Prayers won’t be sidelined by ruling
Andrew Glazer
COSTA MESA -- A push from teammates to pray before and after football
games is a healthy form of peer pressure, Costa Mesa High School’s
athletic director said in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision
to restrict school prayer.
“If anyone has a problem with praying, they have a problem with life,”
said Kirk Bauermeister, who also coaches the school’s baseball team.
“This is a positive thing for our kids.”
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday voted to bar school officials from
sponsoring group prayer or encouraging students to make religious
speeches at school events. The 6-3 ruling struck down a Texas school
board’s policy of allowing students there to vote on whether to have
student-led prayers at school events, including football games.
“It sends a message to members of the audience who are nonadherents that
they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an
accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members
of the political community,” Justice John Paul Stevens said.
But it looks as though the ruling won’t affect prayers led by players on
the field, which are common before football games at many schools,
including Costa Mesa and Estancia High schools.
“Not all peer pressure is illegal,” said Eugene Volokh, a First Amendment
scholar at UCLA who was once a clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
“It’s constitutional as long as the coach doesn’t say ‘you can only use
this time for prayer. You can’t give each other high-fives, pep talks,
huddle, bond or play drums.’ ”
Bauermeister, who said roughly half of the team participated in the
on-field invocations, said he only would consider restricting the prayers
if any player told him he felt uncomfortable. And so far, he said, no one
has spoken up.
During the prayers, players who are not religious stand behind those
knelt in prayer, said Todd Duddridge, 18, a defensive end for the
Mustangs.
“I go to church, but I’m not religious,” said Duddridge, who chooses not
to pray at games. “But I think it’s important to stand behind my
teammates who pray to show we’re a team.”
Principal Andrew Hernandez said he hadn’t heard any complaints from
players or parents regarding the on-field prayers.
“We’re very sensitive to issues of underground intimidation and kids
being intimidated,” he said. “But we’ll wait and see if there are new
guidelines and directions as a result of the decision.”
Newport-Mesa school board member Wendy Leece said the board would respect
the ruling. But she added that she expected and hoped it would spark
activism from religious students.
“The rights of people who have faith are being trampled on,” she said.
“But those who want to silence us are in for a big surprise. They’re just
going to fortify, encourage and inspire us to be more bold.”
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