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OPINION - On 23 Sep 2011, WSMV-TV of Nashville, TN, reported that four coaches found themselves in trouble for bowing their heads when students originated a prayer after a middle school football game. According to the report, the coaches did not say a word, but allegedly found themselves in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and School District policy because they bowed their heads.
The report quoted Sumner County Schools spokesperson Jeremy Johnson, who said "We've been telling our principals to kind of be looking for those things, because that is kind of a shift in how things have been done." Johnson continued, "It can in no way appear like it's endorsed by Sumner County Schools personnel."
According to the WSMV report, the conditions outlawing coaches bowing their heads in respect when their students decide to pray is the result of Sumner County School District policy changes after the American Civil Liberties Union sued the district, “arguing it violated separation of church and state.”
The First Amendment of the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,...” Apparently, the bowing of heads by coaches during student initiated and student led prayer has the same force and effect of Congress passing a law which establishes a national religion.
It is difficult to believe that the framers of our Constitution intended the First Amendment to be used to prevent a public school coach from bowing their head during prayer. Still, the Sumner County School District feels the need to police its teachers. According to a 25 Sep 2011 Spokane Examiner article, “...staff can be present while students pray, but cannot participate, nor can they even give the appearance of participation - even outside school hours.”
The construction of the Constitution of the United States was designed to prevent the tyranny of government. Central to this, was the intent to prevent government from establishing a national religion at the exclusion of the free exercise of religion through the conscience of the individual. The attempts at interpreting the intent of “the free exercise thereof,” unfortunately, continues to be twisted into a form meaning, “freedom from religion.”
The phrase, “separation of church and state,” so often cited by media pundits, does not appear in the Constitution. The phrase was originally cited by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1878, in reference to a letter written by President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association in 1802. It was not until 1947, however, that the United States Supreme Court began to supplant the wording of the First Amendment with this concept, taken somewhat out of context, to support interpretations such that any presence of government suddenly creates a religion free zone. This concept is most often enforced against predominately Christian denominations.
To be fair, the Sumner County School District adopted their policies as the result of legal bullying through law suits seeking to enforce the phrase from the Jefferson letter. The theory, apparently, is that if there is no acknowledgment or recognition of religion, even by the slightest bowing of the head in respect for prayer offered by others; then, the school district is doing their part to prevent any appearance that Congress may consider head bowing as fiat of law towards establishment of a national religion.
The framers of the Sumner County School District policy, however, might find themselves in a quandary if they attempted to apply their policy to President Jefferson, who wrote in the same often quoted letter, “I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.” One can only wonder as to what action might be taken against a Sumner County coach if they wrote such sentiments, even if it was “after school hours.”
While it is disturbing that the mere bowing of one's head is being attacked by those seeking to invoke the non-existent “freedom from religion” clause of the First Amendment, those who pray should take heart in knowing that the act of bowing one's head is considered to be so powerful and intimidating that legions of lawyers would line up to stop such an egregious abuse of governmental power. If it is that powerful, then, perhaps we should spend more time bowing our heads. Of course, we should remember that the true power is contained in the prayer and the One who answers it.
Cited Articles and Posts
WSMV (23 Sep 2011)
http://www.wsmv.com/story/15538258/public-school-coaches-told-not-to-participate-in-prayer
Spokane Examiner (25 Sep 2011)
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-spokane/tn-school-district-tells-coaches-not-to-bow-heads-during-student-led-prayer
Library of Congress (Jun 1998)
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html"
