# SCOTUS to hear case of praying ex-football coach (yet another "religious liberty" case) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 16, 2022, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891 "2022-01-16T11:02:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/361 "2022-11-11T22:26:43Z")
I did answer your question. He was praying alone. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/362 "2022-11-11T22:31:59Z")
I do wonder sometimes, if the religious right gets their way and a theocracy is imposed on our country who will be more upset? The atheists and non-christians who are required to profess belief in something they don’t believe in, or the christians who didn’t actually think that _they_ were going to be subject to religious laws that they didn’t believe in. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/363 "2022-11-11T22:35:49Z")
I didn’t think my meaning was _that_ unclear. 🙄 You compared his praying with the daily prayer at both houses of Congress. The daily prayer at the Houses of Congress is shared between different denominations/religions, while the coach when he prayed at the 50 yard line did not alternate with other faiths, _which means that one sect’s religion was being pushed_, correct? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/364 "2022-11-11T22:45:03Z")
What is your definition of “alone” in this case? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/365 "2022-11-12T01:24:15Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Both Houses of Congress typically open with a daily prayer; are the rights of the Catholic members infringed when a Rabbi leads that day? Not their free exercise rights, but everyone’s establishments rights. Every day. Of course, since I’m not on the Supreme Court, my view doesn’t matter much. Going back to the coach in this case, does anyone know what he was trying to accomplish? Jesus had presumably watched the game already (no need for DVR) and was aware of the final score. Also, why can’t a government employer insist everyone leave the premises after the game without unnecessary delay? Usually conservatives are in favor or employer rights. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/366 "2022-11-12T03:36:21Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I do wonder sometimes, if the religious right gets their way and a theocracy is imposed on our country who will be more upset? The atheists and non-christians who are required to profess belief in something they don’t believe in, or the christians who didn’t actually think that _they_ were going to be subject to religious laws that they didn’t believe in. Historically it’s always been the Christians because the other Christians don’t Christian right. Some of them even have the nerve to Catholic instead! > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > A prayer by a Christian, Jew, or Muslim doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s right to pray as they wish, or to not pray at all. > > Both Houses of Congress typically open with a daily prayer; are the rights of the Catholic members infringed when a Rabbi leads that day? Funny you mention that given that some of remember exactly how Christians have reacted to non Christians being allowed to do exactly that in places other than both Houses of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/367 "2022-11-12T03:55:39Z")
Ask the Bremerton School District. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/368 "2022-11-12T04:01:20Z")
Of the 61 Chaplains of the House to date, 100% of them have been Christian, white and, until the most recent one, male. Opening prayers are overwhelmingly Christian, with Jewish prayers at about 2% and other religions even less…and the number of atheists allowed to open the House so far is approximately 0%. For the 62 (to date) of Conressional Chaplains, 100% of them have been Christian, one has been African-American, 0% has been female, the number of Jews allowed to open the Senate has been in the low single digits, other religions even lower…and the number atheists opening Congress is approximately bupkis. Hardly representative, but not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/369 "2022-11-12T12:49:39Z")
Man, with the state of affairs in both chambers these days, you’d think someone would look to change things up somewhere. The results of the opening prayers don’t seem to be working too well. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/370 "2022-11-12T23:02:07Z")
Why? I asked you since you said it. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/371 "2022-11-13T05:13:02Z")
From the record: “And, in fact, none of Mr. Kennedy’s students did participate in any of the three October 2015 prayers that resulted in Mr. Kennedy’s discipline.” ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/372 "2022-11-15T01:58:15Z")
So, ignore ALL the other times there were students participating and focus on the two times there weren’t any? That’s like saying ignore all the times you were speeding and focus on the few times you were driving the limit. It’s weird to suggest that the school punished the coach for the times no students were involved and ignored when students were involved. This was an ongoing issue for the school and not just three occurrences. [![](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/06/23/kennedyjointappendix-901_custom-9a4e7c26a51b37f0b07938dff459e0bb4fc260f2-s1100-c50.jpg) ](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/06/23/kennedyjointappendix-901_custom-9a4e7c26a51b37f0b07938dff459e0bb4fc260f2-s1100-c50.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/373 "2022-11-15T17:24:43Z")
You can’t a speeding ticket today because you were speeding last month or last year. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/374 "2022-11-15T21:31:21Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > You can’t a speeding ticket today because you were speeding last month or last year. You can’t? Even if it were shown that you were speeding last month? That’s not how we usually do speeding tickets, but it seems like to me that it would be allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/375 "2023-09-06T23:22:15Z")
Update: Kennedy got his job back, coached one game, did his schtick, then quit. > **[Joe Kennedy, football coach once fired for prayers, resigns after one game...](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/bremerton/praying-coach-joe-kennedy-resigns-bremerton/281-73b9e516-82fc-49f6-80c2-2d4fe14d6011)** > > Kennedy won a U.S. Supreme Court case against the Bremerton School District in 2022 and was back on the football coaching staff this fall. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/376 "2023-09-07T12:43:21Z")
It’s off to the speaking/speaking circuit! With that last name, I’m sure politics has entered his head. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/377 "2023-09-25T13:53:04Z")
"We’ll make some decisions of what’s next in our life, because obviously it’s not going to be football forever,” Kennedy said. “We’d like to do — I don’t know — maybe some ministry or something.” The “something” turns out to be [touting his book and hustling speaking engagements.](https://coachjoekennedy.com/home/) It remains to be seen whether he can clean up anything near what his lawyers got out of the school district in attorneys’ fees ($1.8 million). One of the more repulsive facets of this affair has been the claim that Kennedy’s prayer sessions were quiet and unobtrusive, when they were anything but. > **[The Supreme Court’s Fake Praying Coach Case Just Got Faker](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/09/supreme-court-praying-coach-joe-kennedy-fake.html)** > > He has no evident desire to exercise the rights that his lawyers fought for over years of litigation. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891/378 "2023-09-26T16:54:39Z")
One of my very favorite weird guy mannerisms is the royal football “we” when it breaks containment and somebody is using it in their non football life. We’d like to do some ministry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-to-hear-case-of-praying-ex-football-coach-yet-another-religious-liberty-case/957891.md?page=18)