Supreme Court Weighs Case Of Washington Coach Asked Not To Pray On The Field



When Joseph Kennedy was an assistant high school football coach in Bremerton, Washington, he began praying at the 50-yard line immediately after games. Soon, his players gathered around and along came the coaches and players from opposing teams. The school district asked him to find a more private place to pray to avoid the appearance of an official endorsement of his religious views. The Justices seem inclined to rule in favor of the coach.

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27 comments

  1. He's a predator; that preys on vulnerable children.

  2. Haha this country and religion . Stop it already, it’s all BS

  3. Why did he think that prayer would help his team instead of coaching or the players' skill?

  4. Religion…"a pursuit of interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance." Telling people to stand for the National Anthem is a religious rite. You are going to find out how educated the SCOTUS Justices really are.

  5. if you can kneel to protest, you can kneel to religion

  6. I’m betting if he were using a prayer rug and praying to a different Messiah, he never would’ve been fired.

  7. So childish. People dying over in Ukraine but this is news? I swear people care about the dumbest things in the U.S

    If someone wants to pray who cares. If people not want to follow. Who cares. Move on, seriously. Lifes to short for this nonsense

  8. Considering the context that there is a theocratic movement trying to impose its religious beliefs on the country, public prayer can reasonably be seen as support for theocracy, and therefore it should not be allowed.

  9. He should have prayed for transgender people all would be ok

  10. Theres a difference between waving a Ukrainian Flag ang pushing a Religion that continues to subjugate non believers to be forced to participate. Just like Abortion, Christians force everyone to not have them because its in there Religion. Its an over step. They want prayer in school again, its an over step. Pray in your house or church, dont make every public event a church service

  11. Public schools, colleges, universities, courthouses, etc, and their employees and faculty as in Joe Kennedy's situation, cannot give the appearance of religious involvement (prayer) and therefore must maintain complete neutrality regarding prayer and religion because he is representing the school as a football coach. His behavior is and has been deemed unconstitutional regardless of how long he's been doing it.
    A public school is a secular environment where all students are free from any sort of state, personal or school imposed religious entanglement.
    The Constitution and it's amendments are there to protect us equally, our basic fundamental rights are upheld by this document. Why should one person's Christian beliefs take precedence over another person's differing religious beliefs or lack thereof, when the Constitution does not endorse religion?
    In the public educational system, an individuals right to pray is upheld, but faculty members cannot engage or appear to engage students in prayer regardless of their views and beliefs, differing or otherwise, when in a public school, college or university setting.

    Prayer at School-Related Activities
    The Court has extended the constitutional restrictions on prayer during the school day to other school-related activities, such as graduations and sporting events. Underlying this rule is the Court’s understanding that “the Constitution guarantees that government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in religion or its exercise.”
    Because of the heightened concerns related to the First Amendment in elementary and secondary schools, the Court has noted that prayer activities in schools “carry a particular risk of indirect coercion.
    https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43188.pdf

  12. This is ridiculous why is this even going to court!! Whoever wants to pray then pray. If not then don’t!!

  13. I always appreciated the way different individuals and groups show thankfulness, and respect. People pray. It's not meant to hurt anyone. Now when the freak cults are allowed on state campuses and start aggressively insulting and verbally assaulting innocent kids and parents, that's something that needs to be considered and dealt with by the courts.

  14. This is so stupid when our rights are in question. Christianity and high school football goes hand in hand

  15. Did the founders want separation of church and state?

    All of the Framers understood that “no establishment” meant no national church and no government involvement in religion. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed that without separating church from state, there could be no real religious freedom.”

  16. ⭐️🇺🇸⭐️TRUMP2020⭐️🇺🇸⭐️

  17. Hunter's laptop crooked son crooked father.

  18. Hopefully the Supreme court will uphold the lower courts ruling

  19. They should allow people of other religions to pray too. I'm sure these fundamentalist Christians would be very upset if a group of Muslims prayed on the field. Or maybe the Church of Satan lmao

  20. Honestly even if it wasn't my religion I would still find him openly giving praise to God, inspirational. Even if you don't believe in God it sends a message of living your beliefs and being proud of expressing yourself. I wouldn't be upset if that was my child's coach at all

  21. Anxious to see how the conservatives on the court. Our forefathers wanted seperation of church and state for a reason. This is because people came to America for freedom of religion. There are religions that I am sure the coach does not recognize. If you want to pray, do it in private.

  22. My my , how people praying can bother other people that it becomes a legal issue. How petty !

  23. An educational system should embrace all religions, or agnostics, it is a free country – it is out of their jurisdiction to make such a judgement or rule.

  24. Really you want to acknowledge who kneels on the ground or not. What happens when people stand? and pray? Disgusting