Illegal forward pass: Freedom from Religion Foundation demands colleges to remove chaplaincies

TemplarKormac

Political Atheist
Mar 30, 2013
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The Freedom from Religion Foundation (hereafter referred to as FFRF) sent letters to a number of football programs including UGA, demanding that the programs remove their chaplains, stating the following:

1. Christian coaches and chaplains are converting football fields into mission fields.

2. The effect of chaplaincies is to impose religion on players.

3. FFRF’s report cautions that it is in the best interest of public universities to adopt policies that protect student athletes from discrimination and unlawful religious coercion. FFRF provides a model proposed policy to protect student rights of conscience and to protect public universities from legal liability.

4. Bobby Bowden, Tommy Tuberville, and the FCA: an unholy alliance… The problem of university-sponsored chaplains preying on student athletes is relatively new.


These people aren't concerned with the constitutional "separation of church and state," they are bent on a purge of the Christian faith one public venue at a time. Thing is, these people picked this fight in the Bible Belt, Georgia in my case. Bad move. If it's one thing people in Georgia don't like, it's people messing with their faith, and their football team.

For context, I am addressing this issue purely from a Georgian's perspective. Thusly, I will be mentioning more about UGA than the other universities involved.

Now, first of all, the only case (if you can call it that) FFRF has is that the University of Georgia Athletic Association (hereafter known as UGA-AA) is run by university appointed officials. Great! But the UGA-AA is a non profit corporation, not directly funded by the University.

In fact, the revenue generated is nearly $100 million annually. Richt's and Hynes' salaries are paid by the Athletic Association, not the University itself.

So, just by that alone, the "Separation of Church and State" argument falls flat. If Richt and his staff were directly employed by UGA, then it would be another...ballgame... completely.

To continue to demonstrate the frailty of FFRF's case, they launched this accusation specifically at Richt, as quoted from the Athens Banner Herald article linked below:

The Freedom from Religion Foundation also accused Richt of using his “public office” to raise money for a Christian ministry.

Richt raised funds in 2014 for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at a gala event in the Butts-Mehre Building, the headquarters of the UGA Athletic Association, the group charged.

The problem is this: The position Mark Richt holds as Head Coach hardly qualifies as "public office." That connotation represents a complete misnomer. He is not using "his public office" to coerce any of his players, because the position he holds does not amount to "public office."

Public office is more commonly associated with those holding elected office in the government, not a football coach using his notoriety to raise funds for Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Coach Mark Richt was appointed, not elected. Right now, I find FFRF's case as a laughable attempt to bully Christians out out of the public square.

To further the destruction of FFRF's case, in the SCOTUS cases Widmar v. Vincent 454 U.S. 263 (1981) and Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98 (2001), Richt holding a gala for FCA is not a violation of the Establishment Clause. So long as the University is not endorsing religion, they cannot stop Richt or the FCA from holding a fundraising gala at the Butts Mehre building or any of its publicly accessible venues. (For those of you wondering what the Butts Mehre building is and what it does check out this link.)

I'm chuckling right now. This attack is going to fail miserably. As will all of the other Colleges and Universities that FFRF tried to intimidate. They consistently and completely distort the Constitution in order to force faith out of all facets of college life and academia, even down to the football teams.

While I'm completely fine with people choosing not to have a religion (their loss), I am left wondering why this group is not okay with people having one?

Want to know the boiling point of blood? You'll soon find out. This is a firestorm in the making.

Athens Banner Herald Mobile | Georgia News Digital Advertising Athens Banner-Herald Newspaper UGA Bulldogs

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