State definition of ‘religion’ too narrow, Satanic Temple says

Bible on a school desk in a classroom. (Getty Images)

The DeSantis administration, in encouraging introduction of religious chaplains into Florida’s public schools, has published a definition of “religion” that appears to exclude world faiths with millions of followers.

The Florida Department of Education’s model policy to guide school principals interested in implementing the optional program defines both religion and the qualifications needed to serve as chaplains.

“Florida welcomes only legitimate and officially authorized chaplains to become volunteers at their local schools and to provide students with morally sound guidance,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said in a news release announcing the policy last week.

The policy appears to be aimed at The Satanic Temple, an organization whose founders have said is intended to counter government efforts to inject Christianity into government operations by espousing beliefs considered repugnant to it, in defense of the separation of church and state.

The policy “defines religion too narrowly in a way that not only excludes Satanists, but Buddhists, Humanists, Jains, Confucianists, and many others,” said Lucien Greaves, a spokesperson for the temple, in an email to the Phoenix.

“It is a clear encroachment of religion into public schools, with the clear intention of advancing a specific viewpoint,” said Greaves ( a pseudonym he adopts for his temple work).

“It’s divisive, it is legally unsound (and will not survive its forthcoming lawsuits that the Florida taxpayer will finance), and it is born of cheap political grandstanding without any real concern for the children in Florida public schools.”

During a Board of Education meeting Wednesday, Diaz encouraged schools interested in implementing the program to use the model policy “to ensure that credible chaplains can volunteer in Florida schools.”

The policy defines a chaplain as “an individual who is officially authorized by the leadership of a religion under the religion’s governing principles to conduct religious exercises.”

It defines religion as “an organized group led, supervised, or counseled by a hierarchy of teachers, clergy, sages, or priests that (1) acknowledges the existence of and worships a supernatural entity or entities that possesses power over the natural world, (2) regularly engages in some form of ceremony, ritual, or protocol, and (3) whose religious beliefs impose moral duties independent of the believer’s self-interest.”

The program, authorized by HB 931 , went into effect in July and allows schools to authorize religious figures to offer counseling on campus. Participating schools would publish lists of volunteers available “to provide support, services, and programs to students as assigned by the district school board or charter school governing board,” the legislation says.

The law allows public districts and public charters to partake in the program, but does not require it and, in districts that do, parents must approve a student visiting with a chaplain.

Statute and model policy

The statute places one requirement for chaplains to meet: Pass a level 2 criminal background check, a fingerprint-based review of disqualifying offenses for people in positions of responsibility or trust.

Opponents of the program told the Phoenix that’s not enough to protect children.

The model policy, if a school chooses to use it, places the burden on a principal to ensure applying chaplains meet minimum requirements, including:

• A chaplain “not be disqualified following a background screening.”
• Be affiliated with a group within the school district.
• Possess a bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree in counseling or theology or have seven years of chaplain experience.
• Have at least two years of chaplain experience with a local group.
• Must signify they will not “teach or encourage students to behave contrary to any of Florida’s state academic standards” and show a “sincere desire” to enhance student welfare.

“ A principal may deny the application of any individual to become a volunteer chaplain if the principal determines that the individual is not applying to fulfill the program’s purpose or the applicant’s participation will be contrary to the pedagogical interests of the school and the chaplaincy program,” the model policy states.

Greaves said the policy “flies in the face of all standing First Amendment precedent and basic respect for religious pluralism and liberty.”

“Now we see even more clearly the disingenuous intentions of policymakers who simultaneously portray the chaplaincy program as uninterested in proselytizing, while also insisting that chaplains hold only to certain specific beliefs that have nothing to do with counseling and could only be relevant to proselytizing,” Greaves said.

The organization’s website says : “The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.”

Greaves told The New York Times that he doesn’t believe in a literal Satan any more than he does a literal God.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill in April, addressing already looming concerns about involvement by The Satanic Temple.

“Some have said that if you do a school chaplain program that, somehow, you’re going to have satanists running around in all our schools,” DeSantis said during the bill-signing ceremony in Kissimmee.

“We’re not playing those games in Florida. That is not a religion. That is not qualified to be able to participate in this. So, we’re going to be using common sense when it comes to this. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“We strongly encourage school districts to move forward with their chaplaincy programs,” Bryan Griffin, the governor’s communications director, posted to X .

“ The State of Florida and the Florida Department of Education will stand with and support school districts who implement the program. To further this goal, The Department of Education has recently released a model policy for districts to adopt in implementation of the chaplaincy program.”

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‘Extremely problematic’

In an interview with the Phoenix last month, before the model policy was announced, Kara Gross, the ACLU of Florida’s legislative director and senior policy counsel, said the program “creates an environment that is ripe for religious coercion and indoctrination of students.”

After the model policy was announced, Gross emphasized those concerns.

“The government-proposed ‘model policy’ further demonstrates that the true intent behind this law is to advance certain religious viewpoints that are favored by the Governor in our public schools and to exclude other religious viewpoints that the Governor disfavors,” Gross said in a news release.

She said the model policy is “extremely problematic and raises several constitutional concerns.”

“It is very concerning that the government-proposed ‘model policy’ seeks to define religion for Floridians,” Gross said.

“This is the opposite of religious freedom. Additionally, it creates arbitrary requirements that would open up school districts to potential liability for excluding certain religious viewpoints and promoting others.”

The newest member of the Broward County School Board, Rebecca Thompson, said during a Wednesday call with reporters said she is “very against” the chaplain program, saying she does not think there is enough structure.

“But my main concern as a mental health professional, as the only one on our board, once I get placed there, is that these people don’t have training, so they’re not mental health professional-training that you go years to understand how to see the signs that someone might be suicidal, see the signs that someone’s getting abused,” Thompson said.

“So we are sending unqualified people into our school to harm our students. … And we are putting our students at harm for another cultural war message that DeSantis is pushing.”

Sarah Leonardi, representing Broward County’s district three, said during that same call that the program will not give students what they need.

“We are in a youth mental health crisis, and this is, again, another distraction, another culture war issue, and it’s also not giving kids what they need. What parents and what educators want are real solutions to the mental health crisis and, unfortunately, that’s not what the Legislature is bringing to the table,” Leonardi said.

One organization against voluntary chaplains, The Council of Florida Churches, previously advised districts considering implementing the program to instead hire more certified counselors or psychiatrists or, at the very least, consult with public stakeholders on a feasibility study or something similar to gauge the interests and desires of the community.

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, an organization dedicated to the separation of church and state, encouraged school boards to not pick up the program.

“The policy permits chaplains to provide ‘spiritual guidance’ to students, but that is not the role of public school officials. Public schools are not Sunday schools, and people of faith along with the nonreligious all have a stake in keeping church and state separate,” Laser said in a news release.

“Religious freedom means students and their parents — not politicians or public school officials — get to decide if, when, and how to engage with religion. Florida’s public-school boards should refuse to implement this, or any, policy on public school chaplains.”

The chaplain program has not received much interest from Florida districts, although the Osceola County School Board recently scheduled a vote on the topic. However, the district later dropped the matter following a statement of interest in participating from “Ministers of Satan,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported .

Jackie Llanos contributed to this report.

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