As students from a certain red state begin their school year, they might just experience a controversial new religious reality that many are upset by.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has recently signed a new bill into law that could intertwine Florida’s public school system with Christianity. One of the law’s biggest opponents is the Satanic Temple, who has vowed to “raise hell” for the state of Florida.
Misconceptions About the Satanic Temple
First of all, an organization with the name “the Satanic Temple” may concern you. Don’t worry, they do not actually worship Satan or perform sacrificial rituals. Instead, they use Satan as a symbol of rebellion.
The Satanic Temple (TST) was established in 2013 to promote the separation of Christianity from American politics, but their group has spread to be world-wide. They use satanic imagery to promote civil rights, egalitarianism, religious skepticism, social justice, secularism, and the separation of church and state. They support religious freedom and often use religious satire, theatrical ploys, and humor to spread their political activism.
DeSantis’s New Champlain Law
In April, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed this new bill into law. The new law allows schools to establish chaplain programs. A chaplain is a clergy member (or sometimes layperson) who provides spiritual care for individuals in a non-religious organization.
These spiritual advisors are supposed to help students (with parental permission); specifically, the schools could “authorize volunteer school chaplains to provide support, services, and programs to students.”
Manny Diaz’s Post About the Policy
Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz published model policies for the program on August 20th. In this post on X (formerly Twitter), he outlines (what Florida’s government deems) appropriate chaplain program guidelines.
In the post, he says, “Florida welcomes legitimate and officially authorized chaplains to become volunteers at their local schools and to provide students with morally sound guidance.” But why does the state of Florida get to decide what religions are “legitimate”?
Excluded Religious Groups
In the post published by Manny Diaz, there is a link to a document which outlines the law’s full policy. According to this document, a “religion” is defined 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.”
Along with several other questionable requirements, the document ends with the following: “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 law’s definition of what an accepted religion is is very limited. Additionally, any principal can deny any applicant on the basis that they are not going to “fulfill the program’s purpose.”
TST and Religious Freedom
The Satanic Temple—who is fundamentally against Christianity being imposed on individuals—has taken to social media after the post by Diaz. On August 25th, TST published their own post on X.
“Floridian TST members, supporters, & allies are standing up for true religious freedom & confronting theocracy,” they wrote. “Ready to stand with us and raise hell?” TST strives, first and foremost for religion to be taken out of schools and government, and additionally desires that all religions be considered legitimate and accepted (including themselves).
Public Response
It’s not just the Satanic Temple that has a problem with this new law. Under Diaz’s X post, a number of unhappy people commented their opinions. X user @BrandenMLane stated, “We need more mental health counselors, school counselors with manageable workloads, highly qualified teachers in every classroom. No one was asking for chaplains, Manny.”
@karenhere123 commented, “We need people who are educated in actual mental health and not religion to help kids! This is HORRIBLE!” @JasonPReagan called the law “blatantly unconstitutional.” @thatguykurt added, “Religion has no place in public schools.”
The Right to Pursue Advice
During a press conference in April, DeSantis stated that students should have the right to pursue advice from chaplain leaders if they wish. Devon Graham from the Florida chapter of American Atheists gave his opinion; he believes that the law and guidelines are unfair, saying, “I think this was written to be exclusionary.”
TST doesn’t have any issue with people looking for advice from chaplain leaders, they just believe that religion and school should be separate… or at the very least, that all religions should be included if the school program is going to run.
“We’re not playing those games in Florida.”
In this same press conference, DeSantis said explicitly that satanist groups (including TST) are not religions. Therefore, they are not qualified for chaplain programs.
“We’re not playing those games in Florida,” DeSantis stated during the conference. “That is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this. We’re going to be using common sense … you don’t have to worry about that.”
Ways People Can Get Involved
In the Satanic Temple’s post on X about the issue, they linked a Google Forms document, looking for people to get involved with the fight against this new law. They are looking for a variety of people—both those two are part of TST or allies and both Floridians and non-Florida residents.
In the document, they suggest writing letters to local officials, speaking at a public hearing or meeting, and calling local officials. TST may claim they want to raise hell, but in reality, they just want the world to be a more fair and emphatic place.
