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More than 100 chaplains urge Texas school boards not to hire chaplains (www.washingtonpost.com)

submitted 10 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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More than 100 chaplains signed a letter urging local Texas school boards to vote against putting chaplains in public schools, calling efforts to enlist religious counselors in public classrooms “harmful” to students and families.

The letter was issued just days before a bill allowing public schools to hire school chaplains becomes law in Texas, the first state in the country to pass such a measure. The legislation, which had been pushed by activists associated with Christian nationalism, gives the state’s nearly 1,200 school boards until March 1 of next year to vote on whether to employ chaplains.

The letter was organized by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and Interfaith Alliance as well as the local advocacy group Texas Impact.

The chaplains who signed the letter, released Tuesday, bemoaned the lack of standards for potential school chaplains aside from background checks, contrasting it with the extensive training required for health-care and military chaplains.

“Because of our training and experience, we know that chaplains are not a replacement for school counselors or safety measures in our public schools, and we urge you to reject this flawed policy option: It is harmful to our public schools and the students and families they serve,” the letter reads.

Although chaplains who operate in multifaith environments are generally barred from proselytizing, the Texas bill, SB 763, outlined no such restriction, leaving each school district to answer the question on its own.

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[-] jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

Yeh but it's up to the schools to choose whether to hire them so I don't see that stunt working.

[-] StarkillerX42@lemmy.ml 17 points 10 months ago

They may be able to sue for discriminatory hiring practices then. Sounds like a clean case...in any supreme court but the one we have...

[-] ChrisLicht@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago

We are max three years away from this SC ruling that only “serious” religions are covered.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

The Satanic Temple is federally recognized as a religion and has tax-exempt status because of it. So that wouldn't work.

[-] szczuroarturo@programming.dev 1 points 10 months ago

So go for islam.

[-] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

They could always just pose as catholic or some shit until they're hired, then go full satan.

[-] Lt_Cdr_Data@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 10 months ago

Most satanists are actually atheists (they don't believe god or satan exist), but they do it to have a community that has its own traditions and for the lulz.

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023

301 points (98.7% liked)

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