American football fans tackle US Supreme Court's public prayer ban

Football fans who like to pray publicly before school matches are defying a US Supreme Court ban on such prayer as the new season…

Football fans who like to pray publicly before school matches are defying a US Supreme Court ban on such prayer as the new season gets underway.

The court ruled last June that "the delivery of a pre-game prayer has the improper effect of coercing those present to participate in an act of religious worship" and violated the Constitution's ban on state promotion of religion.

The custom of a pre-kickoff prayer over the public address system is a cherished tradition in the Bible Belt schools in the south of the US. But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) picked out a high school in Sante Fe, Texas for a test case before the Supreme Court, claiming that it was unconstitutional for a state school to provide facilities for public prayer at football matches.

The court ruling has angered school football supporters across the south and there has been a wave of defiance as the new season opened. At the opening game at Sante Fe high school, a group called "No Pray, No Play," demonstrated outside the stadium holding up signs with biblical verses. The school had over 20 fire trucks and ambulances on hand in case there was trouble. Inside the stadium, fans recited the Lord's Prayer but there was no trouble.

READ MORE

In North Carolina, a Baptist pastor, Rev Ralph Sexton, has organised a "We Still Pray" group which attracted 12,000 people to a rally at a football stadium.

Rev Sexton told the New York Times: "The football prayer decision really touched a nerve. I think what we're seeing is a backlash. People want to tell the government and the courts to stop purging morality and righteousness out of our communities."

In some cases, schools have now stopped using the public address system to invite pre-kickoff prayers but allow "independent" groups to lead prayers. This appears to get around the Supreme Court ruling.

The ACLU admits that it cannot challenge such "independent" prayer but says it is watching the situation. Mr Steven Shapiro, legal director of the ACLU says "there is something very troubling about a practice that seems to be designed to promote religious divisiveness".

Some schools are openly defying the court ruling and carrying on as before. One of these is a Cherokee high school which allowed a Baptist deacon to recite a prayer before a recent game against the Choctaw Nation's school.

Ms Kathy Wolfe of the Cherokee school board commented: "When our ancestors were moved `to the reservation' missionaries came in. The government gave us a Supreme Being. That's what we believe in. Now they are trying to take it away."