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Washington High School Football Coach Refuses Demands to Stop Post-Game Prayers

  • Carrie Dedrick Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Oct 19, 2015

A Washington high school football coach is refusing demands from his school district to stop praying after games. 

Christianity Today reports Joe Kennedy has been walking the 50-yard line to thank God for the game and students since 2008. He previously walked and prayed alone, but students and parents asked to accompany him. 

On Sept. 17, the Bremerton School District wrote Kennedy a letter, demanding that the post-game prayers stop. 

"Your talks with students may not include religious expression, including prayer. They must remain entirely secular in nature, so as to avoid alienation of any team member,” the letter from Superintendent Aaron Leavell said. 

Coach Kennedy said, “I'm being investigated for thanking God for the opportunities that have been given me. It's absolutely ridiculous."

He continued, "I spent 20 years in the military defending the Constitution and the freedoms that everybody has. All of a sudden, I realised that people who work for the public schools don't have the same constitutional rights that everyone else has."

Kennedy plans to continue to pray after the games, despite the possibility of losing his job. 

Publication date: October 19, 2015