A Wall of Separation Between Church and College Football (A Way Too Early Thought)

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a complaint against Clemson University and head football coach Dabo Swinney and his staff, claiming "unconstitutional behavior." According to the complaint, Swinney organized a means for players and coaches to go to "church days." He also scheduled team devotionals and invited former Clemson player James Trapp to be team chaplain and gave him access to the entire team for Bible studies.

According to the Wisconsin foundation, all of these items are horrifying violations of the Constitution. According to the university, who has not allowed coach Swinney to comment, each item is purely voluntary. No player is forced into taking part in any religious activities. There is obviously more to come from this story, as we're just in the early stages of the complaint.

Now, I'm a pretty religious guy...but these Freedom From Religion people have some ideals that strike me odd. According to their website, they are based in "Freethought Hall." They call themselves "Free Thinkers." I guess they believe anyone who believes in God or any god is a barely-functional simpleton. Only by shirking the shackles of the Lord can someone truly freely think.

Their website has the tag line "Protecting the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state." That's fantastic, except that "separation of church and state" is not a "Constitutional principle." The Constitution's First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." I don't see separating church and state in there.

Actually, the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state" does not appear in any founding documents. Not the Declaration of Independence. Not the Constitution. No, it appears in a series of letters between Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury Baptist Association (Danbury, CT). The letter was sent in October 1801. Going back to the dark days of religion and government in England, the Baptists had long supported separating Church and State. They wanted the separation of church and state to keep the state out of the church as much as to keep the church out of the state. (Does that make sense?)

For years ever since people have tried to make the "separation of church and state" a Constitutional statement. Even as religious as I am, I know it's a bad idea for any religion to run the government. Just look at any theocracy to see how damaging that can be. That said, I just cannot go along with the atheistic idea that any and all government officials must check their religion at the door and never mention or think or rely on their faith during the execution of their duties. If Clemson's counter-claim is correct, and the religious activities were voluntary, then I would say I support Swinney in this. If he forced anyone to attend these events, then my opinion would be different.

The fact that the Freedom From Religion Foundation got involved just shows that they have nothing better to do but sit around and try to find some religious activity to attack. Just check out their website. You'll find out very quickly that they're not really the Freedom From Religion Foundation. They really should be the "Freedom From Christianity" Foundation.