“Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer— …Let my vindication come from you….” – Psalm 17:1-2
This morning, at 10am EDT, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
This is the case about the 18-year Marine veteran who became the assistant football coach at Bremerton High School, then was fired for praying briefly at the 50-yard line after each game.
When asked to stop praying after each game, Coach Joe Kennedy couldn’t. Even before his first game in 2008, Kennedy made a commitment to God that he would give thanks at the conclusion of each game for what the players had accomplished and for the opportunity to be part of their lives through football.
Understanding that we all suffer when our First Amendment freedoms are violated, The Family Foundation joined an amicus legal brief in support of Coach Joe Kennedy and his religious freedom.
The Supreme Court’s modern Establishment Clause cases discuss fostering neutrality towards religion. But when all kinds of controversial speech by teachers is permitted and only religious speech is silenced, it sends a message not of religious neutrality but of hostility toward religion.
A short prayer following a game, joined in only by those who wish to join, hardly amounts to an establishment of religion, particularly when the school was clear that it had nothing to do with Kennedy’s activities.
LET US PRAY…
Father, be with Coach Kennedy and his attorneys today. May You grant them favor with the U.S. Supreme Court justices and may religious freedom be protected. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
