It's like it's the unhinged Right's version of virtue signaling.

Y'all, I can't really keep up with the argument rn. There are six of you and just one of me. I'm really busy today, but I will try to reply to all of you here soon. Cool?

No worries. No one expects immediate and continual replies. A well thought out response is appreciated.

Freedom of religion cannot be stopped just because of a location. Those kids are not being forced to pray with their coach, they want to. And they should be allowed to connect with their God.

If it cannot be stopped by location, then they can do so, quietly, over on the sideline, or in the car on their way home. On their own.

Not out in front of an audience.

The moment he made a public spectacle of his "faith" is the moment it stopped being a private moment.

Just out of curiosity, what do you believe about this event is wrong? Because the coach certainly should not of gotten fired for having public morality. Good night, the NFL players are allowed to make whatever scenes they want to on the field, even if it is disrespecting the country's flag. And nothing happens to them.

1) praying (and by extension faith) is not moral. I understand that you are likely a Christian and feel that morality extends from God. Is there a lot of crossover in the basic Christian tennants and morality? Yes. This is true of most religions, it's not an exclusive Christian thing. So prayer is not moral.

And as for your NFL example - players can pray as often or as publicly as they like. Same as High School players. Have at it, hoss.

But the coach. He is a public employee. At a public event. He makes a point of making his prayer a public event. And as the representative of the government, he is violating the 1st Amendment in regards to religion.

It's not a private moment when he marches out to the middle of the field. He is making sure he's being seen.

And I refer you to the New Testament, Mathew 6:5. Even his religion says don't do this publicly. Do it quietly and at home.

Forget for a second if I am a Christian or not. I'm sure you can likely guess the answer, but I do not want that lens to distort my arguments towards a likely non-Christian. Do public employees have the right to show their beliefs, or are their rights waived? Because I see plenty of liberals showing their religion and political beliefs on the job, but I don't care. They have a right to say and do those things, given they are not being a public menance or stirring up chaos. Quietly praying is not a public menace, though I know somebody is gonna attack me there. And check out my reply regarding Matthew 6:5. I'm not going to retype that here. Even Congress has prayers said in session.

Stadiums are private property

Most NFL stadiums are funded at least in part by the cities in which they are located. Sometimes by hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money.

The kids are there to learn, not be indoctrinated (groomed' as the right likes to say) into church services. Of course kids on the team are going to feel pressured to join in. dont want to sit on the bench all season. Its wrong on so many levels.... what if the coach was Muslim.... you got a problem with Muslim prayers on the 50 yard line? be honest with yourself.

Yes it can. Its called "public" tax payer funded places.

Does your right to religion stop when on public property? Not according to the new Supreme Court ruling.

We are going to have to change that back to where it was.

Lest you forget, this country was founded on the Christian religion.

No it was not.

The prohibition was in regards to CONGRESS establishing an official religion on the Federal level. The purpose was to protect state sovereignty in regards to such, as various states did have an official state religions, collected religious taxes to support their church, and had religious exams and requirements to hold state office.

That is four men. The vast majority of the Founding Fathers were Christian. I recognize that some were also agnostic.

It does not matter what they were, they were very clear to keep all religion separate from government. school is government (taxpayer funded)

No, they did not. The restriction applied to Congress and that would be at the federal level. Individual states were not prohibited from doing so.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/801/established-churches-in-early-america

Bear in mind, when these very men relented and allowed for citizens to vote in elections, that right was reserved solely for Protestant British & Germanic and Nordic adult land owning men. A decade later that was expanded to allow for Catholics, a decade after that Jews and so forth.

Separation of church and state. The classic argument, eh? Government was supposed to not interfere with religion, not the other way around. That is what Jefferson implied in those letters. Freedom of religion includes all areas, "public/government areas" or otherwise.

When one religious sect overtakes government and forces its values upon others, even non-believers, then that is *both* religion messing with government *and* government messing with religion (i.e. the religion of others).

The Founders were well aware of the religious wars that convulsed Europe during the 16th-18th centuries, and were very clear about keeping church and the state separate.

The meme is unrelated. Just a joke lol.

The limitation applied to Congress, not individual states. The latter was free to have their own official religion if they so chose and some did. A couple still have them on the books, ignored now, of course.

Maybe we need some satan worshipers to demand equal time, maybe some pentagrams on the benches?

How far have you fallen? Do you not hear what you are saying? If we get to the point where a team of high school players openly worships Satan, I am leaving America.

The court just made it possible.

As John Adams said, this kind of country can only survive with a religious and moral people. So if we lose that spark of God in us, we truly are a lost nation. Are you religious @Manhatten?

I think he's trying to say that he lost the argument but doesn't want to admit it...correct me if I'm wrong Manhattan?...

No, using nicklebacks definition, the country is already lost

geez u can't avoid ad hominem can u

sry it took so long to reply. I got comment privileges revoked by a lefty mod :)

What??

"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
Matt. 6:5-6

Do you know the context for this verse?

Yes, I used to be a Christian. The context strengthens the meaning. The coach is virtue signaling.

If you mean that he is openly practicing his faith, he is making a statement by praying. But he should be allowed to do that. As to the context of that verse,the apostles went preaching in the streets, and Jesus didn't tell them to stop. He said, "Go forth, and be fishers of men." Jesus is not forbidding open displays of worship, He is saying that we shouldn't pretend to be faithful to Him in public and then ignore our faith the rest of the time when no one can see us. The coach is offering his players the opportunity to connect with their Creator in a group, and liberals for some reason hated that and tried to get the coach fired.

He's not offering an opportunity. Any of those players who aren't Christian are experiencing peer and group pressure to conform with the coach's opinion of what their "creator" is.

I don't want to have to type all this out, but I'd be happy to if you didn't know.