A football coach who got job back after Supreme Court ruled he could pray on the field has resigned

A high school football coach in Washington state who won his job back after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled he could pray on the field resigned Wednesday after just one game back.

Assistant Bremerton High School coach Joe Kennedy made the announcement on his website, citing several reasons, including that he needed to care for an ailing family member out of state. He had been living full-time in Florida, and before the first game last Friday he said he didn’t know if he’d continue coaching.

“I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by working from outside the school system so that is what I will do,” Kennedy wrote. “I will continue to work to help people understand and embrace the historic ruling at the heart of our case.”

SheeEttin,

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

downpunxx,
downpunxx avatar

Ah a little antisemitism thrown in, this fucking cunt is a real christofascist peach

IWantToFuckSpez,

That’s from the Bible though Matthew 6:5. All churches were called synagogues back then. It’s not anti-Semitic. The commenter above is quoting this to show that the Bible frowns upon performative praying as this coach is doing.

downpunxx,
downpunxx avatar

calling those praying in synagogues hypocrites is the dictionary definition of antisemitism, cunt

NewNewAccount,

Was Jesus an anti-Semite?!?

IWantToFuckSpez, (edited )

Early Christians prayed in synagogues since they were Jews who recognized Jesus as their savior. So the person who said that was a Jew, he is known as Jesus. Also the quote is not calling everyone who prays in a synagogue a hypocrite. But people who stand up praying loudly. Asshole

Velociraptor,

How embarrassing for you.

FfaerieOxide, (edited )
FfaerieOxide avatar

Look, I'm not saying the new testament isn't antisemitic ("...his blood be upon us, and upon our children") but the people Jesus (I think it was Jesus talking there) was addressing would have also attended synagogue.

He notedly doesn't deride praying in a synagogue, but praying standing in a synagogue. It seems to be a chastisement against praying to be seen praying, not against worshiping the god of Moses.

The quote does not advise against attending synagogue any more than it says a person should never be on a street corner. It also doesn't say anything bad will happen if a person prays STANDING in a synagogue or on a street corner, just that whatever reward they will get from doing it, they've already gotten by doing it.

Is your position that all of christianity (and by extension, christians) are antisemitic?

Fairplay if that's what you're saying. That position is defendable and ideologically consistent. If not, I'm not sure what is specifically antisemitic about a rabbi advising his congregation about how to attend synagogue.

Further, as we are discussing an ostensibe christian, citing a book from his faith seems apt.

Chozo,
Chozo avatar

Imagine being this stupid.

archiotterpup,

Love how SCOTUS misrepresented facts in this case. Thanks Cardinal Alito and Cult Lady Barrett.

commandar,

Wasn’t this one where they just outright invented ‘facts’ wholesale?

TruTollTroll,
@TruTollTroll@lemmy.world avatar

Just Like the lady who recently claimed an LGBTQ couple wanted her business to serve them against her religious beliefs and then we all found out there was no such real customers? She had made up the situation to go to the courts and they still sided with her!!?

projectsquared,

It went according to plan.

reddig33,

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.”

nautilus,

they really don’t like it when you hit ‘em with the Matthew 6:5

Alexstarfire,

Or any Bible verse that contradicts their actions.

TruTollTroll,
@TruTollTroll@lemmy.world avatar

thats taken out of context

Oh really, how?! Lmao 🤣

RememberTheApollo_,

Because they never see themselves as hypocritical.

SkybreakerEngineer,

That’s when you follow up with the Austin 3:16

csm10495,
@csm10495@sh.itjust.works avatar

Which preceded the ass whooping.

downpunxx,
downpunxx avatar

The Nazis always show you who they are

nautilus,

careful, wouldn’t want to get lashings from the edge on this one

escaped_cruzader,

This is not a prohibition for public prayer, despite~~ reddit’s~~lemmy’s inclination to always quote this whenever public prayer is mentioned

reddig33,

This dude is obviously showboating as the scripture describes. There’s no reason to go out on the middle of the field and kneel other than “look at me!”

It also doesn’t help that he peer pressured his students into doing the same.

TheRealKuni,

It may not be a prohibition against public prayer (though Jesus goes on to say that when you pray you should do so in an inner room of your own home), but it is absolutely an admonition about exactly the behavior of this coach, who would go kneel in the middle of the field and pray for show.

surewhynotlem,

It’s not a sin. It won’t land you in hell. But I would say it’s a prohibition, if you take into account that it’s said by literally god.

Anamnesis,

I’m not steeped in theology but I thought acting against one of God’s prohibitions is what a sin is. What distinguishes the two?

nautilus,

What distinguishes the two? Likely whatever’s most convenient in the moment, I’m guessing

Blackbeard,
@Blackbeard@lemmy.world avatar

It was never about his job. It was always about putting Christianity back on a pedestal and the rest of us back in the shadows.

Fuck him.

Son_of_dad,

Openly pray to Satan in school, since it’s perfectly legal

Killing_Spark,

No sir I am allowed to slaughter that goat in the middle of the classroom. It’s my noon-prayer ritual

HallowellNash,

He just decided that "victimhood" pays better than coaching that's all. It's just Economics.

dingleberry,

Yet another alt-right podcast begins, sponsored by boner pills and protein powder.

sucricdrawkcab,
@sucricdrawkcab@lemmy.world avatar

In other words “news” outlets are paying him more to be on TV as a mouthpiece. C’mon now buddy, almost everyone knows the hustle now.

JustAManOnAToilet,

This is a very misleading article and leaves out the (key) first part of his statement:

“[I]t is apparent that the reinstatement ordered by the Supreme Court will not be fully followed after a series of actions meant to diminish my role and single me out in what I can only believe is retaliation by the school district,” Kennedy wrote.

They’re welcome to try to sue for defamation if he’s lying, but I suspect he’ll end up winning a pretty penny in a lawsuit of his own.

Sharkwellington,

a series of actions meant to diminish my role and single me out in what I can only believe is retaliation by the school district

Do we know what actions these are? Otherwise this quote is meaningless.

MicroWave,
@MicroWave@lemmy.world avatar

You can compare what actually happened with what he said. From another article with more info on that:

A divided Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Kennedy had a right to pray under free speech and exercise clauses as long as he wasn’t coercing others to join him.

After the ruling, the district wrote a policy that allows coaches to pray while not actively supervising players if the coaches keep their distance from students when the prayers begin. After that, students can join if they choose.

“I can’t tell them to or not to,” Kennedy acknowledged last week. “If they want to join, cool. If they don’t, cool.”

No students did so at Friday’s game against the Mount Douglas Rams, from Victoria, B.C. A larger-than-normal crowd suggested Kennedy’s supporters showed up, but none stormed the field to join him in prayer, as happened at a 2015 homecoming game. A scattering of applause accompanied the coach’s kneeling at the 50-yard line.

Kennedy quit his full-time job at the Bremerton shipyard before moving to Florida. With his newfound celebrity, he has a promotional website, a book coming out in October and a movie about his life in the works. He speaks to political and religious groups, and says politicians including Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, have courted him for his endorsement.

Source: seattletimes.com/…/praying-bremerton-football-coa…

JustAManOnAToilet, (edited )

Sure, there’s probably a lot of context missing from the posted article. However my main issue is if you’re going to report his statement then it’s a bit underhanded to cut out the main first part of it.

TransplantedSconie,

A movie about his life?

What a prideful piece of shit lol

TruTollTroll,
@TruTollTroll@lemmy.world avatar

And It will be as trustworthy as the blindside was/is

missveeronica,

This is actually common. My brother in law lost his state job when he enlisted in the National Guard. They claimed it was for another reason, but his issues with managing didn’t start until he announced he had enlisted. He sued, won and got his job back after boot camp. His first day back he turned in his 2 Weeks notice. For these cases it’s just proving the point and winning the right to go.out on their own terms.

inclementimmigrant,

He’s always was just another Republican snowflake looking for attention, by doing what the Bible says not to fucking do btw, and money.

Fuck this fake ass Republican bigot, racist, and honestly shitty fake ass Christian.

Son_of_dad,

Wonder what happens if a coach bows and prays to Satan on the field, will his rights be respected too?

AnonTwo,

Pretty sure it was a political stunt from the start.

hydro033,

He is free to do as he wants, just like everyone else. If he wants to pray, he can pray.

ZapBeebz_,

What he is not free to do is require (or pressure) players on his team to take part in the prayer, or make it seem as though it is an officially endorsed action by the public school system. But he absolutely has the freedom to pray whenever he wants for whatever he wants.

bob_wiley,

deleted_by_author

    •
    mustardman,

    People pray out loud all the time…

    Tathas,

    It sounds like you aren’t familiar with any prior articles related to this coach.

    SuddenlyBlowGreen,

    C’mon, since when is even cursory knowledge required to comment on the subject? /s

    mustardman,

    For real. All it does is get in the way of me running my mouth.

    bob_wiley,

    deleted_by_author

    •
    Tathas,

    I mean, the article that this post is linked to discusses it, and has a link to more information. So, in this case, yes?

    YoBuckStopsHere,
    @YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world avatar

    It wasn’t like that, he was forcing players to pray, they didn’t have to option to object or they would be kicked off the team.

    rhacer,

    Have a source for that assertion?

    AnonTwo,

    Based on the information from the court case, they didn't find evidence of that

    But it was asserted there was social pressure to do so.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf

    AbidanYre,

    I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by working from outside the school system so that is what I will do

    Damnit, he’s going to run for Congress.

    Asafum,

    Fucking exactly… These chucklefucks are like influencers for right wing media obsessed morons.

    God I hate this timeline.

    Kahlenar,

    No like about it

    Sharpiemarker,

    Yep, the grift continues.

    PrinceWith999Enemies,

    Or he’s getting a job with Newsmax or something similar.

    BetaBlake,

    Tuberville 2.0

    Zirconium,

    “can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by” ostracizing other religious beliefs and making those students feel uncomfortable

    jprjr,

    This is the part that gets skipped.

    It wasn't him just going out and saying a little, quiet prayer to himself. I wouldn't give a shit about that, I don't think anybody would. You do you.

    He was bringing a ton of students into the fold. The whole team was praying with him.

    He claimed that it wasn't required or expected but come on. You know damn well if you were a player on the team and you're the only guy not praying, you're gonna have a bad time.

    st3ph3n,
    st3ph3n avatar

    Something tells me that you would also have found yourself quickly dropped from the team.

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