I wonder what would have happened if a Muslim coach of a public high school football team went to centerfield after a game and rolled out a mat and asked his players to get down on their knees and pray to Mecca?
Or what kind of stir would it have caused if a Jewish Coach invited his team to mid field to recite the Shema?
If you really want to throw down, imagine a Wiccan coach of the girls’ volleyball team inviting her young women to the net to pray to the Goddess Venus.
I imagine if any of these scenarios took place parents and educators would be storming the school board to stop these religious displays.
Instead, we have a white, Christian, evangelical, male, inviting his students to pray and hear a message from the bible. He believes his religious freedom is stunted when he’s asked to stop. He takes his case to the Supreme Court and they rule in his favor stating that we need to protect the diversity of religious beliefs in our public schools.
It begs the question, should there be any religious experience, prayer or otherwise, at a public-school event?
I’ll never forget when I was a sophomore in Highschool on our Junior Varsity football team. I had a coach who was bent on praying before games. He would gather us around the goal post. We all had to take a knee while he prayed. He would ramble through all different types of things, but the prayer always ended with the charge for God to let us beat the crap out of the other team and win.
I remember even as a kid opening my eyes and thinking, “Wait! . . .What?” Is this really what we should be doing before a football game – praying for God to allow us to kick butt?
This wasn’t my first run in with prayer during school. I had a history teacher who always prayed after we said the pledge allegiance.
We also had Young Life on Campus. Tom and Jake, the cool adult leaders wanted to lead prayer meetings and bible studies during the lunch breaks.There was a group of atheist parents who petitioned the school board to stop them from holding their events during school hours.
Over the past fifty years there have been numerous challenges to prayer and religious expression in public schools. Each of them have been turned down by the Supreme Court. These have been significant rulings as our culture has become more religiously and spiritually diverse. The supporters of prayer in public schools have by and large been Christian. By condoning Christian prayer in schools, the SCOTUS would be tacitly implying that Christianity was the main religion recognized legally and culturally in the public square.
It's important to note teachers and schools can teach about religion. You can teach the Bible as literature. You can teach a survey of world religions. But a teacher can’t endorse a particular religion or practice it with their students.
With the recent ruling by the SCOTUS everything has changed. People of a religious persuasion can now openly practice their faith in front of, and with students. While I totally disagree, there is a part of me that says, “Ok, let’s use this change for our advantage.” If the purpose is to honor religious tolerance and expression, then let’s go all the way. What if we invited Muslim Imams to come out to midfield and have all of the players bow down and face east towards Mecca? Let’s make sure we have a Rabbi lead the Shema. How about Native Americans leading a dance and chant? I’d love to see a place for atheists to protest this religious display at the fifty-yard line. If the Supreme court has now allowed prayer, then let’s be intentional about making sure there is an ecumenical representation to our public display of religion. Let’s not be just passive, let’s be active in our ecumenical perspectives.
The decision of the SCOTUS is a camel’s nose under the tent. I say then let’s allow the whole religious camel to come in. Let’s encourage schools and school boards to bring in all religions to pray at mid court, half time, post-game, pre-test, whenever and where ever, at the fifty-yard line or otherwise.
Have you ever had a teacher pray with you? What do you think? Should there be prayer and the public display of religion in the public-school setting? Take a moment and share your thoughts here on the blog or on FB.
Look for my Podcast, the Cowboy Jesus Podcast on Podbean, the Wednesday Shout Out, and check out my website, www.senttosoarcoaching.com
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