Coaches & professors should have equal rights
http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/5160.article
Florida Baptist Witness - Jacksonville,FL,USA
.... Throw Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
into that crowd. In a recent New York Times story about ...
Step into a classroom at Florida State University, or the University of
Georgia, or any state university, for that matter and you'll likely find a
professor who advocates abortion on demand.
You'll also most assuredly find a professor who supports same-sex marriage.
Or one who expresses outrage at evangelical Christians. Or one who thinks
communism is the most effective form of government.
No big deal. Happens all the time.
But step into a football locker room with a coach who tells his players
about his belief in Christ, and now all of a sudden someone is irate. How
dare he impose his beliefs on those players, some will cry indignantly.
Throw Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
into that crowd. In a recent New York Times story about the religious
beliefs and practices of Bobby Bowden at Florida State and Mark Richt at
Georgia, Lynn offers his opinion about these coaches taking their players
to church and providing team prayer and devotional services. These
activities, by the way, are strictly voluntary.
"This is a lawsuit waiting to happen, and I believe university
administrations are playing a game of chicken," Lynn said in the story.
"But eventually, you got to believe that one kid is going to say, "I've had
enough, and step forward."
Had enough of what, exactly? Of being taught to honor God and treat others
well? Of being instructed on how to be a better person? Of learning how to
excel in football?
Sounds to me like Lynn is poised to pounce should any college football
player come forth and express offense because his coach believes in God. At
places like Florida State and Georgia, he might be waiting a long time.
Students who go to play for Bowden and Richt know what they"re getting
themselves into.
Bowden and Richt are outspoken Christians, and they make no apology for
that. Nor do they apologize for the spiritual content they infuse into
their coaching.
"Most parents want their boys to go to church," Bowden said in the article.
"I've had atheists, Jews, Catholics and Muslims play for me, and I?ve never
not started a boy because of his faith. I'm Christian, but all religions
have some kind of commandments, and if kids would obey them, the world
would be a better place."
Bobby's right, but the problem these days is that people don't think the
world will be better if people adhere to religious instruction. It used to
be that parents who didn't share a coach like Bowden's Christian faith
would still support his efforts because they thought their son would be
better off because of it. He might not turn out to be a Christian, but
maybe a coach like Bowden can make him a more moral, upstanding citizen.
That's not the case anymore, as parents will quickly file a lawsuit with
the willing assistance of folks like Lynn. anytime their kids face a
smidgeon of religious or moral instruction.
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Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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