Freedom of Religion, Part 1: High School Heav...err, uhmm...Nice Place

Hey, just wanted to let you know that anything that you might think appears on this blog as related to my particular job is just my opinion. Nobody else's. If you don't like what I have to say, don't go bothering my employer. If you do like what I say, however, let me know and I'll tell you how to send me a $15,000 "I like what you have to say" check.

God has no place in this country. At least, that's what appears to be true, in this nation in which each state's constitution invokes God at the very beginning, as does this country's Declaration of Independence.

The truth is that we have freedom of religion, as long as that religion is atheism. And even though the United States is a democracy, which means that the majority rules, it's turning out that the majority does not always rule.

Take the situation of the head coach of the East Brunswick (NJ) High School football team. For 23 years he led the team in prayer before games. Suddenly he's told he can't do that, so he walks out of his job the day of a big football game. The school board tells him he's welcome back, provided he either no longer leads the team in prayer or no longer participates in the prayer.

Yes, for 23 years he's been doing this. And just now he gets one complaint. ONE COMPLAINT. This isn't definite, but the word on the street is that a Jewish cheerleader made the complaint.

(Dauber raises hand) Uhhh...hello? What business is it of a cheerleader what a football coach does with his team? And correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Jews and Christians pretty much worship the same god?? So then what did she find so offensive???

Now, I don't know this coach, so I can't vouch for him, but I wouldn't doubt that if any of his players didn't feel comfortable participating in a Christian prayer, he wouldn't have had a problem with allowing said player to not participate in the prayer.

My wife teaches in a public high school, and she asked her students what they thought of the whole thing. Every football player who commented said that what happened to the East Brunswick coach was just ridiculous. They talked about how they take place in a pre-game prayer regularly, and nobody was ever bothered by it. Even Jewish, Muslim and atheist players didn't have a problem. They understood that nobody was trying to convert them. They took it for what it was: getting their spirits up and hoping that nobody gets hurt.

And the deal about reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school...you're offended by the phrase "under God"? Well, that's been in the pledge for what? fifty years? Why are we just now hearing complaints about that? You don't like that being in the pledge and you don't want your kid saying that phrase? Fine -- when reciting the pledge, have your precious kid SKIP those words. How hard is that? I'm offended by McDonald's, but you know what? They've been around for quite a while, and they're not going away. You know what I do about it? I ignore McDonald's. I don't go suing people and running protest rallies to get rid of them.

It's ridiculous. High school students are at extreme risk of being exposed to alcohol, drugs, smoking, gangs, teenage pregnancy, and God knows what else. But what are people raising the stink about? Religion. Come on, now.

To end this little rant...it's the time of year that the Christmas decorations are out in stores, well before Hallowe'en has even arrived, so let me end with this note. Where I work we deal with high schools a lot and have to consult with their schedules. Several public high school schedules we get tend to side-step Christian religions. Those weeklong breaks that just by astonishing coincidence include Christmas are called "Winter Break." What about that week toward the beginning of the year that just happens to include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday and occurs at a different time every year? That's called "Spring Break," although it's rarely in the spring. Yet these same public high school schedules have no problem mentioning that they're closed for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana. Heh...separation from church and state indeed! (Oh, wait...that's not actually in the Constitution...sorry!)

So, kids...welcome to High School Nice Place.