their campaigns
Here in Arizona, there’s a new sponsorship in town to care for and rid the highway of debris — Satanists.
Stu de Haan, who lives in Tucson, is one of the founding members of The Satanic Temple of Arizona.
“People have this perception that one side does the good stuff and the other side does all the bad stuff, ”
It was the Arizona chapter's idea to adopt this stretch of highway near Casa Grande, a centralized location for members of this barely 2-year-old chapter.
“What we are really showing here is that Satanism is a legitimate religion, even though it’s non-theistic, we are showing the people do have a sense of community and they want to get involved."
De Haan said members do not worship the devil, they just don’t believe in God.
And they range in age and demographics. At least a dozen people showed up to the first clean-up held right after the sponsorship was approved in September, and recently to this month’s clean-up.
They even use pitchforks to pick up trash — yes, pitchforks poking fun at what they say everyone gets wrong about them.
“A lot of what we hear is from the '80s and '90s called the 'Satanic Panic,' wild and atrocious myths that were just never proven to be true,” said de Haan.
De Haan said this is a group who just wants people to know — at least drivers along I-10 and Casa Grande — they exist, they’re friendly and they also hate litter.
For more information about the Satanic Temple of Arizona click here.
