The Satanic Temple is gearing up to oppose a new Florida law that permits schools to establish chaplain programs, enabling spiritual advisors to offer guidance to students with parental approval.
The issue lies in a bill signed into law by Governor DeSantis, which allows school districts in Florida to adopt volunteer school chaplain services.
As the Tampa Free Press reported, each school can implement a policy permitting volunteer school chaplains to provide support services and student programs.
However, the bill also prohibits certain religious groups from participating in the program, including the Satanic Temple.
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“Floridian TST members, supporters, & allies are standing up for true religious freedom & confronting theocracy,” the Satanic Temple wrote on X Sunday. “Ready to stand with us and raise hell?”
DeSantis has made it clear that he does not consider the Satanic Temple to be a religion and, therefore, ineligible to serve as public school chaplains.
“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,” he said at a press conference at a high school in Kissimmee, where he also signed a bill (HB 1317) giving more school access to “patriotic organizations.”
“We’re not playing those games in Florida,” DeSantis said. “That is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this.”
DeSantis emphasized that the program is voluntary, allowing parents and students to choose whether to participate.
In April, Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Satanic Temple, responded to Governor DeSantis’ remarks by challenging him to a debate on religious freedom.
“Despite DeSantis’s contempt for religious liberty, the Constitution guarantees our equal treatment under the law, and DeSantis is not at liberty to amend the Constitution by fiat, at whim,” said Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Satanic Temple. “He just invited Satanic chaplains into public schools, whether he likes it or not,”
Greaves added that the IRS recognizes the Satanic Temple as a tax-exempt church, further asserting its legitimacy as a religious organization.
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As the bill progressed through the legislative process, the Satanic Temple threatened to sue the state if any of its members were banned from serving as chaplains. Greaves contends that excluding the Satanic Temple from the chaplain program would constitute discrimination.
The Satanic Temple’s executive director of operations, Rachel Chambliss, extended an invitation to Governor DeSantis for a public debate on their status as a federally recognized religious organization.
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