First Liberty Institute comes to Smith ‘ security, arguing prayers by priest are constitutional ,
Deion Sanders, the head football coach at the University of Colorado, is once more attempting to halt any prayers that are led or organized by an anti-religion party.
The Independence From Religion Foundation just sent a four-page letter to officials about the choice to permit Pastor Dewey Smith to beg over the basketball team following its victory against Baylor University on September 22.
According to the notice,” It has become known that Coach Sanders has continued to engage in religious activities with students and staff members.”
The memo cites a pregame video that explicitly mentions Pastor Smith as a” spiritual advisor” to Coach Sanders and as the” Chaplain for the Colorado Buffs.”
The letter states that” Coach Sanders ‘ team is full of young, impressionable student athletes who would not risk speaking out or voluntarily renounce their unconstitutional religious practices, even if they had a strong disagreement with his ideas, or giving up playing time, or losing a good recommendation from the coach.”
” Mentors have a lot of power over scholar players, and they will act in their own way.” Using a instruction position to advance Christianity amounts to unconstitutional spiritual force.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has previously expressed concern about Coach Sanders praying with the group. After the anti-religion team filed a grievance, he was forced to go through capital and compliance coaching next year.
” It appears that Coach Sanders was not as accommodating of the training as the University does have initially believed. The University should make sure that Coach Sanders stops tying the government school football program to Christianity, the foundation’s most recent letter states.
First Liberty Institute has argued Sanders ‘ case is wrong by claiming that a chaplain’s blessings are not permitted in the locker room.
” We are convinced that CU is fully entitled to permit a priest to enter the vault room.”
with its school athletes”, the university told the school.
The university stated in its own four-page letter, dated October 16, that the United States has a powerful and widely recognized custom of both people meditation and chaplain applications.
The letter concludes that” this rich law shows that CU’s system joins the long-standing American tradition that welcomes the participation of priests in a variety of America’s people spaces—or, as the case may be, perhaps a locker room.”
” Also, school kids are old enough to appreciate a priest’s worship without being coerced by it”, it added. The Court rejected the idea that intermediate students are particularly prone to force in Kennedy. Courts make distinctions between college students and primary and secondary school pupils when applying the First Amendment in the classroom.
A school spokesman who reached out for comment said they do not “have a particular statement on the subject.”
According to The Deseret News,” Confusion is common over the rules for praying in public spaces. Experts debate when private religious expression transitions to government-sponsored religious manifestation and when extra prayers are made coercive.”
” In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a praying sports manager, saying that his pregame prayer were a secured form of private expression, certainly aggressive speech”, the paper reported.
The incident involved him taking a leg to beg on the area rather than the team’s bag space.
Less: U. Colorado’s ‘ Coach Prime ‘ targeted by agnostic group, undergoes’ equity/compliance’ coaching
IMAGE: YouTube picture
Follow The College Fix on Twitter and Like us on Instagram.