The co-founder of The Satanic Temple (TST) challenged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to a debate on religious freedom after the governor pointed the finger at Satanists, saying they are not allowed to participate in a program. The new chaplain was signed last week.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing school districts to accept volunteer school chaplaincy services.
Under the bill, each school in the state would have the option to adopt a policy allowing volunteer school chaplains to provide support services and programs to students.
The bill also requires school principals and volunteer chaplains to notify all parents about the services being provided and requires written parental consent before the student participates or receives services.
DeSantis emphasized that the program is “completely voluntary for parents or students to participate in.” He also clarified that TST members would not be able to serve as public school chaplains.
“Some people have said that if you had a school chaplaincy program, you would have Satanists in all of our schools. We don’t play those games in Florida,” DeSantis assured those in the crowd.
“It’s not a religion. This does not qualify to be able to participate in this. So we’ll use common sense on this. You don’t need to worry about it.
As the bill moved through the state legislative process, TST threatened to sue the state if any of its members were banned from serving as chaplains in the program.
Co-TST founder Lucien Greaves told Fox News Digital that the governor has made numerous decisions to comment on the organization without knowing who they are or what they believe.
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“This should be of great concern to anyone, regardless of their religious views,” Greaves said. Worse yet, in signing HB 931, the governor simply announced from the podium during a press conference that Satanists should be deemed ineligible for the school chaplaincy program and, at the same time presented no legal theory to support his position.”
TST co-founder said the law indicates that DeSantis was unaware of how the law worked and did not know that the bill he signed “literally allowed satanic clerics in schools.” This revealed that the governor was not aware of the limits of his power. After making these comments, Greaves posted on X that the IRS recognized TST as a tax-exempt church.
“If the FL Republican administration intentionally excludes this group from the state’s new school chaplaincy program, it would constitute discrimination that would likely fail in advance court,” he said.
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TST Executive Director Rachel Chambliss also invited DeSantis to engage in a public debate with Greaves about their status as a federally recognized religious organization.
“In light of Governor DeSantis’ recent comments regarding our participation in Florida’s new school chaplaincy program, we find ourselves in respectful disagreement,” Chambliss wrote.
“We believe that a public debate will provide an excellent platform for thoughtful discussion about the principles of religious freedom in America.” DeSantis’ office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
However, Greaves called the governor’s actions “wrong”. “If I am right, and DeSantis is simply engaging in empty demagoguery that completely disregards the intelligence of Floridians, he will certainly ignore this challenge,” Greaves added.
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