Listen to a Baptist minister: Chaplains belong in churches – not in Missouri schools | Opinion

Lawmakers in Jefferson City are unfortunately hitching a ride on the nationwide crusade to install chaplains into public schools.

State Senate Bills 49 and 118 would require every school board in Missouri to take a vote on employing school chaplains in schools, creating yet another unnecessary state-manufactured culture war. The bill’s authors, state Sens. Mike Moon and Rusty Black, have made it clear in their presentation that this legislation is about pushing their religious agenda onto students and school faculty. Black even admitted he consulted with Rocky Malloy, a self-described former drug-smuggling pirate who now leads the National School Chaplain Association, an organization pushing for Christian chaplains in public schools nationwide and to make America’s public “schools turn into churches.” If that wasn’t enough of a red flag, Moon explicitly confirmed that his bill would allow chaplains to teach classes in Missouri public schools without any teacher certification.

Baptist minister Brian Kaylor, editor of Word & Way (founded in Missouri in 1896), testified in opposition to the bills, labeling them as “Chaplain In Name Only” because they fail to define what a chaplain actually is. Despite Moon stating that “there is an 80-hour training requirement,” Kaylor points out there are no qualifications, no religious training requirements and no accountability listed in the bills. These so-called “chaplains” don’t even have to be certified counselors or educators. In other words, anyone could become a school chaplain under this law, including those with extreme religious views or political agendas.

State Sen. Rick Brattin, the education committee chair, seemed shocked that a Baptist minister would oppose a school chaplain bill, asking Kaylor: “I’m perplexed by your testimony. As a Baptist minister, you’re opposed to this? As an ambassador to God?” Kaylor’s response was clear: He opposes state coercion of religion.

This is what true religious freedom looks like — the ability to practice (or not practice) religion without government interference.

Adding to the absurdity, several out-of-state individuals testified in favor of the legislation, including an attorney from the Pacific Justice Institute, a group notorious for its far-right, anti-LGBTQ stances. Thankfully, state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern was there to refute one of the most common talking points religious extremists use to justify public school chaplains: that other government institutions such as prisons and the military have trained chaplains. She pointed out many individuals cannot access religious services in prison or while performing military duty, but that “public school children do not face the barriers to religious exercise that service members, prisoners and even patients face.”

The bill’s lack of safeguards is intentional. S.B. 118 and 49 fail to prohibit chaplains from proselytizing to students. This bill gives religious figures a free pass to evangelize students on public school property — using taxpayer dollars to do it.

As Annie Laurie Gaylor, president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation Action Fund, puts it: “This bill is a Trojan horse for religious indoctrination in public schools. Lawmakers are using ‘chaplains’ as a loophole to sneak proselytizing into schools, while bypassing the qualifications required of qualified counselors and certified educators. If Missouri lawmakers truly cared about students, they’d be funding mental health professionals, not religious figures with no oversight.”

With public comments wrapped up, S.B. 49 and 118 are now teed up for a vote in the state Senate education committee. Missouri’s own state constitution explicitly bans public funds from being used to employ religious ministers. Any school that takes this bait is setting itself up for a losing lawsuit that will drain public resources.

Missouri lawmakers should reject these blatant church-state violations and leave religious instruction where it belongs: in homes and houses of worship — not public schools.