USA School chaplain bill

[Jazzy]

The devil is in the details after Florida Satanic Temple members announced plans to take advantage of a bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday that would allow volunteer chaplains to provide support services for public K-12 students.

"We're not playing those games in Florida," DeSantis said at a press conference at a high school in Kissimmee. "[Satanism] is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this."

If such a restriction occurs, it's likely to result in a First Amendment fight in the courts. The Satanic Temple, which the IRS recognizes as a tax-exempt church, told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida earlier in the year that it would put school chaplains in Florida if the bill became law.

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I could be wrong here, but wouldn’t this be a direct violation of their first amendment right?

 

[Josiah]

I'm against religion in public schools....



I know this is an issue for conservatives... many of which are Christians. I've heard the mantra many times, blaming nearing everything on "Schools taking religion out of the classroom." But I don't think that's the problem.... and I'm not in favor of "putting it back." I like DeSantis but I disagree with him here.


1. WHAT religion? WHOSE religion? People ASSUME that the religion that would be put back into the secular/public classroom would be THEIR religion (and even their branch and understanding of their religion). Christianity or Judaism or Islam or Agnosticism or even (as in Florida) Satanism. It's problematic for a secular government in the USA to limit the allowed religion to be some specific religion such as traditional Catholicism or Reformed Calvinism or generic "Evangelicalism." And of course if the state said it will be Catholicism - then LOTS of folks are upset, and if they say it's Lutheranism then LOTS are upset, and if it's Satanism then LOTS are upset. I have a good friend who lives in Spain - and there it's possible to some degree because Catholicism is deeply ingrained in the culture. I have relatives in Denmark where LUtheranism is deeply ingrained - it's easier in countries like that, but even there MOST are agnostic and there are significant Muslim minorities.

2. Odds are, the STATE would create the STATE religion, the one allowed there in public/secular/state funded schools. That might not be too bad in Texas but in California? I can just image the religion textbook here! In the state where Planned Parenthood wrote the curriculum for "Family Life" classrooms! I can just see abortion made a sacrament, masturbation declared a holy act of worship, celebrations of same sex marriage, how parents are dumb and kids should obey government not parents, etc.

3. God gave responsibility for religion to PARENTS (specifically, dads). THEY are commanded to teach these things to their children. NOT the state, NOT the government, NOT someone else. Parents. Ironically, it's these "conservatives" who are going against Scripture by insisting that the STATE do it. Parents have surrendered teaching about sex (etc) and handing that over to Planned Parenthood via their kid's school... now they want to surrender teaching their kids religion to the same organizations. Parents need to STOP surrendering their GOD given responsibilities to the secular/godless government (which increasingly embraces values that are very unbiblical). PARENTS need to teach their kids about God..... Just as God commands. And btw, also about morality, relationships, sex and marriage, etc.

4. It's good to have the kid's school support and supplement this. My wife and I do that by sending our son to a Catholic school. Not only because the academics there are a LOT, LOT better than the public schools but because Christianity is central to everything at the school and traditional Christian ethics and values are integrated into everything (there are no Lutheran schools in our areas). Others do this by homeschooling (LOTS of our friends do this). Both are expensive options that many can't afford - and I understand that. SO, send your kid to the secular school - and YOU, Y.O.U. - be engaged!!!!! Discuss what they are taught! Opt out of the JUNK (legally, parents can), add godly values and ethics, add Scripture reading and true worship. BE PARENTS. Do what God commands of parents.




[Edit: My post is a bit off-topic so I'm going to start a separate thread on this]

Keep Religion OUT of Public Schools!

I'm against religion in public schools.... I know this is an issue for a lot of American political conservatives... many of which are Christians. I've heard the mantra many times, blaming nearing everything on "Schools taking religion out of the classroom." But I don't think that's the...

www.christianityhaven.com

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[Albion]

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I could be wrong here, but wouldn’t this be a direct violation of their first amendment right?

Hmm. I thought you were going to ask if ALLOWING the Satanists to provide chaplains wouldn't be an impermissible mixing of Church and State.

I guess it depends on which religion the observer sympathizes with if the issue is viewed as an unconstitutional mixing of Church and State OR IF, on the other hand, it's a denial of someone's First Amendment Constitution right to Freedom of Religion.

 

[Forgiven1]

I am with you Josiah. I once heard a wise person say that they don't want prayer returned to the schools. Why? If there were verbal prayer, do we want our Christian kids praying to Allah or something else. Would those parents want their kids praying to the Christian God?

Our kids CAN pray as much as they want at school, silently. Parents need to teach their kids and lead them in growing in the faith.

This Florida bill opened the door for this to happen. Just because Satanism is not a recognized religion does not make it not a religion. This issue would be an unattended consequence.

 

[Albion]

I am with you Josiah. I once heard a wise person say that they don't want prayer returned to the schools. Why? If there were verbal prayer, do we want our Christian kids praying to Allah or something else. Would those parents want their kids praying to the Christian God?

Unfortunately, that is almost certainly the situation we'd face.

When group prayer offered prior to school classes or city commission meetings, etc. was common in our country, the unspoken presumption was that this was reflective of our nation's basic Judeo-Christian culture. And while chaplains of other of the world's great religions were not included, there was a general understanding that the prayers being offered should at least not be pointedly offensive to people from those other faiths.

Today, however, any attempt to return to such a practice would mean non-Western religions and representatives of unusual philosophies of all sorts demanding equal treatment. This would be difficult to refuse, and the result would be worse than having no audible prayers at all.

 

[tango]

Unfortunately, that is almost certainly the situation we'd face.

When group prayer offered prior to school classes or city commission meetings, etc. was common in our country, the unspoken presumption was that this was reflective of our nation's basic Judeo-Christian culture. And while chaplains of other of the world's great religions were not included, there was a general understanding that the prayers being offered should at least not be pointedly offensive to people from those other faiths.

Today, however, any attempt to return to such a practice would mean non-Western religions and representatives of unusual philosophies of all sorts demanding equal treatment. This would be difficult to refuse, and the result would be worse than having no audible prayers at all.

I wonder whether catering to every different faith (particularly if different denominations within religions wanted to be considered "different") would mean that official meetings would take so much time in prayer at the start that they'd run out of time to do any actual meeting.

... which, on reflection, might not be such a bad thing ...