The Blount County School District in Alabama is the latest to be chastised for allowing prayers over the loudspeakers before football games. Officials recently said that because those prayers are illegal, they would replace them with a moment of silence. Fine. Easy move. Avoids a lawsuit.

But we know all too well that God doesn’t listen to the prayers of conservative Christians unless they’re saying them out loud and in unison, so the move didn’t go over well with people in the community. Last night marked the first football game at Hayden High School without a forced prayer on everyone.

So how did it go? Well, the players themselves ran onto the field with signs reading “In God We Trust”:

Hayden high school football players ran out on the field with “In God we trust” signs. @CBS_42 pic.twitter.com/fogivUYtmM — Hillary Simon CBS 42 (@HillarySimonTV) September 22, 2018

Remember that image whenever people say the phrase isn’t about religion. Of course it is. These signs were a substitute for Christian prayers. (A question worth asking: Where did they get the signs from?)

There was also a concerted effort to get everyone to pray together during the moment of silence.

Tonight is the first time Blount Co schools will not allow prayer over the PA system. Students and parents are making an initiative so a prayer is still said during moment of silence. @CBS_42 pic.twitter.com/NFEV3LsxFT — Hillary Simon CBS 42 (@HillarySimonTV) September 21, 2018

All of that is… fine. It’s dumb, but it’s fine. It’s an absurd way to turn a high school football game into a pseudo-church service, but it’s legal. That’s why you won’t see church/state separation groups complaining about this.

So after all that pre-planned God talk, how did the actual game go?

Hayden lost 38-12 to their opponents, bringing their record to 1-4.

I guess they spent more time figuring out how they’d pray during the game instead of actually practicing.

(via Original Motto)

