War veteran and football coach Joe Kennedy made the news when he was prohibited by the Bremerton school district in Washington state from conducting prayers with his players after each game. But the Christian coach remains adamant that he has the right to pray, and committed to keep doing so even at the risk of losing his job.
When "War Room" producers Alex and Stephen Kendrick heard of the challenge facing Kennedy, they pledged their support for the beleaguered coach and even created a video saying that they "stand with Coach Kennedy to pray!"
"Prayer can lead to revival, and Coach Joe Kennedy of Bremerton High School in Washington has been praying for his players since 2008. Our own US Congress opens its sessions with prayer, and we exercise our constitutionally-protected freedom of religious expression when we PRAY. We stand with Coach Joe Kennedy as he intercedes on behalf of his team and his opponents!" they write.
According to Fox News, Kennedy thinks it's absolutely ridiculous that he is being invesitgated by the school district for simply "thanking God for the opportunities that have been given me."
The school district actually considered his prayer routine as a "problematic practice" that must be dealt with. "Your talks with students may not include religious express, including prayer," Superintendent Aaron Leavell wrote in a letter dated Sept. 17 to the coach. "They must remain entirely secular in nature, so as to avoid alienation of any team member."
Kennedy said he spent 20 years in the military defending the Constitution as well as the freedom that everyone in America has. He is therefore disheartened to find out that "people who work for the public schools don't have the same constitutional rights that everyone else has."
Still, Kennedy remains committed to exercise his right to prayer. "I'm not a guy who hides in a corner and does a secret prayer to God," he said. "I'm very open about my faith everywhere I go."
