Texas Republicans love to go on and on about “freedom” and how states such as California are not “free”. They love to complain that our state government takes our rights away by introducing simple public health measures, such as wearing a mask or staying at home, which kept everyone safe during the pandemic. They say all of this, and tell everyone how free Texas is compared to Liberal states, but simultaneously pass bills to restrict the freedom of movement, women’s reproductive freedoms, and religious freedom. They seem to forget that true freedom isn’t only for Conservative Christian men.

A new Texas law (SB 763) that went into effect on the 1st of September, 2023, would allow schools to hire unlicensed chaplains, instead of trained school counselors. This law flies in the face of the 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion. Public schools should be completely secular, as they are an extension of the government. Even if we completely ignore the direct attack on religious freedoms, this law still makes zero sense, as it allows completely unqualified (apart from what Joshua Houston of Texas Impact calls an “online marriage ordination” training requirement) chaplains to replace trained, and qualified school counselors.

Another reason this law makes zero sense is the possible conflict of interest that arises when you place a possible atheist student, from an atheist family, with a highly religious Chaplain. The chaplain may brush away normal, teenage/pre-teen thoughts as sinful or wrong in the eyes of “God”. As a student who does not necessarily believe in a “God” or subscribe to Christian values or principles, this horrifies me. As younger students who may not have a strong view of religion, or necessarily care about religion, may have religion forced down their throats by chaplains.

This law just adds to the plethora of theocracy-style laws that the Texan state and local governments have put in place. From the passing of a bill that allows a private citizen to sue anyone that “aids or abets” a person to obtain an abortion (SB 8), to attempting to pass laws that would restrict interstate travel for pregnant people.

Texas is obviously not a “free” state as they like to claim. Not to mention how the state leads the nation in attempted book banning.

If Texans truly cared about freedom, none of this would be happening.