July 4th has come and gone, and it reminds us of our liberties and how thankful to God we should be for them. But some of those liberties seem to be up for debate. You may have heard of Coach Joe Kennedy. But then again, maybe not. Perhaps the good news of his religious liberty victory was lost amidst our (rightful) jubilation of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Joe Kennedy was a football coach at Bremerton High School in Washington State. Initially, he lead his team in prayers after games. When the public school asked him to stop because they thought it could violate religious convictions (or lack thereof) of students, he changed to praying briefly and quietly on his own instead. The school fired him and he decided to take it to court. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court where the decision was reached that his termination was wrongful and Joe Kennedy could, indeed pray after games.
This should put to rest the idea of neutrality. In apparently trying to reach religious neutrality, the school stepped all over the liberties of Coach Kennedy. Their worldview shaped what they did and what actions they took. Our values and even our ideas of liberty come from our own worldviews. The real question is, what worldview is employed in the shaping of public and private values. May we turn to Christ and the scriptures for such answers.