DeSantis excludes Satanists from the Florida School Chaplaincy Program

The Sunshine State now welcomes chaplains to public schools, but Satanists don’t have to apply.

On Thursday, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, said signed a bill allowing chaplains to volunteer to provide counseling at public and charter schools. However, the Catholic governor warned that Satanists would not be allowed into the program, as some Christian and conservative groups had feared.

“Some have said that if you have a school chaplain program, somehow there will be Satanists in all of our schools,” DeSantis said at a news conference. ‘We don’t play those games in Florida. That’s not a religion. That does not qualify you to participate. We are going to use our common sense, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

The Florida Senate version of the bill was approved in February and the House version was approved early last month. The text of the legislation states: “Each school district or charter school may adopt a policy to authorize volunteer school chaplains to provide support, services and programs to students as assigned by the district school board or charter school board.”

The new law requires volunteer chaplains to pass a background check and requires school administrators to disclose each volunteer chaplain’s religious affiliation and obtain parental consent before a student begins counseling.

“Any opportunity that exists for ministers or chaplains in the public sector should not discriminate on the basis of religious affiliation,” Penemue Grigori, “director of ministry” at The Satanic Temple, said in February. “Our ministers look forward to participating in opportunities to do good in the community, including the opportunities created by this bill, together with the clergy of other faiths.”

Ryan Jayne of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Action Fund added: “I think there’s a 100% chance you’ll see satanic chaplains, and of course other religious minorities that the majority Christian population may not be fans of. The Satanic Temple is a church whether people like it or not.”

“It is great to have such a strong statement from Governor DeSantis denying the legitimacy of Satanism as a religion or church. But I worry that appeals to common sense will not hold up in the most ideological school systems, even in Florida,” Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for educational studies at the Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. “Either way, this is an important step in recognizing the role faith plays in our lives and how important it is to best answer the big questions students have about morality, life and death, and God’s plan for their lives. can be done by a parent or priest. , pastor or chaplain.”

DeSantis has criticized Satanism in the past, arguing that it is not a religion. In December, after military veteran and outspoken Christian Michael Cassidy toppled and decapitated a Baphomet idol erected in the Iowa State Capitol Building at The Satanic Temple, Florida’s governor decided declared, “Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a ‘religion’ by the federal government. … Good prevails over evil – that is the American spirit.”

On its website, The Satanic Temple answers the question “Do you worship Satan?” The organization says: “No, nor do we believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural.” The Satanic Temple adds: “Satan is a symbol of the Eternal Rebel who opposes arbitrary authority and forever defends personal sovereignty even in the face of insurmountable odds. … Our metaphorical representation is the literary Satan best exemplified by Milton and the Romantic Satanists from Blake to Shelley to Anatole France.”

Now that it has been signed by DeSantis, Florida’s new law will go into effect on July 1.

Originally published by The Washington Stand