The Congressional Prayer Caucus wrote a letter Tuesday to the Bremerton (Wash.) School District arguing that high school Coach Joseph Kennedy has not violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as officials have claimed.
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The conservative Liberty Institute asked the district for a religious accommodation for Kennedy but that was denied; now they are prepared to sue.
“We hoped the school district would put a stop to it, but they haven’t done that yet”, Starr said. “You may not repeat your conduct of October 16, 2015”.
If Christians can pray on the field, so can the Satanists.
“Protecting Coach Kennedy’s freedom to choose to kneel quietly after the conclusion of a high school football game and pray, in a way which coerces no one, is something that all Americans should rally behind – regardless of religion or political persuasion”, Forbes told TheDCNF.
“If the church-state separation is breached, we really don’t think it’s right for the state to be promoting one religion over the other”, she said.
With the assistance of the Liberty Institute, Kennedy petitioned the board to allow him to resume the prayers at the school’s homecoming game on October 16.
As a result, Berry says his firm is moving forward on taking legal action. “Obviously, we’re getting closer and closer to the point of no return”. “We are filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging the Bremerton school district with a failure to accommodate Joe Kennedy’s rights”.
“Our guidance has been this is lawful, this is protected under the constitution”, Berry said, adding it’s Kennedy’s choice whether to pray.
“When they find out a coach can’t even silently pray at the 50-yard-line, there’s no greater message of hostility than that”, Sasser told me. “He was inspired by that movie and said, ‘Everything I do is for the glory of God.’ He started to pray to just thank God for his players”. “So, I can’t not do this”.
A request for comment has not yet been returned to TheBlaze by the Bremerton School District, though Randy Dorn, the state superintendent of public instruction in Washington, agreed with officials’ stance on the matter in a statement released this week.
The situation initially made national headlines last month when someone complained to Kennedy after a Bremerton High School football game. For seven years he’s prayed at the 50 yard line after games. Kennedy has faced no consequences despite notification from the school district that his prayers are a violation of federal law as well as exclusionary and distressing to players.
On Friday, Leavell told Kennedy in a three-page letter that his prayers: “Must not interfere with the performance of job responsibilities, and most not lead to a perception of district endorsement of religion”. While voluntary, these activities would pose a constitutional problem, according to superintendent Aaron Leavell.
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Kennedy agreed to halt the locker-room prayers, as he concurred that it involved a “captive audience” and was, thus, illegal, but he has continued to push back against the ban on prayer on the field following games.
