Sport praying

God and football in America

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
    —Matthew 6: 5-6

While the bible says no to public displays of prayer, Oklahoma says Yes, you can.

With little discussion Wednesday, the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association’s board of directors approved an alternate prayer policy by a 13-0 vote.

And with that, a moment of silence will now be permitted before select high school events, thanks in part to Representative Bobby Cleveland, R-Slaughterville, (you just can’t make up these names), who threatened to sue the organization for its ban on organized prayer, a ban which Attorney General Scott Pruitt ruled “overly broad.”

The new policy, derived from discussions with the state attorney general’s office, states that the PA system at an OSSAA event site “is not to be used as an open public forum for the expression of views by individuals or organizations concerning political, philosophical, religious or other matters unrelated to the conduct of the event, or the management and safe use of the event site.”

What could go wrong there?

And, really, matters unrelated to the conduct of the event? Moments of silence are unrelated to the conduct of the event. It’s why Jiffy Lube doesn’t have them; it’s why churches do.

But I digress.

Here are the exact words schools must use:

“We will now recognize a moment of silence so that you may, if you choose, reflect, meditate, pray or engage in other silent activity. Please be respectful of others during this moment of silence.”

Even if you choose not to participate in the moment of silence, the OSSAA expects you to act like you are. Welcome, then, to the slippery slope of sport praying. One minute you’re having a moment of silence, next minute you’re marching to the 50-yard line and giving testimony.

Joe Kennedy, Bremerton High School’s assistant football coach, was put on leave because he refused to comply with district directives to avoid overt religious displays on the field, Bremerton School District officials said in a statement late Wednesday.

The overt display was Kennedy’s habit of marching to midfield after games, dropping to one knee, and praying. Keep in mind: the district was not telling Kennedy, a state employee, he couldn’t pray in his official capacity, just that he couldn’t do it in a stadium built and paid for by taxpayers, during a game, while many of those taxpayers (and their children) were still in attendance.

He initially agreed, but then, with support from the Texas-based Liberty Institute, a religious-freedom organization, he resumed the postgame prayers, silently taking a knee for 15 to 20 seconds at midfield after shaking hands with the opposing coaches. His lawyers insist he is not leading students in prayer, just praying himself.

Yeah, that’s what he was doing.

Kennedy then not only went back on his word, he then found his inner Kim Davis and off to martyrdom he went.

“Whatever happens happens, you know,” he said, according to the Patriot. “But I’m going to be bold in my faith and I’m going to fight the good fight, and I want to set that example for every one of the kids if you believe in something.”

Lighten up, coach, this isn’t the good fight, it’s a self-glorified piety and pony show. You could have easily knelt at home, or in your office, or quietly bowed your head before the game, alone, but you decided to equate the walk to midfield with the road to Golgotha. 

Cue the manufactured outrage.

Oklahoma Senator Jim Lankford, who has as much of a dog in this fight as I do the dinner menu at the Falls Creek Baptist Camp Summer Session, wrote a letter, along with a Virginia congressman, to the Bremerton School Board supporting Kennedy.

Among the most basic rights that Americans enjoy are the free exercise of religion, free speech, and the freedom of association … Likewise, the mere act of a single individual kneeling alone after the conclusion of a game to quietly pray coerces no one, even when that individual is a school employee. 

So imagine: You’re 16, your coach goes to midfield after a game to pray. Some of your teammates join him, some of the other players and coaches from the other team, along with some fans, do as well. But you don’t. You’re not of the same faith, not religious, just don’t like the obviousness of it … whatever. Still, this choreography goes on game after game after game and you, that 16-year-old, stand on the sidelines game after game after game and wait for the spectacle to end, all eyes on you, the kid standing by himself. No coercion there, no pressure, no established prayer protocol at your school—just a “single individual kneeling alone.”

Please.

And that slippery slope is now lathered in apple butter. Good time to remember the country wasn’t always comfortable with such heavenly branding. 

1) It wasn’t until 1954, during the McCarthy era and communism scare, did Congress pass a bill, to include the words under God in the Pledge of Allegiance.

2) It wasn’t until 1955 law, did In God We Trust appear on paper currency.

3) There is one word that never appears in either the United States Constitution or the Declaration of Independence—God. 

Once we decided to share billing with God, though, we lost our inhibition. 

In last weekend’s football game featuring the U.S. Air Force Academy’s team and the University of New Mexico’s team, 57 of the 60 Academy football team members knelt and prayed—ostentatiously, publicly—in the end zone prior to the game.

Well, not all. Prayer still needs to be to the right God.

Husain Abdullah, a devout Muslim, intercepted Tom Brady during the fourth quarter of last night’s blowout, running the turnover back for a touchdown. After several steps into the end zone, Abdullah slid to his knees and bent to put his hands on the ground in a prayer pose.

Abdullah was penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration.

P.S. Lankford never wrote the NFL to complain about its treatment of a single individual kneeling alone. 

One final thought, tangentially related but potentially more serious, about prayer and the cheapening of it in the public square.

Not less than 24-hours after the grisly killings in San Bernardino, California, the New York Daily News ran a cover story under the headline “God Isn’t Fixing This” in reaction to Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Lindsey Graham, all NRA supporters and benefactors, who asked for prayers for the victims and first responders.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families and brave responders,” Senator Rand Paul wrote.

Well, a holy shit-storm ensued and Paul got his bromides in a wad.

This cover on the New York Daily News is a deplorable example of the media putting their political agenda over the suffering of victims and their families.

Daily News Editor-in-Chief Jim Rich was having none of it.

“The Daily News front page is not, in any way, shape or form, condemning prayer or religion,” Rich said in a statement. “Anyone suggesting otherwise is either — intentionally or unintentionally — misconstruing the point, which is that most GOP politicians have offered nothing but empty platitudes and angry rhetoric in response to the ongoing plague of gun violence in our country.”

I’m with Rich on this one. On a good day, their tweets were nothing more than cheap sanctimony. And this wasn’t a good day. 

The Senate rejected a measure from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to expand background checks for guns purchased online and at gun shows on a 48 to 50 vote and an amendment from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to prevent individuals on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms on a 45 to 54 vote.

This vote to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists was defeated the day after the shooting in San Bernardino.

Who voted against it? Senators Cruz, Paul, and Graham.

For more from Barry, read about his heartfelt moment with Joe Biden.