Supreme Court further erodes separation between church and state

The Supreme Court ruled that a Washington state school district violated the First Amendment rights of a high school football coach when he lost his job for praying at the 50-yard line after games. #CNN #News

70 comments

  1. The separation of church and state was very clearly unanimous with the founding fathers, like no other issue. We have to stop this American Taliban now, before we’re all wearing Christian burqas.

  2. It’s really sad to see this country so divided and violent. I’m all for the freedom to pray anywhere you want, since this is a “free” country. I’m not for church to want to force religion on people because Jesus never did. He said if they receive you fine, but if they don’t, dust your feet and keep going. Not everyone wants to be a christian in this country and that’s okay. What I don’t see is the Church playing a leading role in uniting people. They have become very partisan in favor of the one party they think it’s going to heaven, and that’s a dangerous belief right there. The way things are looking in the government and church, it seems to point to an autocracy and dictatorship, where one party is the absolute ruler and you must submit and comply with their rules or you won’t be heard or helped. God help us!

    1. eeeehhhh……. According to the bible he also said ‘I come not to bring peace, but a sword’ and ‘if you don’t own a weapon, sell your clothes to arm yourself’ and ‘if they’re not with me, they’re against me’

      The peaceful hippy-dippy ‘love thy neighbor’ jesus is a relatively recent invention.

  3. If that is true. Let the coach pray by himself on the 50 yard line. It is indoctrination and coercion to pray in order to be on the team or treat non-praying members in any way different from those praying or pray your team beats the other team is in no way encouraging better moral values. I think it would be great to pray for everything in a positive light, but have you seen this great light from those changing these laws? The answer is no. Keep the separation of religion and state, and start building better values into your kids at home.

    1. @Johnny Monoxide the TRUTH hurts… and TIME wounds All Heels… just look at the RepubliKKKlan party of Farmville values.

    2. @Jeremy Wright So… let the coaches do their thing… and EVERY FREE Student can go do THEIR thing… “…see ya’, coach… I have a DANCE to do in the END ZONE”!
      Hey, coach… WE, The Student Athletes will be Taking A Knee during that “National Anthem” song… so You go on ahead… and I’m bringin’ My doG”!

  4. Cant wait to Pray in the direction of Mecca with my muslim friends and me! We’re gonna do it before games, during halftime and after games! THANK YOU SUPREME COURT! PRAISE ALLAH!

    1. @ilovecereal1175 The Bible clearly teaches there’s one church and one God. It also provides authority to pray to that one God through Jesus. If you speak of pray that’s the only authority available. However if you’d like you can get on your knees and pray to your EV or if you’re a tegistered dimocrat you can pray to government. Not a biblical prayer but for now it’s up to you.
      Cal

  5. Everyone has a right to pray, but not on the 50 yard line. That’s idiotic! Ginni Thomas & Clarence are releasing the kraken, releasing the Q again. Put them in prison!

  6. I see many have the same thought I did: What if the coach had been a Muslim offering prayer? Or for that matter, a Wiccan, or a Hindu, or anything else other than Christian? Would their ruling have been the same? Something tells me it would not have been.

  7. Perfect! So no one should be upset at NFL Player’s kneeling as a form of public protest anymore. And before any sporting event, anyone who wants to pray publicly can. Calling all faiths to publicly pray – Muslims, Buddhists, Satanists, etc. Pray often, pray publicly, and anyone who tries to stop you is infringing on your rights!

    1. @Davy Jones Freedom of Speech is equal to Freedom of Religion. In this coach’s case BOTH applied. That is why they are related. Coach has the Freedom to Pray (Freedom of Religion), but not necessary the right to do it publicly and make a show of it. Coach has the Freedom to speak, act, display, sign, etc. in a public place in front of other people (Freedom of Speech). Protests are Freedom of Speech.

  8. No amount of sincerity has ever made a thing true, including religious beliefs. While it’s everyone’s right to believe whatever an individual prefers, it’s not legitimate that any religious belief be dictated, or be part and parcel of any jurisprudence.

    1. So… let the coaches do their thing… and EVERY FREE Student can go do THEIR thing… “…see ya’, coach… I have a DANCE to do in the END ZONE”!
      Hey, coach… WE, The Student Athletes will be Taking A Knee during that “National Anthem” song… so You go on ahead”.

  9. “Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism. Fellow Republicans, it is the cause of Republicanism to resist concentrations of power, private or public, which enforce such conformity and inflict such despotism. It is the cause of Republicanism to ensure that power remains in the hands of the people. ”
    ― Barry Goldwater

    1. @Mark Lasky Student can go do THEIR thing… “…see ya’, coach… I have a DANCE to do in the END ZONE”!
      Hey, coach… WE, The Student Athletes will be Taking A Knee during that “National Anthem” song… so You go on ahead… and I’m bringin’ my doG”!

      Remember now Folks, when You kneel to pray, to blow a little kiss to the Hypocrites… ’cause “good goD” knows when You turn the other cheek- which direction You are pointing it…

  10. I’m sure no one will have a problem with teachers openly praying to Satan in front of students, because that’s now acceptable. Nicely done Supremes!

    1. @rjd3wine No, that’s what I’m saying! I was the one who wrote the comment !!! 😭 Please don’t rub it in my face…

    2. @egg Maybe it WAS directed at you ! LOL IF it wasn’t before, you sure are added to the list now! Right in the face! Thank you for keeping me amused while I recover from my broken leg. It helps the time pass by.

    3. @egg I’ll wait to pray for you once I go out in the street tomorrow so I can do it in front of a crowd of people to show how “holy” I am. LOL…again!

  11. It would have been interesting and telling to see what the Supreme courts ruling had been if this had been any other religion up in front of them with the same scenario.

    1. @Darkpassenger Dias first off, it’s at the end of the game, most spectators are leaving or have left and aren’t waiting around to watch some guy walk out to the centre of the field to pray. Secondly, they’re more than welcome to leave if they don’t like it. Thirdly, how is this any different than praying in a park with people spectating who “didn’t go to church”? Your arguments lack in many aspects and you clearly aren’t thinking them all the way through when you make them. We will have to agree to disagree, because it’s clear you aren’t really having a discussion so much as you want to justify what you believe. That’s not the same thing as facts.

    2. @Dientera – The Raging Gentleman if you say so it must be true! He’s not coaching is own kids and to say kids are not impressionable and spectating their coach and not being influenced is naïve or lacks understanding and FYI in a park setting it’s a free country don’t like to see it then easy choice leave said park and find another but in school setting it’s not like anyone can walk away. I’m not sure what you’re understanding of my opinion is and really ain’t justifying anything but common sense 😆 I’m stating my understanding don’t like not my problem sir I’m clear headed as I said agree to disagree 😆 ✌🏻 hopefully you’re clear on that! 😆

    3. @Dientera – The Raging Gentleman An article on komonews from April talks of a student participating, contrary to his own beliefs, for fear of losing playing time. That will likely be common in many other cases. Children afraid to stand up to adults with power over them for fear of retribution.

      It also talks of the school district learning from another coach that he was *leading* players in prayer prior to 2015 and the district then asking him to stop. Doe v Duncanville School District 1995 says “Schools may not allow coaches to *lead,* initiate, or supervise student prayer” and Borden v School District of Township of East Brunswick 2008 basically says “Schools may not allow coaches to endorse religious activity.”

      Perhaps both of those precedents are wrong and SCOTUS is correct but it sure appears they are set on reshaping the laws to fit their religious beliefs as of late.

    4. @Darkpassenger Dias Yes, kids are impressionable, but here’s the fact your not getting. It was AFTER a game, so YEAH, they CAN just walk away. It’s not like the football field is a prison that no one can escape from….. It’s not like it’s a classroom they they’re forced to stay in. It’s after a game at a football stadium at which point they’d be moving to the locker rooms anyways. These comparisons you’re trying to make aren’t logical and aren’t factual.

  12. If Churches no longer are “separated” from “State” …And they can enter politics in ANY manner..Then they can start paying TAXES like EVERY OTHER BUSINESS!! iF THEY CAN endorse ANY POLITICIAN..THEN THERE SA NO LONGER THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

  13. NOBODY MENTIONS THAT THEY LIED TO GET THE POSITION!!! WHY??? if you lied to get the top position at your job and they find out clearly that you lied in no uncertain terms… what would happen?

  14. Then satanic prayers and incantations will also be protected. They did that with statues and crosses.

    1. As long as they do the Satan worshipping in THEIR house and not mine, I’m okay with that.

  15. As long as he prays for things the SC agrees with, it’s fine! However, subject matter aside, what about separation of church and state, and how many kids will start who don’t take a knew with him?

  16. Its sooooo sad to see the USA falling apart internally in the last decades 😥 such a shame! the “shining city on the hill” starts to look like big pile of Sh!t glistening in the orange sun 😪

  17. I feel like there’s more going on here. The coach was given the freedom and opportunity to pray after every game, just not on the 50 yard line. G-d should be able to hear you anywhere, right? Why did he choose to continue praying in the middle of the field and ignore the school’s responsibility not to promote religious favor? Are you really praying or are you doing something else under the guise of prayer?

    1. @Growth is Freedom United Earth Enterprise No, it wasn’t. Go watch the video again. It was at the end of every game, he prayed at the 50 yard line.

    2. If he was waving a rainbow flag, instead of praying, would we be having this same conversation?

    3. @Seewulf so every person present can just use the field for prayers after the game?
      He made the case he was doing it as a private citizen, not a state worker.

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