UPDATE: Just in from PuffHo, an unbelievable occurrence. Praying coach Joe Kennedy, mentioned at the end of the piece below, has been placed on leave for refusing to obey the directive not to pray on the field—after a student asked a Satanist to given an invocation on the field.
“The school district needs to create religious opportunity for everyone or ban it completely,” class president Abe Bartlett, one of the students who contacted the Satanic Temple, told the Kitsap Sun. “There can’t be a middle ground.”
The district said that while no players complained about the prayer sessions, some may have felt coerced to join in.
“It is very likely that over the years, players have joined in these activities because to do otherwise would mean potentially alienating themselves from their team, and possibly their coaches,” the statement said. “The District has a fundamental obligation to protect the rights of all of its students.”
The district didn’t mention the Satanists by name in its statement, but said it would not allow other groups to make use of the field during district functions such as the football game.
_________
In August I posted about the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s (FFRF’s) “Pray to Play” initiative, exposing the growing trend of public universities (especially but not exclusively in the South) to hire team chaplains for their football squad. Those chaplains are invariably Christian, and this constitutes pressure for the students to accept Jesus, thereby propitiating the coach who hires those chaplains. It’s truly “pray for play”.
This is of course a violation of the First Amendment, particularly because the chaplains often receive perks like free travel, football tickets, and even a salary.
The FFRF’s report is here, and involved 18 universities. At one of them, the University of South Carolina, the team preacher even went onstage at a church along with four football players (wearing their university “Gamecock” shirts), preaching creationism. At the behest of the FFRF I got involved, writing the entire biology department to make them aware that while they were teaching evolution, another arm of their university was proselytizing creationism. I didn’t suggest any action, but just let them know the situation. I heard back that they’d discuss the issue at a faculty meeting, but that seems to have been the last of it, and I don’t plan to go further.
The FFRF has now issued a news release reporting marginal progress in at least one university, but nothing yet from USC:
Virginia Tech is no longer giving preferred access to the school’s football bowl games to religious advisers following the “Pray to Play” exposé by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. For the first time, Virginia Tech has received reimbursements from all 2014 bowl game expenses incurred by chaplains.
FFRF, a national state/church watchdog with more than 23,000 members, issued a report in mid-August condemning more than 25 public universities for allowing football coaches to impose their personal religion on players by hiring Christian chaplains. The 25-page report is the result of more than a year of investigation, scrutinizing hundreds of university documents and records.
Whit Babcock, Virginia Tech’s director of athletics, wrote FFRF to explain that “in prior years preferred access to bowl games, et cetera may have been given to religious advisers. However, we have stopped this practice and all 2014 bowl expenses have been reimbursed.”
. . . In a separate but related action, Jerry Coyne, the noted biologist, author and honorary FFRF board member, wrote a letter to his colleagues in the biology department at the University of South Carolina regarding Adrian Despres, the chaplain of the South Carolina Gamecocks football team, after reading FFRF’s “Pray to Play” report. Despres, the report notes, regularly preaches creationism and even claims to have debated some of the top experts in the field. Coyne searched for the debates Despres claims to have participated in and concludes that his claim is “simply untrue.” [Indeed, I haven’t found any such debates, much less with “top evolutionary biologists.”]
“Despres is simultaneously undercutting the teaching of evolution at USC by questioning evolution and promoting creationism in public, and is also doing so as an official representative of your university,” Coyne wrote. “This is, then, a twofold violation of the legal requirement that government officials not use their position to promote a particular faith (Christianity in his case).”
During the 2014 football season, Despres was paid $4,500 as a “character coach” to counsel players and speak to recruits. However, he functions as the team chaplain, as former head coach Steve Spurrier has called him “preacher” or “reverend.” Spurrier, who surprised many by retiring in the middle of the season, had specifically said: “That’s what he is, he’s a preacher… He preaches the Word – the gospel … what we all need to hear.”
I hope USC will take action similar to that of Virginia Tech. In the meantime, the FFRF has a new report that, on, Tuesday 47 members of Congress signed a letter supporting Joseph Kennedy, a school coach in Bremerton, Washington who was told by the school district that his public praying on the 50-yard line after football games was illegal, and that he should stop (the Congressional letter is here). The 47 signers are all Republicans, of course (28 are also members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus), and three are U.S. Senators. Here’s an excerpt of that letter from the Republicans to the Superintendent of the Bremerton School District:
Kennedy, now represented by the Christian, right-wing Liberty Institute in Texas, vows to defy the district’s order, while the legislators are trying to negate consistent court rulings about schools’ display of prayer). The FFRF has responded to the school district, urging it to obey settled law (letter here). An except:s
While organizations like the Liberty Institute defend Kennedy’s actions—and other incursions of religion into public schools—as instantiating “freedom from religion,” in reality that’s precisely opposite of what the Founders wanted: a government in which there was no public endorsement of religion. (In the case of Kennedy and the Liberty Institute, that would be Christianity).
While this may seem like small potatoes, remember that each time a school gets away with this kind of stuff, it makes it easier, both legally and psychologically, for it to happen again, and then again and again. Before you know it, we’re on our way to theocracy. Eternal vigilance is the price of secularism.
Back in high school, we didn’t think anything unusual about praying before a game. It bored me, of course, but it was just something you did. I wish I had been exposed to a different point of view, but it was pre-internet; how was I to know any different?
… and others would get caned for refusing to participate in team sports of any sort. Well, actually, sport of any sort. I wasn’t very popular with the games teachers, and I didn’t care in the slightest. Which infuriated them even more.
I was just reading about the Kennedy 50 yard line business in the news this morning. Now there is a woman from a Satanic society who is threatening to go on to the field after the ball game to compete with this guy and the praying at the 50 yard line. Should be quite a show. This was in the Google news this morning.
The Satanic Temple doesn’t actually worship Satan; it’s a secular organization that likes to tweak the nose of the religious.
Does that disqualify them from providing a mascot (if not a chaplain) for the Blue Devils of Duke University?
Also she wasn’t threatening; the STT issued a statement a few days ago that they would come free of charge if invited by a student. So they must’ve been invited by a student.
However, I’m sure that the outcome they got (nobody gets to pray) was the outcome they both expected and really intended.
Just watched the video of Adrian Despres. He’s an idiot. I find it hard to believe he’d win a debate against a schoolkid, let alone the countries “Top Evolutionists”.
By the way Jerry, I think there’s a problem with the Notify functionality. Despite checking the Notify button, I never receive new comments by post.
depressing … glad I’m a retiring high school science teacher … I’ve fought the fight long enough
If members of the US Congress support actual unconstitutional actions instead of just discussing their free speech opinions on the matter, is that dereliction of duty?
“1. Willful neglect, as of duty or principle.”
[ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/derelictions+of+duty ]
I see that is deemed criminally negligent among US military. [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dereliction_of_duty ]
Oops, context. I realize it is armchair lawyer handwaving. But I am interested in any principles, moral or legal, that should apply.
I think you are correct to say that some of these people in congress are willfully neglect in their duty. The military & criminal part wouldn’t apply because the UCMJ only applies if you are military.
But who is to hold congress’s feet to the fire for anything. They are so eaten up with religion they would never do anything about that. Hell, they are immune from even performing the jobs they were elected to do. We currently have a Senator from Florida, running for president that doesn’t even show up for work in his regular job and there seems to be nothing legally wrong with that.
All this football stuff was no surprise, and it’s great there’s some progress, but what really struck me were the words “Congressional prayer caucus.” WTF is that? Is this an official thing? If so, how can you expect the country to stick to the constitution when the government has a prayer caucus?
My government still prays an official prayer before every session, which is hugely cringe worthy and embarrassing, but not illegal here. But a fu**ing Prayer Caucus? No way. Besides, our parliament is full of atheists and non-Christian religious, so it wouldn’t go down too well. I suppose many of them would have struggled to get elected in the US though.
I had to go look at that a little more but you are exactly right on that one. A congressional prayer caucus, established in 2005 by one of the republican crazies with over 100 members who get together each week to make sure the constitution is a piece of garbage. It just proves that these guys don’t pretend to be religious lunatics, they are religious lunatics. And of course, the new house majority leader who just got the job today is a member.
Thanks for the info Randy. 🙂
A weekly meeting too? Sounding more and more like a church service all the time. I wonder if it makes them behave more morally??!!
A caucus is just a group of representatives that get together to talk about how to push some mutual interest. Conngresscritters could make a Rerun I Love Lucy caucus, a Remove the E from the Alphabet caucus, a Fusion Power Research caucus, whatever they want.
How do you propose we eliminate prayer caucuses without stomping all over the first amendment and the concept of representative government? Is this what liberals want – to pass laws preventing congresscritters from gathering to talk about how to make the wishes of their constituents into law?
I certainly wouldn’t want to do that. I thought it was an official part of government. If it’s what you say, that changes my response to it. I have to admit, I have a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to any mention of religion being part of government.
But wouldn’t all games will end in a tie if God isn’t allowed to decide who wins?
If God were not immanent in all things, in the Feser-esque sense, I suppose neither squad would ever move the ball off the fifty yard line.
God bless the FFRF.
Amen.
When I first read about The Satanic Temple, I thought it was a bad idea, because it would merely reinforce the (strange) idea that atheists were devil-worshippers.
However, I have come around to thinking that it’s a pretty good tool to make theocrats see the error of their ways.
Good for Honest Abe Bartlett, the Bemerten WA student who contacted the Satanic Temple. Maybe there’s hope for the next cohort that will hit college campuses.
We can finally set down the lantern we’ve been bearing about like Diogenes, looking for a student who understands the First Amendment.
I have read, but can’t find anything now, that UNC basketball coach Roy Williams requires his players to go to church and that his predecessor, Dean Smith had a similar policy for freshmen, but waived it if the player’s parents asked. Does anyone know if this is true?