Given the magnitude of the Dobbs v. Jackson abortion decision,
the Kennedy v. Bremerton ruling regarding the religious liberty of a football coach
was in many ways under reported. It's getting some attention but if Roe v. Wade
had not been overturned, this ruling would be front and center. Its
implications are potentially vast.
This has been celebrated by Evangelicals who view the ruling
as a victory. The football coach who works for a public school insisted on
praying after games at the 50-yard line, the very center of the field. An open
display of piety on public school property, the difficulty came when it was
noticed that other players were joining him.
First of all it should be said that no one in any context can
stop you from praying. I'm not talking about praying for show or making a
display of it but internalised prayer. Christians have always been able to pray
in classrooms or anywhere else. For those that pursue these questions and file
lawsuits and the like the issue isn't prayer per se – but public prayer and the
kind of statements that makes especially when an institution sanctions it.
Their goals are public and sacral, pertaining to civil religion. Never lose
sight of that and the assumptions behind their arguments and actions.
For this coach there apparently remains some kind of confused
sacral understanding of what is to be blunt a stupid game. This isn't an attack
on American Football specifically but simply to make the point that in the end
it is after all only a game. It does not have any real bearing on the world.
It's meaningless and if the game stopped tomorrow and was never played again in
the history of the world – it wouldn't matter. To try and tie the game into
some kind of Christian identity or mission is simply folly. This coach is not
alone. I have related my own history to this end and how I encountered
'Christian' football at an Evangelical school I attended along with the various
attempts to 'Christianize' the game. I was actually a pagan at the time and
found their arguments not only wanting but lame. And frankly, as one who played
Defensive End and Linebacker I was unable to be successful unless I literally
cultivated murder in my heart. I had to hate my opponent and want to destroy
him to be effective. Maybe it's different for other people, but I know that as
a Christian I would not play the game and I would actively discourage others
from doing so – largely because it's just reckless and stupid. We did many such
things in our time and while today's generation is perhaps a little on the
tepid side not all the games we played (like Smear the Queer for example) were either wise or proper.
I never played football again but I remember the Evangelical
ethos connected to it which apparently is alive and well. In my opinion I think
it's just a bunch of rabid Evangelical football fans who can't really justify
the physicality and ethics of the game, let alone its costs, largely negative cultural
impact, or the colossal (and wasted) investment of time. And so, by
Christianizing it they somehow give it this great justification and weave
together a contrived narrative about warrior ethos, team ethics, American
culture, and the like. It's all rubbish and while a lot of today's young men
are certainly pansies who need to learn how to sweat, work, and get dirty, I
would never encourage them to pursue American football.
The coach in the lawsuit refused to back down. The school
tried to accommodate him and get him to move the prayers away from the center
of the field but he was obstinate and eventually the school fired him. I do not
feel sorry for him in the least. He works for the public school system. What
did he expect? As an employee of the school, on the clock, on school grounds,
you represent the school and its interests. I wouldn't do it to begin with, but
he signed on for it but then insists that he gets to set the rules. They tried
to accommodate him but he refused. He wanted it to be his way – a kind of
stubborn-stupid attitude that once again is clearly rooted in bad theology and
bad ethics. He persisted in his Pharisaical display and when he didn't get his
way and was punished – he cries foul. Would you want this person working for
you? His behaviour is more akin to an overgrown brat than a man making a stand.
His behaviour generates confusion and only puts his own incoherence on display.
From a practical standpoint, it isn't fair to the other
players either. He didn't 'compel' anyone to participate but as anyone who has
been on a team knows the people who have the leader's ear and eye are those who
stick close to him and identify with him. If you want to succeed in such
environments you must be zealous to conform and participate. As such those
players who didn't really want to participate or were ambivalent about it would
feel the pressure – and it's not something they should have to feel in that
setting. It's not something their tax paying parents should have to finance
either.
And here's the thing. This coach and his allies would come
undone if the coach leading these prayers were a Muslim or Hindu. No, for them
this is some convoluted (and frankly heretical) mishmash of mom, apple pie,
football, America and Christianity. That's what this is all about.
They don't want equity. They don't actually believe the
rights of the Constitution to be universal. They believe and want them to
favour Christianity. I don't believe the coach is a Theonomist that wants the
state to persecute other religions. But what he wants is a Christian preference
or a kind of preferential pluralism. Dominionist theology has taught these
people that public school is a societal 'sphere' that cannot be surrendered and
must be 'conquered' for the Kingdom.
The truth is the public school can never be part of the
Kingdom and the same is true with football and America. Only by redefining the
Kingdom can this come to pass.
In addition to this episode being incredibly stupid, it's a
case of glorying in shame. This man was not persecuted for his faith. He was in
sin to begin with and was pushy, stubborn and unprincipled. The school board
tried to work with him but he refused. And so when he was finally fired, he did
the Christian thing right? He gloried in that he was counted worthy to suffer
for the name of Christ? No, of course not. Evangelicals have no interest in suffering.
They want power. So, in total disobedience to the Scriptures he (in good
Evangelical fashion) calls on the state to give him justice and to use the
threat of violence contained within a court ruling to compel the school to
conform to his wishes. And because of the politicised state of the Supreme
Court he won his case.
In other words, let me do what I want or else the men with
badges and guns (empowered by a court order) will come for you, remove you, and
potentially subject you to fine and imprisonment. It's a threat to them and
their families.
So was he persecuted? No.
Should Christians rejoice in the Kennedy v. Bremerton ruling?
No, it's actually a cause for embarrassment and shame. Once again Evangelicals
want power so they have to file lawsuits and call on the state to use the
threat of violence to threaten those who have opposed them – and even extort
money from them.
There's been no word yet, but I'm waiting, fully expecting a
lawsuit to be filed with regard to wrongful dismissal, lost wages and the like.
That's the next logical (though sinful) step.
In the meantime Mr. Kennedy is cashing in by making the
rounds on the Right-wing circuit, appearing on all the shows and so forth. I'm
also waiting for a book (ghost-written no doubt), that will enable him to
further cash-in on this episode. He very well may become wealthy as a result of
this. That's persecution for you – Evangelical style. Just ask Andrew Brunson.
This coach is (in Christian terms) a joke and a disgrace. He
should be rebuked by his church and fellow Christians, but instead he is
celebrated as is this 'victory'. Words like stupid and shame come to mind and it's
hard to know which comes first.
What we see is Judgment and delusion being reckoned as
victories. These shameless Evangelicals are putting nails into their own coffin
and destroying all discernment in the process. In the name of victory they are doing
evil that good may come and clearly the larger movement doesn't know what
either of these things are any more. They are simply generating wrath and
cultural backlash – not for the gospel but for politics. Because of their
pernicious ways and evil alliances the way of truth is cursed and evil spoken
of. Because these Balaam's have confused the Kingdom with the sword and coin,
the testimony of the gospel is lost and before our eyes the Church is being
undermined and the ethics of the New Testament are not only destroyed – they
are cursed by the very people who proclaim Christ.
Finally this case will be used as a springboard for a new set
of lawsuits and challenges to the state and bans on prayer in public schools.
Emboldened by this 'victory' and the precedent it establishes, Evangelicals are
going to continue to pursue their attempt at 're-taking' the public school
sector – even while in other contexts they are working to dismantle them. The
Maine ruling (Carson v. Makin) will allow Evangelicals to funnel tax money into
private Christian schools and for homeschool vouchers (which no Christian with
any integrity should take). On the one hand large swathes of Evangelicalism
want to revitalize the public school even while others hope to dismantle them.
These cases both play a part in this larger misguided and often contradictory agenda.
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