Reflections: A Victory for Religious Freedom

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District is a victory for religious freedom. The decision was 6 to 3, with the majority siding with Kennedy a football coach protecting his right to pray at football games. He was fired from his coaching job for refusing to stop praying on the field, you can learn more about the case here. 

I am thankful that there are U.S. Supreme Court justices who are not afraid to stand for what is in the Constitution of the United States and who will not bow to public opinion. The First Amendment protects the right to religious expression. This coach was not forcing any student to pray. I am thankful that he now has the freedom to pray on the football field and I hope he will get his job back or find another coaching job in the future.  

Prayer used to be an important part of the school day in u.S. public schools until it was banned following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Engel v. Vitale, the reasoning for the decision can be found here. 

This is the prayer that students in New York State public schools could participate in before prayer was banned in 1962. The prayer was nondenominational and students were not forced to participate.

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.”  Source – Wikipedia)

I pray that this decision gets overturned in the future as Roe v. Wade was overturned. We need to acknowledge God again in schools. Society needs to know that God exists as evil is increasing day by day and schools are a good place to reach children. Children are being exposed to many inappropriate things in the classroom so that needs to be countered with prayer.  

Do you believe that prayer belongs back in school? Leave your opinions below.