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Quoted By: >>54673291 >>54673294
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/joe-kennedy-bremerton-praying-coach
>SEATTLE (AP) — The coach of a Washington state high school football team who prayed at games despite orders from the school district to stop was placed on paid administrative leave the same day a group of self-described Satanists said it planned to attend a Thursday game to protest the practice.
>Joe Kennedy, Bremerton High School's assistant football coach, was put on leave because he refused to comply with district directives to avoid overt religious displays on the field, Bremerton School District officials said in a statement late Wednesday. Kennedy has vocally prayed before and after games, sometimes joined by students, since 2008. But the practice recently came to the district's attention, and it asked him to stop.
>He initially agreed, but then, with support from the Texas-based Liberty Institute, a religious-freedom organization, he resumed the postgame prayers, silently taking a knee for 15 to 20 seconds at midfield after shaking hands with the opposing coaches. His lawyers insist he is not leading students in prayer, just praying himself.
>Kennedy's lawyer, Hiram Sasser, called the leave a hostile employment action. He said they plan to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC
>The announcement came as a group of robe-wearing, incense-spreading Satanists planned to attend Thursday's game. Senior class president Abe Bartlett said Wednesday that he was one of a few students who invited the Satanic Temple of Seattle, saying it was an effort to get the school district to clarify its policy.
>"The main reason I did it is to portray to the school district that I think we should either have a policy that we're not going to have any religious affiliation or public religious practices, or they should say people are going to be allowed to practice their religion publicly whatever their beliefs," said Bartlett, 17. "They need to either go black or white," he said.
>SEATTLE (AP) — The coach of a Washington state high school football team who prayed at games despite orders from the school district to stop was placed on paid administrative leave the same day a group of self-described Satanists said it planned to attend a Thursday game to protest the practice.
>Joe Kennedy, Bremerton High School's assistant football coach, was put on leave because he refused to comply with district directives to avoid overt religious displays on the field, Bremerton School District officials said in a statement late Wednesday. Kennedy has vocally prayed before and after games, sometimes joined by students, since 2008. But the practice recently came to the district's attention, and it asked him to stop.
>He initially agreed, but then, with support from the Texas-based Liberty Institute, a religious-freedom organization, he resumed the postgame prayers, silently taking a knee for 15 to 20 seconds at midfield after shaking hands with the opposing coaches. His lawyers insist he is not leading students in prayer, just praying himself.
>Kennedy's lawyer, Hiram Sasser, called the leave a hostile employment action. He said they plan to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC
>The announcement came as a group of robe-wearing, incense-spreading Satanists planned to attend Thursday's game. Senior class president Abe Bartlett said Wednesday that he was one of a few students who invited the Satanic Temple of Seattle, saying it was an effort to get the school district to clarify its policy.
>"The main reason I did it is to portray to the school district that I think we should either have a policy that we're not going to have any religious affiliation or public religious practices, or they should say people are going to be allowed to practice their religion publicly whatever their beliefs," said Bartlett, 17. "They need to either go black or white," he said.
