An atheist group has spoken out against Colorado head coach Deion Sanders and his habits of bringing his deep Christian faith into his coaching. And now a Christian group is rallying to Sanders’ side to defend his right to express those beliefs.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation has sent a letter to the University of Colorado claiming that it is illegal for a school employee such as Sanders to voice their religious sentiments to students and told the school to remind Sanders of his supposed “constitutional duties under the Establishment Clause.” The letter added that the school should make a formal declaration that it will assure that Sanders “will not continue to proselytize to his players or subject them to coercive team prayers,” Fox News reported.
Deion Sanders, CUs new head football coach, takes questions in the Arrow Touchdown Club during a press conference on December 4, 2022, in Boulder, Colorado. (Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
The anti-Christian group specifically cited a prayer that reads, “Lord, we thank You for this day, Father, for this opportunity as a group. Father, we thank You for the movement that God has put us in place to be in charge of. We thank You for each player here, each coach, each family. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
As in all of its warnings to public institutions, the anti-religion group’s letter threatened to sue the school unless its demands were met.
For its part, the school claimed that Sanders underwent “equity and compliance” training and that he was “very receptive to this training and came away from it with a better understanding of the University of Colorado’s policies and the requirements of the Establishment Clause.”
But not everyone was as interested in quashing Sanders’ religious freedoms. Another group also sent a letter to the school, but this one warned Colorado not to violate Sanders’ Constitutional right to free religious expression.
Colorado Buffaloes’ head football coach Deion Sanders cheers on the basketball team at the game against the Colorado State Rams in Boulder on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)
First Liberty Institute said it supports Sanders and added that if the school muzzles the coach too strictly, it would be in violation of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court case, Kennedy v. Bremerton.
“We write to correct the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s (FFRF’s) misstatements regarding the requirements imposed by the First Amendment on public school employees’ religious expression,” the letter from First Liberty Institute read. “The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that public school employees may engage in religious expression and exercise; therefore, public universities like CU may not target Coach Sanders (or other members of the football staff) for exercising constitutional rights on campus.”
In Kennedy v. Bremerton, the SCOTUS sided with a high school football coach from the state of Washington who routinely engaged in voluntary prayer on the sidelines at school football games but was ordered to stop, then fired when he wouldn’t. The court said his religious freedom should prevail in that case and that the school had no right to prevent him from praying and allowing his students to join him if they wanted.
“Supreme Court precedent is clear that public school employees may engage in religious expression and exercise,” the First Liberty Institute said in its letter.
Sanders has for years been very open and vocal about his deep religious faith, so the school cannot claim to be surprised by his public sentiment.
At this point, though, it seems everyone is in a wait-and-see mode as to how Sanders will conduct himself on the job.
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