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COACHES MAY BE
BARRED FROM PRAYING WITH PLAYERS |
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New York: To Coach Louis
Thompson, praying with his Lincoln County High School
football team is as important as leading them to winning
seasons maybe more important. "Every day when we finish
practice, we take a knee, bow our heads and say the
Lord's Prayer every day. We don't miss a day," Thompson
said.
"Along with the Lord's Prayer at practice, we have a
silent prayer before each game where I tell them to pray
for themselves and their teammates.'' But a case making
its way to the U.S. Supreme Court could prevent Thompson
and other coaches of public schools from praying with
their teams, even if the players initiate the prayer on
their own.
School district policies and practices vary widely
across Tennessee. In Metro Nashville, coaches and
teachers are officially barred from taking part in
student-led prayers, though some said they do so.
Knox County's policy states there is to be no prayer
during school-sponsored activities, only a moment of
silence. "I don't know that we have a policy, but all of
our coaches have been told that it's to be studentled,''
said David King, director of athletics for the Lincoln
County Department of Education.
"I go to a lot of the games throughout the county and
the majority of them do have studentled prayer before
the game, and some of them do after the game, too."
High court to decide soon
The Supreme Court is deciding whether it wants to
review a case that banned an East Brunswick, N.J., high
school football coach from kneeling or bowing his head
while his team prayed.
A ruling on whether the court will review the case is
expected within the next two weeks.
While a U.S. Supreme Court ruling could clarify the
issue once and for all, some legal experts say the law
already is clear.
"There's a pretty bright line here school officials may
not pray with students during their contract day," said
Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment
Center.
"I don't think the coach has to leave the room. He can
just stand silently and watch. But he can't
participate."
While acknowledging a 1962 Supreme Court decision that
severely restricted the role public school employees may
play in organizing religious activities, supporters of
team prayers say banning any participation by the coach
goes too far.
"I understand that a coach cannot lead the prayer, but
just to be there bowing his head? This violates a
person's personal faith," said Steve Robinson, Middle
Tennessee director of the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes." … I really believe that some of our founding
fathers who drafted the constitution would turn over in
their grave if they knew that we were debating this. I
don't believe this was their intent whatsoever."
'You just need to be careful'
Coach Marcus Borden went to court after East Brunswick
school officials ordered him to stop praying or engaging
in any religious activity with his high school football
team. A U.S. District Court ruled in 2006 that Borden
could silently bow his head and kneel while his team
prayed, but the case was appealed and the U.S. 3rd
District Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the lower
court ruling. Borden filed a petition in October asking
the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.
"We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will grant
(Borden's) petition … so that public school coaches
throughout the nation will have a clear understanding as
to how they may respond to player-initiated voluntary
prayer," his attorney Ronald Riccio said.
Supporting the school district's side is Americans
United for Separation of Church and State, a civil
liberties watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. "The
main message we're trying to make to folks is that you
just need to be careful about bringing any of these
religions into school because the way you treat one is
the way you must treat them all," said Rob Boston,
senior policy analyst for the group.
"Coach Borden was leading his team in prayers that maybe
many people in the community felt OK about. "But what if
he'd been saying other types of prayers from some
tradition that folks were not so comfortable with? You
have to be careful in opening that door."
Furthermore, Boston said, Borden's religious advocacy
while coaching extended 23 years and went well beyond
passively taking part in team prayers.
"Coach Borden said, 'All I really want to do is bow my
head.' But from our perspective, he wants to do a good
bit more," Boston said. "He had a long history of
organizing prayer, picking students to lead them,
writing them and he even had a chaplain coming in and
praying with students.
"He'd been involved with these religious activities for
a long time and then all of a sudden he said, 'All I
really want to do is take a knee and bow my head.' And
the court just said, 'You cannot divorce yourself from
your own history.' "
Effect could be profound
If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, its
ruling would have broad implications, offering strong
precedent that would be used by attorneys in cases
around the country. The effect could be profound.
In the moments after his last game as Tennessee football
coach, Phillip Fulmer knelt with his players for a
post-game prayer. Depending on the high court decision,
such a display by a football coach at a public
university could become an issue, noted Robinson, of the
Christian athletes group.
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This page
is updated on April 1, 2009 |
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PRAISE THE ALMIGHTY
10 YEARS CELEBRATION
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