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.

  • SpeedLimit55@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is a strange thing to have in a public school especially suggesting that a chaplain can replace a counselor. Most private religious based schools have both.

    • Crashumbc@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Strange isn’t the correct word. The purpose is to insert their religion everywhere and force complete indoctrination on youth. It’s not strange for an organization built on curling its subjects to want more. Evil maybe.

    • Takatakatakatakatak@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Mind your words, heathen. Through faith, all things are possible… including the rape of multiple children before this ridiculous idea gets rolled back.

      Is Florida trying to become Gilead for real? This is the most backwards shit I’ve seen in a while.