The Power of Prayer
Yesterday, April 25, 2022, was a day prayer took central stage. No, I’m not talking about the prayers of free speech advocates being answered in the form of Elon Musk finalizing his purchase of Twitter. Believe it or not, there was actually a bigger event happening in our highest court. The right to prayer was on trial. Among the least known of all Kennedys, a man by the name of Joseph Kennedy, had his case heard before the Supreme Court. With headlines about wars (oops I forgot, we only talk about one), quirky billionaires making moves, and high-profile defamation trials with Jack Sparrow at the helm, it’s not surprising if you didn’t hear about this guy named Joe. Long story short, he wouldn’t stop praying. I know, a pretty egregious offense, right? Of course, there’s a little more to it…
Before I share a brief version of his story and a summary of the case, I want to pose a couple questions for you to consider. Forget about your personal stance on prayer for a second. Do you believe any individual should be able to express his/her sincere beliefs, whether religious or otherwise, in a public setting? If you’re an American, I hope your answer is “Yes,” because that is protected under the 1st amendment. Now, here is where it gets difficult for some people — Do you believe you should be required to suppress the expression of your beliefs when you have certain jobs, specifically as someone who is employed by a public (government) entity? Maybe your answer is unchanged, maybe it switched, and maybe you’d like to consider things on a case by case basis. While you spin this around your noggin for awhile, I’d like you to also consider who you believe has the authority to decide these things. Is it the government? The individual? A document? God?
Back to Joe. Joe is a football coach. Correction, Joe was a football coach. He was fired for praying at midfield after football games. He started this habit alone. Then some students joined him of their own volition. Eventually the post-game prayer was accompanied by motivational speeches with…wait for it…religious themes (GASP!). I don’t know about you, but I’ve personally heard TONS of motivational speeches from coaches (yes, even some with religious themes), many of whom I doubt were professing Christians. Never once did I think a coach doing that was inappropriate, unlawful, or acting in a way that should have them relieved of their duties. Full disclosure, nearly all my time playing competitive sports, I was a professing atheist. Even if hearing a reference to God or some higher power wasn’t my jam at the time, I could see how it would motivate others and I understood our coaches had a responsibility to try and inspire all of us, not just me in the way I desired. To my knowledge, I never once saw a coach coerce any player to adopt any of his/her personal beliefs. Likewise, I’ve seen no evidence Joe Kennedy did anything of the sort.
So, what’s the problem? Well, “separation of church and state” of course. You know, that phrase that trumps all of our God-given rights, the U.S. Constitution, and has never been applied incorrectly. Sorry, sarcasm got the best of me there. The school district (a representative, elected body of government) told Joe he needed to stop the prayers, allegedly after an opposing coach voiced his disapproval. Oh, so government representatives want to stop an individual from praying because he also happens to have a job with a public school huh? After briefly complying with their demands, Joe told the school district he would resume his prayers at the 50-yard line, which he did. It was reported that many people stormed the field to support him. The school district was so against prayer in principle that they needed to take action to stop his prayers. Just kidding, they actually made suggestions on how they thought he could more appropriately pray. Here’s an excerpt from a FoxNews article:
The school district then offered to let Kennedy pray in other locations before and after games, or for him to pray on the 50-yard line after everyone else had left the premises, but he refused, insisting that he would continue his regular practice. After continuing the prayers at two more games, the school district placed Kennedy on leave. (Full article)
You may say that seems reasonable. However, that’s not the issue at stake, nor is it the standard when it comes to protected speech. If this was really about just prayer to the school district, then according to their own claim those would be absurd suggestions, not reasonable. If their claim that a government official shouldn’t be able to lead or participate in group prayer because it could have a coercive effect is to be taken seriously, then it stands to reason they wouldn’t allow any prayer by him as a coach in any setting. That’s not what they did though. Their actions themselves undermine their argument. They are clearly more concerned about how it looks. They also believe they have the authority to regulate how an individual chooses to express his religion, which in this case was in the form of praying in public. Assuming your expression of religion doesn’t interfere with your job responsibilities, do you think your employer has any business telling you how to express your personal beliefs? I don’t! Neither does the government by the way — something about the first amendment prohibiting the free exercise of, you know the thing…
I know a lot of Christians who think that although Joe K has the right to pray and may have been persecuted for his faith, he shouldn’t have brought this lawsuit. He should’ve worn it like a badge of honor they say. In all honesty, I think that is a fair position to take. However, I do believe this falls in the area of conscience, and his decision to stand up and fight is every bit as admirable. Given the current climate of our cultural wars, I believe he made the correct decision. Also, it’s not just about Joe, prayer, or even the 1st amendment. Sure, those things are important, but I’d like to highlight an inconvenient fact. We’ve gotten accustomed in my lifetime and even longer to act as if our unalienable rights are only protected in theory and not in reality. People in government have the habit of thinking they have the power to make our rights secondary as long as they have a reason they feel is acceptable to do so. Do you see the problem there? Our rights are supposed to be about us, not them. Also, in their proposals there is rarely a limiting principle that would restore our rights to a primary position. Since people in government who seem to think their authority is unlimited are generally dismissive of the constitution’s authority, one might wonder if a stated limited principle would even matter to them anyway. 15 days to flatten the curve anyone?
Just like speeches that mentioned God weren’t my jam during my atheist days, you may not be moved by any of these arguments. However, here are a couple reasons why you should care. If you care about your fellow Americans’ protected speech and expression of faith, then you should be rooting for Joe for the simple reason you wouldn’t want to be silenced. Also, if the government can suppress our first amendment rights, then they can infringe upon any of them. Would you want your right to possess a gun infringed upon? (2nd amendment) How about the government rushing into your home to search and/or seize your property without a warrant? (4th amendment) What if you were jailed for choosing to remain silent or were completely denied due process like many of the January 6th political prisoners? (5th amendment) You may not be as passionate about the right to prayer as I am, but that’s not the only reason you or I should care. We shouldn’t care only when it’s about something we are passionate about or when it happens to someone we know personally. If we are about justice, then we should care about all unalienable rights in all cases!
Let’s pray that the Supreme Court recognizes that the power of prayer (and of other rights) trumps the power of the government operating outside of its authority!