In the grand scheme of things, believers will believe and non believers won't. This is an insignificant issue that gets blown way out of proportion by both sides.
No, they won't care and I don't much, either. The issues I have are the fact that the state, in regards to education, feels this sort of thing is important as well as the push of the religious folks towards integrating as much of their beliefs on the system as they can get away with doing. Their intentions are more important to me than the act.
Yes, and yes. My wife and daughter volunteer with one such organization, and my eldest son attends it.
Is it “forcing” anyone to believe anything? Did all of the “Just Say No” signs force kids to stop using drugs?
I don't have a problem with a player leading players in prayer. I don't think coached leading it is appropriate at a public school, but is something parents can talk about.
I’ve never prayed with my team, even after several years of coaching. And I don’t expect that I ever will. I am certain that I am the only head coach in our program, at any level, who doesn’t lead their team in prayer after every practice or game. I certainly and often pray for our kids, parents, team, the opponent, etc., but privately on my own, and never as a team or with the kids. To be clear, and before I go any further into this: I do not at all begrudge anyone else who believes it’s good, right and chooses to do so. But for me, personally, I’m not comfortable with it, and don’t. First and foremost, I just don’t believe that my role as a coach should necessarily and also grant me some right / privelage to proselytize my personal religious beliefs. I can certainly do that....in church, as a mentor, or in any other setting, but it’s always felt wrong for me to do so as a coach - both for myself and for the kids. I similarly feel it’s wrong and sincerely disagree with the notion that parents (or anyone else) have the right / privelage to expect me to publicly splay what are my own personally and deeply held religious beliefs as a required component of my volunteering to coach their kids. What if they also expected me to publicly state and address my own personal views on baptism, transubstantiation, the Trinity, the inerrancy of the biblical text? Better, what if they asked / expected me to do the same with Allah, Buddha, Moses, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Che Guevara or other deities who I don’t personally believe in / support as gods? I’d lose my shit. I really see it as being akin to asking that the clerk and bag boy join me in prayer before ringing up my items at the grocery store. Does my role as a shopper grant me the right to assume they share my personal beliefs, and that they wish to participate in them...because I do? I don’t think so. And even if it doesn’t grant me that right, but my elevated role as the customer could still allow me to sort of coax them into just going along...should I do so? Again, for me personally, no. I always wonder how welcoming I would be of their asking me to join them in a Wiccan chant, were the situation reversed. Simply stated, I’d lose my shit. Finally, while I am compelled to share my personal faith with others, the old adage to “Preach the gospel with my life, and where all else fails, use words.” has always resonated with me, and I have consciously chosen to adhere to it. However rightly or wrongly, good or bad, I feel like if someone only sees my faith as being primarily (much less singularly) communicated / displayed through spoken words / prayers, instead of my actions and interactions....then I worry that my actions are the problem, and that no words, however flowery or fiery, will - or should - excuse or “save” me from the difficulty of that larger and more important reality. Hopefully, even if we disagree, it’s obvious that I’ve not taken this matter lightly, or glibly - but have sincerely devoted a considerable and extensive amount of thought on the matter, and continue to do so. I actually cover this at some length in the pre-season parent meeting. I go over all of the things I’ve said here, explaining that I am a Christian, that I do pray for our team (including the kids, our coaches and each of them), and not just at the end of every practice / game, but beforehand, during and usually multiple times a week. And still, every year, I not only get frequently and directly questioned about my not praying with my team, but even field open grumbling and complaints about it, both from people who are associated with me and my team and others who aren’t. I’ve had parents ask me - to my face - if I was an atheist, or worse, some sort of “crazy-assed liberal”. Hopefully, knowing that there is a place in the world where I am accused of being an atheist, crazy-assed liberal, or am some anti-religion radical is as delightfully ironic and humorous to many of you here, just as it is with my close friends who know me personally.
While not germane to the argument against religious sayings and things being posted by the school at a public school, I do want to give a story about our Boy Scout troop and the great gratitude I have for them: When my oldest son crossed over from the Cub Scouts to the Boy Scouts, our scout leader was very considerate of us and instructed the Chaplain's Aid to no longer use "In Jesus' name we pray, Amen" to simply, "In your name, Amen". I didn't ask him to do this, he did it on his own accord. In fact, I had no issues with it, but my son did get a bit uncomfortable with it, and I am very appreciative of our Scout leadership.
Imagine if you actually were an atheist! It isn't something I would disclose to an East tennessee parent readily. Might as well say you are a head-shrinking cannibal
But I am an atheist. I don't believe in any god. At least not in the common sense. I believe I and everything has buddha-nature, but there is no creator god or anything that is not subject to samsara and all karmic actions. Time is beginning-less and thus has no creator.
Ah, southern Christian culture and not Christianity. I both chuckle and roll my eyes when these happen. Not sure what it does other than secures votes, which a quick google search about Rep. Lynn leads to this - https://www.tennessean.com/story/ne...usan-lynn-wilson-county-house-seat/385036002/ Interesting. Was on local FCA board for several years. Ended up getting some push back in Sevier County from people about meeting in schools. Don't remember details, nor what it's like now. I know locally as long as it's a student club with faculty sponsor, it's good to go. I tell my parents at first team meeting what I'm about and that we will pray at the end of every practice and before every game. Tell them that if they don't want their son involved to just tell me and we'll figure something out. Generally learned that if you are up front with them about it that most don't care. It's become more of an accountability thing for me on the field more than anything.
I have something I could say about this; evil and open as we are, and such, and head engorging. But I shant. Or did I?
I've coached for going on 10 years or so and have, fortunately, had zero issues or need to discuss religious matters with kids or parents regarding me not doing any prayer knee way or the other. Of course, I don't live in a very religious area like East Tennessee, but work in an urban Nashville public school, so I probably have the good fortune of people not expecting such action. The picture of someone calling Tenny a "crazy ass liberal" does make my day, though.
