Players’ prayer was a great scene To...

Players’ prayer was a great scene

To Steve Joslin, regarding the 2004 Newport Harbor Football team

and his Dec. 15 “Huddling for prayer” letter, please forgive us for

creating a culture of adults with the hardness of heart to publicly

criticize young men calling out to God in humility, thanksgiving and

in raw human emotion. Contrary to those who reinterpret our

Constitution to further their own agenda of a Godless society, this

country was founded upon the principles of religious freedom, not the

exclusion of faith from public life.

The “separation of church and state” is not written in our

Constitution, the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence.

For more than 50 years, the ACLU has worked to convince courts

that the Constitution mandates the complete exclusion of all religion

from public life. The fruit of my lifetime complacency is today’s

religious bigotry and intolerance illumined toward you and published

in the recent Forum pages of the Daily Pilot.

Steve and teammates, thank you for allowing me to witness the

righteous character of our youth. Please, please continue to pray.

Pray in silence and out loud, in private and in public. Pray

unceasingly.

CHERI KETNER

Newport Beach

Forum prayer letters off-base

Just in case letter writers Larry Platt -- “Public game an

improper place for private prayer,” Friday, and Jay Litvak, “God

doesn’t have a favorite team,” Friday -- missed that part of their

education, free speech and the right to enjoy it belongs to everyone

in the U.S. That includes a prayer to see one through an athletic

event, a beautiful day, or anything one wishes to be thankful for.

Litvak has his understanding of God but would wish others not to

have their understanding of the Almighty and just who, what or how

God would react to their prayers.

BETTINA DEININGER

Newport Beach

Framers intended for Sailors’ right to pray

The following is in response to Don Abrams’ letter in today’s

Daily Pilot regarding the saying of a prayer after Newport Harbor’s

last football game “Prayer should be private, not at school.”

The 1st Amendment to the Constitution says: “Congress shall make

no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the

press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to

petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Not a word

about the separation of church and state.

If a school official, or coach, or teacher, or parent had

initiated that prayer, then yes, it would have been inappropriate

because you could argue the “government” was involved. But that’s not

what happened. My son and his teammates, of their own volition, said

a prayer after the game. My son had every right to do this, and his

teammates had every right to join in or decline to join him in

prayer.

Therefore, I strongly disagree with Abrams’ statement that “group

prayer at high school is about separation of church and state, not

freedom to pray.”

It’s all about the freedom to pray and express your religion, as

the framers of the Constitution clearly spelled out in the 1st

Amendment.

STEVE JOSLIN

Newport Beach

One opinion deserves another under system

Regarding the letters from Larry Platt and Jay Litvak that

appeared Friday in the Daily Pilot concerning the letter “Huddling

for Prayer,” published Dec. 15, and written by Steve Joslin:

The issue is in regard to the picture of Joslin’s son -- also

named Steve -- pictured amid his teammates after Newport Harbor’s

loss in the CIF football championships.

First, just as Litvak is entitled to his understanding of his God,

Joslin is entitled to his understanding of his God.

To challenge his expression of his understanding, and to triumph

your own, particularly when the subject matter involves a young

person dealing with a moment of great disappointment, is unfair. I do

hope you did not intend it to be hurtful.

And as to Litvak’s questions, here are my answers. As to why the

Newport Harbor football team was “huddled for prayer,” the obvious

answer is to give thanks for a terrific season of opportunities to

work hard, develop courage, overcome obstacles, build character,

understand teamwork, and, yes, also for the opportunity to learn from

the excitement of the ultimate challenge -- trying to win a

championship -- and the bitter disappointment of being unable to do

so.

As to Platt’s question concerning why the school “allowed” the

prayer, the school obviously didn’t.

The “huddle” occurred only minutes after the team’s loss, and to

my observation, the younger Steve Joslin demonstrated great personal

initiative in the team’s most intense moment of disappointment by

standing among them and reminding his teammates of their good fortune

to have undertaken a wonderful journey to the championship.

And no, Newport Harbor hasn’t been converted to a private

religious academy. The game, and the “huddle,” occurred at Angel

Stadium in Anaheim, where much larger “religious events,” such as the

Harvest Crusade, have taken place. .

For this reason, Platt’s last thought, that huddling for prayer in

public schools is proscribed by the Constitution, misses the point.

The real point of this exchange of ideas is that we need more

young people like Steve Joslin, who are not afraid to express their

feelings to their peers in constructive ways.

MARK FRAZIER

Newport Beach

EDITOR’S NOTE: The original photograph spurring the letters in

today’s Mailbag was published in the Pilot’s Sport page on Dec. 12.

The photo and the accompanying story were titled “Lancers humble

Sailors.”