The 25-page report, compiled over a year through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests and released Wednesday, asserts that Christian coaches are illegally inviting chaplains to work with their teams in an attempt to spread religious beliefs among players.
Advertisement
The letter sent Tuesday to Auburn University president Jay Gogue was one example, declaring that Rev. Chette Williams now plays an unacceptable role at the school.
Atheist activists are demanding that Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, fire its team football chaplain and “abolish the chaplaincy“, alleging that its presence at the public university is unconstitutional.
Mississippi State, Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Missouri, Washington, Illinois, Florida State, Ole Miss and Wisconsin were some of the other high-profile programs named in the report.
“It makes no difference if the chaplain is unofficial, not school-sponsored, or a volunteer, because chaplains are given access to the team as a means for coaches to impose religion, usually Christianity, on their players”, the organization countered in its letter.
The foundation is now asking universities to do away with the chaplains in an effort to protect their players rights.
At least 15 universities were sent letters from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, so responses from more of these will likely be forthcoming in the next few weeks. The tweet was deleted Thursday morning.
According to Andrew Seidel, staff attorney for the FFRF, the voluntary activities are not the problem.
The organization claims to include 22,700 members and operates “to promote the constitutional separation between state and church and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism”. Other universities, such as Auburn, give chaplains offices in the stadium. Other universities paid chaplains for their services, including the University of South Carolina, which has a policy prohibiting such payments.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)- A group that advocates for the separation of church and state wants the USC Football team to stop paying its chaplain.
“No student athlete should be baptized as part of a public university sports program, or be put in the position of feeling they have to pray to play”, FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement.
“Williams can still be seen patrolling the sideline and praying with players and coaches during Auburn’s games and practices”, it says. “We don’t have any problem with that”. While he is not an official employee (he receives a salary from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes), Williams is described as virtually indistinguishable from school employees since he nearly always wears Auburn clothing, travels with the team, and has an on-campus office.
Not all of the 25 universities addressed have responded so quickly, though.
Williams has reportedly baptized more than 50 Tigers, including Pittsburgh Steelers’ Sammie Coates.
Advertisement
FFRF claims Auburn “refused to provide any records” and “ceased all contact” with the organization on April 10.
