The Supreme Court, siding with a football coach who knelt in prayer at the 50-yard line, ruled 6-3 that a school district cannot bar him from publicly exercising his faith on the field after the game. [Full Ruling Here]
The Issue:
In 2015, Kennedy had been a part-time football coach at Bremerton High School for seven years. Coach Kennedy would pray at midfield after each game, alone, with some of his players and players of the opposing team joining him. When the school district learned about Kennedy’s prayers, they told him to stop. When Kennedy refused, the district fired him.
The Decision:
The decision was supported by two clauses of the First Amendment, the Free Exercise clause and the free Speech clause.
Gorsuch wrote the opinion and noted:
“Kennedy prayed during a period when school employees were free to speak with a friend, call for a reservation at a restaurant, check email, or attend to other personal matters. He offered his prayers quietly while his students were otherwise occupied. Still, the Bremerton School District disciplined him anyway.”
“Both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s … The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
This is another significant win for individual rights, particularly the free exercise of religion. The Democrats, led by former President Obama, have tried to relegate religion to inside the walls of churches. Democrats have continually called for believers to “leave their faith at the door before entering the public square.” In other words, one can practice religion inside a church or one’s home, but practicing out in public is forbidden.
Obama said, “Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal rather than religion-specific values.” Of course, democracy demands no such thing. And who defines what a universal value is? What value system would be used?
The Left wants everyone to exist by the Left’s values. The Left preaches tolerance. However, they abhor the idea that a preacher may put ideas into people’s heads that do not align with leftist ideology. This was part and parcel why they closed churches during the scamdemic. People getting together out of control of the elites was tantamount to treason.
Justice Sotomayor once again demonstrated her ignorance of the issues in the case. Sotomayor said that the coach’s prayer was center to the event in question. That was not true. This took place after the game was over. Does Sotomayor ever read the briefs that are filed?
We need to give thanks to PDJT for appointing three justices who believe that the job of the court is to interpret the law not make it.