What does it take to stop a public school district from inviting Christian chaplains into the building? The threat of non-Christian chaplains, including Satanists, wanting the same opportunity, apparently.

You may recall that, earlier this year, Florida passed a bill allowing untrained Christian chaplains to volunteer in public schools, essentially as substitutes for trained social workers and counselors.

There were some caveats to HB 931. Parents had to be informed about the religious affiliations of those chaplains. They had to give permission before their children could see them. All potential chaplains also had to pass a background check. All that’s fine, but it’s the bare minimum.

We always knew what this would look like in practice.

If a school district approved that kind of program because the state told them it was legal, there would be a line of Christian chaplains out the door just waiting to get the green light. And anyone could be a chaplain! There are no special credentials they need to prove they’re up to the task of helping kids! If they had the blessing, so to speak, of a local church, they would be good to go. (And you could easily expect some pastors would hand out “certificates of chaplaincy” to anyone who wanted them much like they did with COVID vaccine exemption notes.) Simply put, there would be nothing stopping those adults from using public schools as target practice for conversions. All they needed was permission from parents, and they could do whatever it took to lure kids to Jesus.