Christian Nationalist: Not having chaplains in schools "creates mental disease"
Rocky Malloy of the National School Chaplain Association told the lies in a recent interview
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The leader of a Christian Nationalist group that wants to stick religious chaplains in public schools said in a recent interview that not having Christian chaplains in schools “actually creates mental disease.” Having professional counselors and social workers available to kids, he added, doesn’t help.
If you’re not aware, getting chaplains in schools has been the latest (and arguably most effective) method for Christians to get their religion in front of impressionable children. At least 14 states—including Texas, Florida, and Kansas—have proposed or passed legislation to give public schools permission to hire chaplains. Supporters say it’s a way to addressing staffing shortages and improve mental health. Opponents argue that students deserve qualified experts, not randos with questionable credentials who clearly want to proselytize.
Some Republicans have openly said this is all about tearing down the wall between church and state, like the Texas senator who said his goal in sponsoring such a bill was “representing God’s presence within our public schools.”
The problems with this plan are obvious. Why would a Muslim or atheist student be better off meeting with a Christian chaplain and not a trained social worker? What would these chaplains say to LGBTQ students who are struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity? Even if the chaplains were prohibited from evangelizing in the public schools, their very presence sends the message that Christianity alone can solve problems. The entire assumption that chaplains are beneficial rests on the idea that mental health problems are the result of a lack of proper spirituality.
Despite the pushback, one of the reasons these chaplain bills have gained traction is because of lobbying efforts by the National School Chaplain Association, an explicitly Christian ministry. The leader of that organization is Rocky Malloy, a self-described former international drug trafficker.
Recently, Malloy did an interview with Richard Harris, Executive Director of Truth & Liberty (which is affiliated with preacher Andrew Wommack). During their conversation, Malloy argued that not putting Christian chaplains in public schools both created and perpetuated mental illness.
HARRIS: You know, here in our home state, where we are at Andrew Wommack Ministries in Colorado, it's a left-wing government and they are pushing hard to have… psychiatric care, full-level mental health professionals in every school in Colorado. I haven't seen any stats on that yet, Rocky, but that seems like sort of like the Devil's version of this, but you're saying all you got to do is have a chaplain there, and in two years’ time, you're not going to have any suicides.
MALLOY: Well, let me give you some real data, coming out of the University of Columbia. Dr. Lisa Miller, who happens to be a Jewish lady, she testified before Congress that not having spiritual care as provided by chaplains actually creates mental disease. So our schools are creating mental illness because they're not providing spiritual care. As you mentioned, when they kicked out prayer, Ten Commandments, and all that stuff, they created mental illness! So now, when they take students to these mental health professionals—which, according to national data I have, 94% of them are woke—they're just reinforcing bad decisions of the children. When a chaplain's on campus, they have an opportunity to give an alternative life view, which is saving lives.
There are so many problems with what they said, it’s hard to know where to begin.
It would be wonderful if there was psychiatric care and “full-level mental health professionals in every school.” But in Harris’ mind, helping kids that way would be Satanic.
These Christian liars argue that having chaplains present in schools would reduce the suicide rate to zero, a belief that has absolutely no basis in reality. While being part of a community—any community—can help reduce someone’s desire to take his or her life, it’s not foolproof. Suicides sadly occur in religious communities, too. But getting professional help can be an important remedy to that. These guys dismiss any kind of secular help as useless.
Malloy cited Dr. Lisa Miller, who apparently said “not having spiritual care as provided by chaplains actually creates mental disease.” I couldn’t find any record that she testified in Congress. I also reached out to Dr. Miller to ask if she felt Malloy’s comments accurately reflected her beliefs. Her response?
“That is not a precise and accurate statement of my work.” (Emphasis hers.)
So there you go. Malloy lied. Miller has a lot to say about spirituality, but she doesn’t link it only to religion, much less one specific faith.
Obviously, no one ever “kicked out prayer” in schools. Students and teachers have always been allowed to pray. What’s not legal anymore is forcing kids to practice a specific religion and pray to a specific God.
Mental illness existed long before the Supreme Court ruled that way in the 1960s. If there’s a rise in mental illness rates, it’s only because we’re better equipped to diagnose what’s happening. That’s a good thing! It allows us to address the issues.
The idea that 94% of mental health professionals are “woke” is a statistic Malloy pulled out of the peer-reviewed journal that is his own ass.
But these are the lies conservative Christians are using to get their own chaplains in public schools, and if that means kicking out all the people who have been professionally trained to work with children of all backgrounds on a variety of issues, they don’t care. They’d rather have an unqualified adult with a home-printed certificate signed by a pastor than a secular counselor with years of experience under her belt. Because, fundamentally, these people don’t care about children. They only see targets for conversion.
I doubt very much this cretin is any more qualified to pass judgment on mental health than he is to counsel kids. Religious nut cases always see their particular take on the super-natural as the solution to every problem. Facts and critical thinking need not apply. It isn't as if religious schools do not turn out some massively screwed up kids. Some people spend the rest of their lives trying to overcome the trauma of religious indoctrination.
Fundamentalist Christianity took a young man suffering from depression and made me worse by telling me it was my fault, that there was something wrong with me because I didn't have the joy of the Lord. This put me into a guilt-shame cycle that pushed me towards suicide.