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.

  • GFGJewbacca@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I am a trained chaplain, currently practicing in a hospital. I absolutely agree with the chaplains who signed this letter.While we are trained to help people in spiritual and/or emotional crisis, we are specifically trained not to give people advice. Rather, we are trained to help people recognize what they are feeling, have each person feel heard and understood, and to use the helpful parts of a person’s theology to bring about emotional/spirit healing.

    What this also fails to mention is that chaplains are not inherently christian. I am Jewish clergy. I know for sure that Texas schools wouldn’t allow me as a chaplain to participate because of this.