“Tolerant” atheist group protests prayer over injured teen,

sparking controversy across nation

The issue of public prayer has been stewing over the last decade or so, as the line between religious freedom and freedom from religion has been blurred as the nation drifts from its Christian roots. A high school in Sanford, Florida, has recently been surrounded by this controversy.

     In late August, an injured player was lying on the football field at Seminole High School, surrounded by trainers and coaches. Naturally, his teammates took a knee and said a prayer, as a simple act of compassion for their injured friend. But according to the ever-so-tolerant Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), this was completely unacceptable, and was in violation of the recent ruling in Orange County Public Schools that chaplains are no longer allowed to be a part of the football program.

  “It is our information and understanding that Seminole High School is allowing an adult, a local pastor, to act as a ‘volunteer chaplain’ for the football team,” FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel wrote. “The school cannot allow a non-school adult access to the children in its charge, and certainly cannot grant that access to a pastor seeking to organize prayer for the students.”
The school district claimed the prayer was student-led and denied that a “chaplain” prayed with the team. School spokesman Mike Blasewitz shared in an interview that the school doesn’t even have a team chaplain.
“There is nothing to cease and desist because our behavior was within the guidelines in the first place,” explained Blasewitz. “No adults in the photo, no adults participating, no adults leading it.”
After this clarification, the FFRF dropped their ridiculous case. At this point, the issue is no longer specifically focused on Seminole High School. This issue has been a topic of debate over the years, as lawmakers and citizens have tried to find the definition of ‘religious freedom’.
The following are considered the natural rights of every American citizen according to the US Department of State and the first amendment: “assembling for peaceful religious activities such as worship, preaching, and prayer, including arbitrary registration requirements; (ii) speaking freely about one’s religious beliefs; (iii) changing one’s religious beliefs and affiliation; (iv) possession and distribution of religious literature, including Bibles and other sacred texts; (v) raising one’s children in the religious teachings and practices of one’s choice.”
The FFRF has claimed that public prayer conflicts with the first amendment, but the entire premise of the first amendment is freedom. There should be no rules prohibiting public prayer. How is someone expressing their own faith affecting anyone else? Of course, no one should be shouting their prayers at the top of their lungs or shoving their beliefs down the throats of those surrounding them. But if someone wants to take a moment to say, pray for an injured teammate, no one should have anything to say about it. What could possibly be next? If players on a high school football team are torn apart for taking a knee to pray for a fallen friend, will we be finding ourselves being berated for saying a prayer before dinner at a restaurant?