Banning anyone from praying just because they can be seen by the public is wrong and violates the Constitution. Let us hope the Court realizes it.
No American should be forced to choose between their faith and the job they love. He didn’t know it at the time, but when Joe Kennedy decided to coach football, he would face exactly that choice. In 2008, Kennedy made a commitment to God: win or lose, he would take a knee in private prayer on the field of battle after every game. It was a solitary commitment, personal to him, involving no one else. Over eight football seasons, however, others chose to join him. Not every time. Sometimes players were too excited after a win to stop and join Coach Kennedy at the 50-yard line. Sometimes they were too beaten down after a loss. But win or lose, Kennedy would go through the « good game » line, discuss logistics with the opposing team’s coaches, and drop to one knee in private prayer for maybe 15 or 30 seconds. Then someone complimented the school district about Kennedy’s postgame prayers. In response to that compliment, on September 17,2015, school officials sent Kennedy a letter directing him to stop all religious-related activities with students. That was fine with Kennedy; the commitment he made to God never involved the students. Since that day, he has never prayed with students. Instead, he hoped to return to his practice of praying by himself after the game, but school officials didn’t like that either. On October 23,2015, Bremerton School District officials noted how they appreciated Kennedy’s « efforts to comply » with their earlier directives. They even recognized Kennedy’s post-game, private prayer on one knee as « fleeting.
