After high school football coach Joe Kennedy made national headlines for proselytizing on the taxpayer dime with students at his school one school employee (with a son in the district) spoke up and explained why Kennedy is wrong. In an essay published by the Kitsap Sun, Bremerton High School employee and parent Jennifer Chamberlin documented the experience of going to school in a district dominated by Christian prayer and how it negatively affects those in the religious minority.

I remembered the racial and religious segregation, but I was not prepared for the hold Christianity had in the public school system. Upon arrival I first noticed how large the churches were. They dwarfed our high school. [SNIP] I later learned that prayer in this manner was legal in Tennessee because a football game is considered a “noncompulsory” event. I visited my band director and told him how I felt. I was timid but insistent. “Well, if you don’t agree you don’t have to join in,” he said. I was easily dismissed. I expressed my feelings to a counselor, who echoed the same thing and dismissed me again. I knew this wasn’t right, and decided to write a letter to the ACLU. Word got around the school that I was an atheist. Soon the rumors were that I was a Satanist. I was bullied and harassed daily but my resolve didn’t change. [SNIP] My parents stopped my correspondence with the ACLU, out of fear of retaliation from the community. I had no choice in the matter; I was only 17. I dropped out of high school later that year, just three months from graduation. I didn’t feel safe or supported. Why bother? Some may say that I needed more religion in my life, but I counter that my experience with religion in that school pushed me further away from God. [SNIP] I write now because of what I’ve seen in Bremerton this week. I haven’t complained to staff or superiors, but I see something is bubbling in this controversy that I don’t want in our “house.” It is detracting from the compassionate and community building culture surrounding Bremerton High School. I worry that my son and his friends in band, or other students in other activities, will face peer pressure to pray in front of others, or worse, face retaliation if they do not. [SNIP] My hope for my Bremerton High family is that we can come together and support each other, rather than support a brazen choice to violate a Supreme Court ruling. I do not want to see anyone lose their job, yet I may be writing this letter at the risk of losing my own. But these are things that have to be shared and I cannot stay silent. I am not against prayer, God or Christianity. I am against the entanglement of religion in school. Countless others have fought for and sacrificed for this law while marching up the steps to the Supreme Court, facing adversity many can’t imagine. [emphasis mine]

Following Chamberlin’s remarks Christians within the school district formed a “Remove Jennifer Chamberlin” Facebook page (similar to the one constructed to support Joe Kennedy) in an attempt to have her fired from her position. (The page has since been removed after receiving press publicity.) Additionally, the comments sections of local media are filled to the brim with negative and spiteful comments directed toward Chamberlin for offering an opinion contrary to Kennedy’s position.

Which, of course, demonstrates precisely why prayer should not be lead by school officials. Anyone without as much courage as Chamberlin may have remained quiet as the tyrannical Christian majority in Bremerton filled the stands and demanded Christian prayers regardless of the non-Christian faiths (or lack thereof) in the community.

In the aftermath of the complaint that led Kennedy to make a Christian martyr of himself, school officials announced (as expected) that he could retain his position so long as he discontinues prayer with students immediately. He’s permitted to pray on his own time (as always), but he cannot violate state and federal law in the name of his majority-supported religion.

For the moment the matter appears to be settled so long as Joe Kennedy refrains from further violations.

Previously:

Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time he’s worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

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