DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers in more than a dozen states are proposing legislation that would allow public schools to have spiritual chaplains, a move that supporters say would ease the youth mental health crisis and It claims it can strengthen staff retention and provide spiritual care to students who are able. They can't afford to go to a religious school, and they can't attend one.
Conservatives also argue that religious foundations will serve as a “rescue mission” against the deterioration of public school values. The issue has galvanized the Republican-controlled Legislature to fight to resolve issues such as parental oversight of the curriculum, book limits and instructional guidance. Gender identity and state-funded tuition assistance for private and religious schools.
However, many chaplains and religious groups have opposed this ministry, calling its motives offensive and raising the risk of introducing positions of authority to children without clear standards or boundaries. There is.
“They're going to get the attention of students, sometimes when they're at their most vulnerable, and whether they can be converted and what they can say to kids who are grappling with really difficult issues. There won't be any checks,'' said Maureen O'Leary, organizing director of the Interfaith Alliance.
O'Leary said the group shared its concerns with lawmakers and school boards, saying schools should be “neutral spaces where students can come as who they are.”
“This is not a pro-religion or anti-religion issue,” she said. “This is a question of the appropriate role of religion as applied to public schools.”
Texas launches national campaign
Texas became the first state to recognize school chaplains under a law passed in 2023.
The National Association of School Chaplains, which calls itself the Ministry of Christian Chaplains, says on its website that it “was instrumental in spearheading” the Texas law. The organization is a subsidiary of his Mission Generation, which he founded in 1999 to bring Jesus to classrooms around the world. In its December 2023 newsletter, the NSCA praised Texas for starting a “national movement to bring God back to public education.”
The organization's statement of faith is typical of an advocacy organization, with NSCA chaplains “providing holistic care, guidance and safety to all people at all times, regardless of their personal beliefs,” association representatives said. said in an email.
After the bill was passed, dozens of Texas pastors representing a variety of faiths and denominations jointly sent a letter to the school board stating that the law would “restrict pastors from proselytizing while in school and He cautioned that there is no requirement to “serve students from different backgrounds.”
The law gave more than 1,200 school districts to decide by March 1 whether to recognize chaplains as employees or volunteers. Many of the biggest players opted out.
Houston and Austin said volunteers will not provide chaplaincy services, as their roles and responsibilities remain unchanged. The Dallas school board said chaplains should not be employees or volunteers at this time.
During that time, various school chaplaincy bills were introduced in many states in the South and Midwest, with mixed success.
A school chaplaincy bill has passed both chambers of the Florida Legislature and awaits Governor Ron DeSantis' signature. School policies should describe the services of volunteer chaplains and require parental consent.
Indiana's proposal, which passed in one House but failed in the other, specified that chaplains would provide secular services unless students and parents consented to non-secular services. Some lawmakers questioned where the line was drawn and how students could know.
In Utah, U.S. Rep. Keven Stratton told his colleagues that recent Supreme Court decisions on religious freedom provide an opportunity for school chaplains and a return to the tradition of recognizing God in public institutions. he said.
Johnson's counterpart in the Utah Senate, whose proposal lacked full Republican support and was ultimately defeated, observed “blatant disrespect for religious principles within the schools” during committee meetings. He said he did. That would have the effect of increasing the number of families choosing alternatives to public schools, he said.
“It would be very helpful and it would be a lot easier if my colleagues would see our efforts here as a rescue mission rather than an attack,” he said on the Senate floor.
A growing number of proposals from then-President Donald Trump to state governments were designed to breach the firewall between churches and public schools, an effort that would undermine equal treatment of all faiths and exclude religious minorities. Civil liberties groups say it threatens the sect.
Public schools have been prohibited from instructing students in classroom prayer since 1962, when the Supreme Court ruled that it violates the First Amendment's ban on establishing a government religion.
Supreme Court case brought by a coach fired for praying on the field balances the religious and free speech rights of faculty and staff with the rights of students not to feel forced to practice their religion became a problem. The decision in favor of the praying soccer coach is consistent with a series of rulings favoring religious plaintiffs.
Concept of pastor is 'very gray'
Chaplains are traditionally ministers who serve outside the congregation, and have been for many years in the United States, but the modern role is “very gray,” said Wendy Cage, director of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. says Mr. got it.
Chaplains serve in the U.S. Congress, military, and correctional facilities, each with strict requirements for employment and service. Hospitals, police and fire departments, universities, and private companies also employ chaplains on a wide range of criteria.
Many pastors have seminary or ministry training and espouse a particular faith. However, pastors serving in multicultural settings may also be required to undergo specialized, supervised training called clinical pastoral education.
Large hospitals are particularly likely to employ chaplains and provide training in clinical pastoral education.
Eric Johnson, director of spiritual care at UnityPoint Health's Des Moines area hospital, said patients and their families are vulnerable because they regularly experience existential crises.
The training helps pastors learn how to serve without being tied to their faith, Johnson said, so that “transference and reactions don't get in the way of truly meeting people's needs.”
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