Government schools have become another battlefield in the Left’s culture war.
But, no one was prepared for this showdown.
And Florida schools are having to fight Satanists for this shocking reason.
Florida faces massive pushback over school chaplain program
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law in April that created a volunteer chaplain program in government schools.
A school could select a volunteer chaplain who was approved by the school board to provide additional support for students.
Students would need written consent from a parent or a guardian to meet with the chaplain.
The voluntary program seemed like a common sense way to give Florida students some more help.
DeSantis said that being able to meet with a chaplain could make a significant difference in the lives of students.
But, the program has been surrounded by controversy after it went into effect this summer.
No school board has created a school chaplain program because they fear facing a lawsuit if they do.
The Satanic Temple has threatened to file a religious freedom lawsuit over the law for being excluded from the program.
President Joe Biden’s IRS recognizes the Satanic Temple as a religious organization under federal law.
Osceola County in Central Florida had a vote to establish the school chaplain program fail by a 3-2 margin after a heated school board meeting.
Satanists and left-wing activist groups showed up to oppose it with clergy on the other side.
Fears over a First Amendment lawsuit
Osceola County School Board chair Heather Kahoun said the district punted on the program over fears of a First Amendment lawsuit.
“I need more time to make a decision,” Kahoun said. “I haven’t had an opportunity to think about these things, to think about the implications regarding the First Amendment, regarding federal litigation that we could receive if we were to approve this as it is today.”
Osceola school board member Jon Arguello said that rejection was politically motivated.
“If there was a student who came up here asking for ‘Hey, I want to be chemically castrated’ because I’m a transgender ideologist, the school board members on this dais would pay for the Uber to send that student to go to the clinic,” Arguello stated.
“But here, in this situation, a student comes, and they ask for spiritual guidance because they need something that is different than what we’re offering, and they want to cut it down,” Arguello added.
Florida Department of Education officials came up with a proposal to keep rabble-rousers like the Satanists from participating in the chaplain program by increasing the qualifications to participate.
“Florida welcomes legitimate and officially authorized chaplains to become volunteers at their local schools and to provide students with morally sound guidance,” Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said.
The Satanic Temple began selling merchandise claiming Florida welcomed them into their schools.
By signing HB 931 into law, @GovRonDeSantis opened Florida’s public schools to religious Chaplains, including The Satanic Temple’s Chaplains! Celebrate America’s first Satanic Chaplains with our “Florida School Chaplain” merch, available exclusively at https://t.co/phqiizVhw7. pic.twitter.com/mdvEq4Dcl3
— The Satanic Temple (@satanic_temple_) August 28, 2024
“The reality is you’ll have to accommodate religious identities you may not agree with,” Satanic Temple founder Lucien Greaves told Osceola’s school board. “You will end up with Satanist chaplains.”
Florida is going to have to go to war for common sense to prevail.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
