The Supreme Court ponders the right to pray on the 50-yard line [View all]

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"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1093116619/the-supreme-court-ponders-the-right-to-pray-on-the-50-yard-line

(6 min. audio at link)

The Supreme Court ponders the right to pray on the 50-yard line

April 25, 2022 5:00 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition

NINA TOTENBERG

The U.S. Supreme Court jumps back into the culture wars Monday in a case that involves a football coach's asserted right to kneel and pray on the 50-yard line at the conclusion of a public school football game.

Joseph Kennedy, a coach for the Bremerton, Wash., High School Varsity and JV football teams began praying with his players before and after games in 2008. At the end of a game, he would take a knee and say a prayer with his players at midfield.

By the 2015 season, Kennedy was often joined at the 50-yard line as well by players from the opposing team. Indeed, it was an approving comment by an opposing coach that finally alerted school district officials to the practice.

The school orders Kennedy to stop

That prompted the athletic director, and later the superintendent, to order the coaching staff to stop praying with students. Kennedy stopped his locker room prayers completely, and for a least one game left the home field, returning later when the crowds had gone, to pay by himself on the 50-yard line.

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