The baseball team at North Port High School in Sarasota, Florida is facing the wrath of atheists.
The baseball team has a chaplain who is affiliated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The other day the Sarasota chapter of FCA posted a message on Facebook saying that the were praying over each coach and each player by name.
That seemed to outrage the Freedom From Religion Foundation – a Wisconsin based group of atheist predators. They target small towns and communities – on a mission to remove Christianity from the public marketplace.
“A public high school allowing an outside adult to act as a religious adviser to other people’s children is unconstitutional and particularly troubling for those parents and students who are not Christians or do not subscribe to any religion,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote in a letter to the school district.
The atheists say it is unconstitutional and inappropriate for public school athletic programs to allow an adult to serve as a chaplain. They are calling on the district to investigate and then ban the Fellowship of Christian Athletes from serving as chaplains.
“Public school sports are spaces for student-athletes to grow and learn the values of dedication and teamwork. There should be no ‘pray to play’ operating in our public school athletic programs,” FFRF Co-President Dan Barker said in a statement. “The district must end the chaplaincy at once — and stop privileging Christianity over nonreligion and all other religions.”
A school district spokesman told the Herald-Tribune that the school district “remains committed to upholding the First Amendment and ensuring that all school-sponsored programs and activities are conducted in accordance with state and federal law.”
Let’s hope the school district has an attorney who understands religious liberty. Because there’s nothing unconstitutional about a high school baseball team having a chaplain. This time – the atheists struck out.
Todd Starnes is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and host of The Todd Starnes Radio Show.
