Opinion: Regier's religion and his job

Gov. Jeb Bush says that Jerry Regier's faith does not disqualify him for public office, and he is right. But Floridians have a duty to question how Regier's religious convictions might affect his leadership as the new head of Florida's child-welfare agency. After all, it was Regier -- not outside groups -- who first suggested, through his own writings and activities, that he is a man comfortable with living at the intersection of religion and public policy.

Regier took a new round of heat recently for his biblical view of the family (i.e., that husbands are meant to lead it, wives are meant to stay home for it, and gays sin by creating it). But as head of DCF, Regier will not be making policy on women in the workplace, and Florida already bars gays from adopting, with no help from the new secretary. More relevant to his new job are Regier's views on corporal punishment and the extent to which he might seek to use religious groups to influence those who work or live in the foster-care system. While neither factor alone is disqualifying, together they should make Regier and Bush more determined to prove -- and Floridians more vigilant in ensuring -- that the focus will remain on protecting children, not on promoting religion.

Though he has disavowed spankings that leave marks, Regier stands by his 1988 article that urges fathers not to be "tentative" in carrying out "manly" discipline. But Regier has been awkwardly silent on what that means or on the harm that can befall children when parents cross that sometimes murky line between physical discipline and abuse. Like any parent, Regier should have his choice of non-abusive discipline methods, but Regier is not just a parent anymore. He's leading the one agency whose main job it is to protect children from abuse.

While Florida law allows for corporal punishment within limits, DCF workers and judges routinely discourage parents in the child-welfare system from using any physical force, given its potential for teaching violence and spiraling out of control. Will Regier, directly or subtly, try to undercut that state preference against corporal punishment? Will he second-guess trained child-protective investigators who believe that parents' discipline has given way to abuse? Will some parents, already stressed in the home and at risk of losing control, take undue license from his words and example?

Critics from his home-state also warn that Regier is likely to import the religion-inspired character training program he used in Oklahoma and invite faith-based groups to do the state's work. They point to a Christian-based training program he advocated for Oklahoma's juvenile delinquents, called the Bethesda Program, that urged acceptance of Jesus Christ.

"The main thing you'll have to watch out for with Jerry is that he'll set up alliances with religious right groups to the exclusion of others," Oklahoma Sen. Bernest Cain, a Democrat, told the Palm Beach Post.

Child welfare is a huge job, and there is plenty of room -- and need -- for help from outside groups, including those from the faith community. But Regier will only exacerbate already serious problems at the agency if he taps groups that use Bible-based litmus tests or otherwise shows insensitivity to the rich religious diversity that is Florida.

Despite all the brouhaha, Regier insists that he won't promote corporal discipline or mix work with religion.

"You don't come in and take your own personal theological beliefs and impose them on other people in a public-policy way," he said recently.

Floridians should hold the new DCF chief to his word.

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