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The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with a former Washington state high school football coach who lost his job at a public school because he recited a silent prayer on the 50-yard line after football games.
Joe Kennedy worked at Bremerton School District in Washington as a junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant coach from 2008 to 2015.
He began the practice of reciting a post-game prayer by himself — and eventually students began joining him.
HIGH SCHOOL COACH SCORES BIG WIN AT SUPREME COURT OVER POST-GAME PRAYER
Faith leaders shared thoughts with Fox News Digital after the high court released its ruling in the case on Monday morning.
Former Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy answers questions after his legal case, Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District, was argued before the Supreme Court April 25, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Bremerton public school officials in 2015 terminated Kennedy from his job after he refused to stop his on-field prayers after football games.
(Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In a message on Monday morning, Rebecca Hatfield, president of 2nd Vote, a faith-based nonprofit in Nashville, Tenn., said, “The Supreme Court ruling in favor of Coach Kennedy’s rights to pray and exercise his right to free speech is a huge victory for our country at a time when religious liberties and free speech have been greatly under attack.”
She added, “2nd Vote would like to thank the Supreme Court for correctly interpreting the First Amendment and correcting this injustice to Coach Kennedy. We rejoice whenever liberty reigns in our land.”
THE SUPREME COURT AGREES I HAVE A RIGHT TO PRAY AND I AM GLAD I STAYED IN THE FIGHT
Rabbi Pinchas Taylor, who is based in Plantation, Fla., told Fox News Digital, “Prayer is remembering and praising the source of our strength and recalling gratitude for the help we have received.”
He went on, “Prayer does not seek to change the mind of God to receive a blessing — but to change man’s awareness of God, making him a vessel for the blessings. Biblical Hebrew has no word for ‘religion.’”
Rabbi Taylor shared thoughts with Fox News Digital about the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday about coach Joe Kennedy in Washington state.
(Rabbi Pinchas Taylor/Chabad.org)
Rabbi Taylor added, “The goal is to live a godly life in all of our perspectives and deeds, and not confined to weekend services.”
“Recognizing a Higher Power at your house of worship is fine — but doing it at your dinner table or on the football field is infusing the mundane with higher purpose. This is a good thing for both individuals and greater society.”
Joe Kennedy, who coached high school football in Bremerton, Washington, is shown with his players on the field.
(First Liberty Institute)
Said Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES) in Charlotte, N.C., “The Supreme Court ruling in the Coach Joe Kennedy case is a breath of fresh air for both religious freedom and the concept of free speech, both of which are firmly imbedded in our Constitution.”
“The right to free speech ought to apply to all kinds of speech, not just to that which a majority thinks it should be confined.”
He also said, “It has always been a feckless argument to say that someone might be offended or influenced by religious expression. In the real world, speech is always intended to influence in some manner; therefore, the right to free speech ought to apply to all kinds of speech, not just to that which a majority thinks it should be confined.”
Added Ginn, “Now, with this ruling, teachers and public officials all across America need not be afraid to privately bow their heads in thanksgiving or prayer to Almighty God, a right which has always been included in our basic rights granted under the Constitution. May it always be so.”
He also said, “SCOTUS finally got another one right!”
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Misty Philip of Austin, Texas — founder of Spark, a Christian Podcast Network — told Fox News Digital in an email, “So thankful for the courage of this coach to pray and lead these kids in the face of opposition. I hope this ruling sends a ripple effect across our nation that encourages more people to pray in public and at after-school events.”
