Although much of the attention this week has been on the U.S. Supreme Court’s pending ruling on abortion, there’s another case before the high court that, although not as momentous, also bears watching.
In it, Joseph A. Kennedy, a coach from Brementon, Washington, is challenging his firing by the public school district there for praying on the sidelines with his students after a game.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” We get that and approve of this restriction. We don’t want Congress establishing Methodism, Presbyterianism or Catholicism as the official state religion.
But banning any religious activity whatsoever in a public setting is a far cry from the establishment of a state religion. In fact, God is mentioned four times in our Declaration of Independence.
A slim majority on the lower appeals court that heard Kennedy’s case ruled for the school district. They said school officials were warranted in worrying that allowing Kennedy’s public prayer would violate the constitutional prohibition on government endorsement of religion.
That’s judicial excess, and the high court should put a stop to it. Americans should be allowed to express their religious beliefs, whatever they be, freely in public and private.
