Menu
ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom®
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Articles
ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom®

Prayer as Political Football – Post-Game Analysis of Kennedy v. Bremerton

Posted on June 29, 2022June 29, 2022 by Nicholas Miller

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled, in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, that Joseph Kennedy, a football coach at a public high school, had the right to pray on the 50-yard line immediately after the game.

Essentially, they reasoned that the coach’s rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion protected this moment of “personal” prayer and devotion. The coach was terminated after three episodes of kneeling and praying, without his students, in the middle of the football field after school games.

A shocking targeting of private religious devotion, right? Perhaps not, once the larger facts are understood. It is remarkable that a Court so intent on carrying out the directives of “history and tradition,” as the Kennedy majority asserts, seems so disinterested in the actual history and tradition of the behavior of the coach in the case before it. If they had paid it any real attention, they would have to see the final three episodes of post-game prayer at the 50-yard line without his students was a continuation of the years of practice of doing the same thing with his students in both the locker room and field, accompanied by overtly religious sermonettes.

Given this history and context, the actions of the coach in endorsing and subtly coercing his students to engage in his approved worship seem readily apparent. Indeed, these final “alone” prayer sessions were not truly alone, as they had become a political cause célèbre. In reality, the coach was accompanied by students from the opposing team, as well as prominent state political officials, all anxious to wrap their political bona-fides with the sweet sacramental incense of football and prayer. 

The coach was accompanied by students from the opposing team and prominent state political officials who were all anxious to wrap their political bona-fides with the sweet sacramental incense of football and prayer.



The Lemon test the court overruled was not perfect, but it contained vital values of the nation’s commitment to maintaining a politically neutral public space for its religiously diverse citizenry. The Court has now retreated to an undefined reliance on “history and tradition” and Justice Kennedy’s old coercion test, which was rightly rejected decades ago as being insufficient to protect the religious freedom of minorities. Setting the methods of the inquisition as the baseline for inappropriate official religious conduct seems an awfully low level of protection for religious minorities.

I teach at a Seminary and am all for sincere prayer at the right time and place. But it is not hard to see when prayer is being used as a political football by sincere but misguided religious zealots, rather than as a genuine devotional exercise by people trying to bring peace and unity to their communities.

It is not hard to see when prayer is being used as a political football by sincere but misguided religious zealots.

Kennedy’s behavior did not bring peace and unity.  His “religious” actions caused division – the High School head coach resigned and three of the five assistant coaches left as well.

Given sufficient official leeway, it is all too easy for prayer warriors to turn into prayer bullies. For the Court to find such behavior protected, rather than proscribed, by the First Amendment is, in my view, deeply troubling and signals a new and concerning era in Establishment Clause jurisprudence.


Dr. Nicholas P. Miller is an attorney and Professor of Church History and Director of the International Religious Liberty Institute at Andrews University. 

Tweets by RelLibertyTV

Recent Posts

  • U.S. District Court Dismisses Hunter v. US Dept of Education Lawsuit

    U.S. District Court Dismisses Hunter v. US Dept of Education Lawsuit

    February 5, 2023
  • Colorado Court: Baker Must Provide "Non-Expressive" Cake to Transgender Customer

    Colorado Court: Baker Must Provide "Non-Expressive" Cake to Transgender Customer

    January 30, 2023
  • Supreme Court to Hear Christian Postal Employee Religious Discrimination Claim - Groff v. DeJoy

    Supreme Court to Hear Christian Postal Employee Religious Discrimination Claim - Groff v. DeJoy

    January 13, 2023
  • Analysis of AB 2098 and Its Potential to Suppress Free Speech of Medical Professionals in California

    Analysis of AB 2098 and Its Potential to Suppress Free Speech of Medical Professionals in California

    January 11, 2023
  • Idaho Supreme Court Denies Petition to Recognize Fundamental Right to Abortion

    Idaho Supreme Court Denies Petition to Recognize Fundamental Right to Abortion

    January 9, 2023

We are not a law firm, do not provide any legal services, legal advice or “lawyer referral services” and do not provide or participate in any legal representation.

©2023 ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom® | WordPress Theme by Superb Themes
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experience, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}