A high school football coach in Washington state who won his job back after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled he could pray on the field resigned Wednesday after just one game.

A high school football coach in Washington state who won his job back after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled he could pray on the field resigned Wednesday after just one game back.

Assistant Bremerton High School coach Joe Kennedy made the announcement on his website, citing several reasons, including that he needed to care for an ailing family member out of state. He had been living full-time in Florida, and before the first game last Friday he said he didn’t know if he’d continue coaching.

“I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by working from outside the school system so that is what I will do,” Kennedy wrote. “I will continue to work to help people understand and embrace the historic ruling at the heart of our case.”

  • JustAManOnAToilet@lemmy.world
    7·
    1 year ago

    This is a very misleading article and leaves out the (key) first part of his statement:

    “[I]t is apparent that the reinstatement ordered by the Supreme Court will not be fully followed after a series of actions meant to diminish my role and single me out in what I can only believe is retaliation by the school district,” Kennedy wrote.

    They’re welcome to try to sue for defamation if he’s lying, but I suspect he’ll end up winning a pretty penny in a lawsuit of his own.

    • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      33·
      1 year ago

      You can compare what actually happened with what he said. From another article with more info on that:

      A divided Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Kennedy had a right to pray under free speech and exercise clauses as long as he wasn’t coercing others to join him.

      After the ruling, the district wrote a policy that allows coaches to pray while not actively supervising players if the coaches keep their distance from students when the prayers begin. After that, students can join if they choose.

      “I can’t tell them to or not to,” Kennedy acknowledged last week. “If they want to join, cool. If they don’t, cool.”

      No students did so at Friday’s game against the Mount Douglas Rams, from Victoria, B.C. A larger-than-normal crowd suggested Kennedy’s supporters showed up, but none stormed the field to join him in prayer, as happened at a 2015 homecoming game. A scattering of applause accompanied the coach’s kneeling at the 50-yard line.

      Kennedy quit his full-time job at the Bremerton shipyard before moving to Florida. With his newfound celebrity, he has a promotional website, a book coming out in October and a movie about his life in the works. He speaks to political and religious groups, and says politicians including Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, have courted him for his endorsement.

      Source: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/praying-bremerton-football-coach-joe-kennedy-quits-after-one-game/

    • Sharkwellington
      5·
      1 year ago

      a series of actions meant to diminish my role and single me out in what I can only believe is retaliation by the school district

      Do we know what actions these are? Otherwise this quote is meaningless.