The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every American freedom of religion.
Unfortunately, some American organizations have twisted the Constitution’s words and are trying to convince us that we should instead embrace freedom “from” religion.
This anti-religious movement is frequently manifested in American schools, with the most recent attack in the Orange County Public School District, located in central Florida.
After receiving a complaint about prayers being performed at high school football games from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, OCPS issued a memorandum with some new rules: one being that volunteer chaplains for football teams can no longer hold the title of chaplain. They must now be referred to as “life coaches.”
Additionally, now parents, coaches, chaplains and other school staff are not allowed to participate in or lead prayer before or after football games, even if prayer before the game has been a long standing tradition for many OCPS schools, including my alma mater, Apopka High School.
The memorandum states that “having a team chaplain is not permitted as it is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion in the same manner as a school employee participating in prayer with students.”
Additionally, this ruling was further endorsed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2012 when he signed into law a bill that doesn’t allow adults to be involved with students leading prayer or other “inspirational messages” at student rallies and other school-sponsored events.
Although I do not consider myself a religious person, I know that religion does give people a sense of hope and stability in trying or stressful times, and for a lot of these high school football players, it is used as a tool to calm their anxiety and get them focused on the game.
Now, because an organization from Wisconsin has complained about something happening in Florida, the players lose this right. Players can still lead their own prayers with their fellow teammates, but now, even the coaches cannot be involved — the ones who train and mentor these kids for months upon months, some for years and years.
Players look up to their coaches, but right before the game, when they need them the most, they have to be silent and distant.
What these people from Wisconsin fail to recognize because they don’t understand the city of Apopka — given that they are over 1,300 miles away — is that prayer and religion is a part of the culture in Apopka. And OCPS, rather than standing up to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, just gave in to their demands instead of trying to find common ground.
Let’s assume for a second that chaplains and coaches leading a Christian prayer is, in fact, unconstitutional. Is the appropriate reaction to such a judgment to simply ban acts of religion on the football field to satisfy the wishes of an organization from another state?
What OCPS should have done instead is inform people that if some people on the team don’t happen to be Christians, and they also want to hold a prayer before the game that comports with their own religion, that is OK and encouraged.
By stripping all religion from our public schools and other institutions, we are doing our students a disservice by not exposing them to diversity.
The lack of diversity in American life is a common complaint, but the call for diversity is often accompanied by an insistence on banning and regulating everything, especially religion.
Rather than attempting to shut out religion, we should embrace religious diversity and allow others to learn from each other and develop a broader, more nuanced view of the world.
What we are teaching our students now is that if you believe in something, you must keep it locked up inside of you and not share it with others.
I would prefer to live in a country where we celebrate our differences and not where we shun others for what they believe.
Nick Eagle is a UF economics and political science senior. His columns usually appear on Mondays.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 9/3/2014 under the headline "Prosecution of public prayer"]
