A conservative Christian-based lawyers' organisation in the US has come to the defence of American colleges and universities, which have come under fire from a group of atheists.
According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the atheist group Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is pressuring schools in the US to fire the chaplain of their respective football teams on the alleged ground that appointing a football chaplain in a sports team is unconstitutional.
ACLJ accused the atheist organisation of "using their scare tactics and false arguments about the US Constitution to challenge some of the most successful college football programmes in the nation days before the new college football season begins."
FFRF earlier sent letters to colleges and universities, telling them to abolish their chaplaincy. Recipients of the letters are Auburn University, University of Georgia, University of South Carolina, Mississippi State University, University of Alabama, University of Tennessee, Louisiana State University, University of Missouri, University of Washington, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Illinois, Florida State University, University of Mississippi, University of Wisconsin, and Clemson University.
One of the universities responded to the FFRF letter. Auburn University, in a statement, said, "Chaplains are common in many public institutions, including the US Congress. The football team chaplain isn't an Auburn employee, and participation in activities he leads is voluntary."
In its report, the FFRF said "Christian coaches and chaplains are converting football fields into mission fields."
"Coaches, players, and even chaplains can worship as they want. They can go to church, read the Bible, and pray as often as they like. Nothing prevents them from doing so," the FFRF report stated. "But they cannot use a publicly subsidised position at a university to promote their personal religion. Nor can they use the coercive nature and structure of a public football programme to mandate, order, or even suggest that players under their control should worship as the coaches wish."
FFRF said football chaplains constitute "religious discrimination" while the players and coaches who pray together form an "unholy alliance."
The ACLJ countered that it has discovered that "these atheists are anything but freethinkers."
"They do not support freethinking. Instead, they attack things they don't like, such as chaplains for football teams where adults voluntarily agree to participate in faith-based events and meetings," the ACLJ said in a statement.
"What does FFRF's so-called 'model policy' recommend? Hiring a counsellor who can provide secular advice and life guidance? Just as they've done before, the FFRF attacks traditional faiths and wants to replace them with their radical, leftist, secular orthodoxy," the lawyers' group said.
The ACLJ said it is "preparing comprehensive legal letters to let each of these college football programmes know what their constitutional rights are."
"We are fighting the angry atheist attacks on every front. We are standing up for the Constitution and for the religious rights of football players from coast to coast as the new season begins," the ACLJ statement said.
