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The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Bremerton High School coach Joe Kennedy has the constitutional right to pray on a football field and the school district was wrong to punish him for doing so.
Reminiscent of Daniel being thrown to the lions for his prayer habits, then being released, coach Kennedy has been released to return to the place he belongs---coaching football and quietly praying after the game.
This is a big victory for Kennedy and the First Amendment. And for all of us.
Be informed, not misled.
Church and State.
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Washington State's Bremerton School District was wrong to punish a high school football coach for praying on the field after games.
In a decision released yesterday morning, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Bremerton School district discriminated against coach Kennedy.
Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the court's opinion, being joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh.
He said in part, "Kennedy prayed during a period when school employees were free to speak with a friend, call for a reservation at a restaurant, check email, or attend to other personal matters. He offered his prayers quietly while his students were otherwise occupied. Still, the Bremerton School District disciplined him anyway."
Gorsuch wrote, "Both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s... The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike."
In response to today’s opinion, Kennedy said, “This is just so awesome. All I’ve ever wanted was to be back on the field with my guys. I am incredibly grateful to the Supreme Court, my fantastic legal team, and everyone who has supported us. I thank God for answering our prayers and sustaining my family through this long battle.”
This "battle" was the result, initially, of one atheist parent being upset that their son joined others in saying a prayer with the coach. A few other dissenters, of course, became involved as the case began to gather momentum.
When the Bremerton School board was informed they would be sued, they immediately caved. This is the M.O. the far-Left has used repeatedly in recent years.
School administrations and boards almost always cave to the Left and the Left knows it and counts on their default reaction.
They almost always bend a knee to anti-Christian voices. Bremerton was no exception.
The Left always rules or reins on the assumption that the popular lie about the separation of church and state is true. Yet anyone who has studied American history should be fully aware that "separation" as it has been defined in recent years means the government will decide what the church can say and do in public---especially on or near so-called "public" property.
David Barton is perhaps the foremost Christian historian in America. He has written on nearly every significant event that shaped America from our founding to our present day.
He has written extensively on the issue of "Separation of Church and State." I would strongly recommend you read this article.
He concludes it with this:
"In summary, the 'separation' phrase so frequently invoked today was rarely mentioned by any of the Founders; and even Jefferson’s explanation of his phrase is diametrically opposed to the manner in which courts apply it today. 'Separation of church and state” currently means almost exactly the opposite of what it originally meant."
Based on inverting what Thomas Jefferson actually said to the Danbury Baptists, and meant, coach Kennedy and many others have been fired from their jobs for breaching a wall intended to keep the government out of the church's business---not the other way around.
Coach Kennedy has sued the Bremerton School District. This could end up costing the district far more than their hurting the feelings and sensitivities of an atheist parent.
The Left also made their case. It's weak at best.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, in which she argued that "this Court consistently has recognized that school officials leading prayer is constitutionally impermissible."
"Official-led prayer strikes at the core of our constitutional protections for the religious liberty of students and their parents, as embodied in both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment," she wrote.
"This decision does a disservice to schools and the young citizens they serve, as well as to our Nation’s longstanding commitment to the separation of church and state."
Kennedy's personal journey to the Supreme Court
Kennedy, a former Marine who worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard during the day, started coaching football at Bremerton High School in 2008. He says he was new to religion and coaching, inspired by the film "Facing the Giants" about a Christian high school football coach. The film helped him decide to give thanks to God "on the battlefield" after each game.
The radical Left's greatest concern.
This case has forced the Supreme Court justices to wrestle with how to balance the religious and free speech rights of teachers and coaches with the rights of students not to feel pressured into participating in religious practices, the Associated Press says,
Then AP worries out loud: "This outcome could open the door for more religious practices in public schools."
Takeaway.
I pray it does because that's exactly what our Founding Fathers had in mind.
Thomas Jefferson, the Founder who explained to the Baptists that the government could not interfere in the affairs of the church because there was a "wall of separation" that kept the government out of the church's business, also said this:
"God who gave us life gave us Liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."
Noah Webster, the father of public education in America said:
"In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people..."
I suspect the Bremerton School District would fire these guys as well.
And it's apparent our current Supreme Court would reverse that firing as well.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged, Be Discerning. Be Prayerful.