The Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBOE) this week announced that it will meet the demands of the nation’s most prominent secularist advocacy organization by barring prayer from being spoken over the loudspeaker at the district’s high school football games.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), formed in 1976 by pro-abortion and anti-population growth activist Anne Gaylor, has established its brand nationally as an organization which seeks to remove religious observance from the public square.
FFRF in September 2021 sent a complaint to the JCBOE after it was alerted that multiple schools were holding prayer over the loudspeaker before football games.
According to FFRF, the concerned parent contacted the organization after learning that their child felt “uncomfortable” that prayer was being conducted over the public address system.
A half year after FFRF issued the complaint, the JCBOE decided to cancel public prayer out of adherence to “binding court precedent.”
Yellowhammer News requested comment from the JCBOE, asking the board if it would have made the decision to cancel public prayer had it not been for FFRF’s insistence that it do so. A representative from the board did not respond to the question.
Instead, the representative provided a public statement from JCBOE Superintendent Dr. Walter B. Gonsoulin, Jr. outlining the school district’s decision to conform to FFRF’s desire.
“A recent press release featured the Jefferson County Board’s response to a complaint about opening football games with a public prayer at two of its high schools,” stated Gonsoulin. “The complaint was administratively resolved at the school level, and not as a result of formal Board action or any newly adopted Board policy. That resolution was based on the Board’s legal obligations that have been established by binding court precedent.”
Gonsoulin added, “However, the Board’s adherence to those rulings should not be understood as a rejection of students’ religious rights and liberties in the school setting. The Jefferson County Board of Education remains firmly committed to respecting and protecting those rights and liberties in every way permitted by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
In a conversation with Yellowhammer News, FFRF attorney Chris Line claimed that by permitting loudspeaker prayer, the school district was “imposing the prayer on everyone.”
When asked if the organization also took issue with the Pledge of Allegiance due to the expression stating “one nation under God,” Line admitted that he viewed the portion of the pledge as being inappropriate.
“It isn’t appropriate, I don’t know that we need to be including that,” said the attorney.
Due to established court rulings, however, Line advised that there was no legal standing to challenge public observance of the pledge.
Reacting to the prayer cancellation on Wednesday was U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn), who spoke to his personal experience with faith as it related to his tenure as a collegiate head football coach.
“As a former football coach, I was disheartened to hear this news. When I was at Auburn as coach, the first thing I did was bring in a full-time team chaplain because I knew the importance of providing that to my players. We cannot lose our faith in God in this country. But it’s being attacked every day, and that’s exactly what this is. This is another attack on the core of American family and the values that is pulling our country in the wrong direction. We need more of God in our lives, not less.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
