The community was outraged when district employees in Putnam County, Tennessee, were told they couldn’t lead students in prayer. As a result, the football team’s members and their parents decided to take matters into their own hands. They knelt down and prayed to God.
The school’s decision to prevent prayers is because the case law disallowed prayer or proselytizing. It said, “Courts have consistently ruled that prayer and proselytizing cannot be sponsored by schools or school personnel.”
Complaints from the Americans United for Separation of Church and State was the reason why school boards removed prayer from the event.
The decision irritated some parents, who saw it as a religious attack. One of them was Dustin Whitefield, who, along with other parents, decided to attend Upperman’s football game against Stone Memorial High School on Friday.
Whitefield said, “We do realize this is a public school, but it has always been optional for players to pray, and has been a voluntary event. Players that still want to pray will have to do it on their own.”
A spokesperson from the school board said, “As a district, we absolutely understand the importance of prayer in the lives of our students, faculty, and staff members.” He added, “We support the right of students to participate in and lead spontaneous prayers. That right is and will continue to be protected. We also understand that faculty and staff members can not lead or participate in the spontaneous student-led prayers.”
Bob Vick, a local resident posted the viral photo on Facebook. He captioned it saying that the power of Satan has been defeated that night.
“Satan’s power was defeated tonight,as the threat of a legal action to forbid prayer after the game was overwhelmed by player lead prayer supported by parents and fans in solidarity on Overall Field. God bless the Baxter and Stone players for their faith and courage .”
On Overall Field, the threat of legal action to prohibit prayer after the game was overcome by player-led prayer, which was supported by parents and fans in solidarity.
The Upperman HS Football team also won a 27-9 victory in the game Friday night.
May this be an encouragement to you to never let anything stop you from publicly expressing your faith.