A secular group is trying to get rid of chaplain programs in a number of college basketball teams on grounds that such programs violate the separation of church and state. The concerned universities and public interest law firms that defend religious freedom have obviously contended that claim.
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) recently sent out letters of complaint to six public universities, including Wichita State University, University of Louisville, University of Virginia, University of Maryland, University of Oklahoma and University of Kansas, after they inappropriately employed religious leaders for their respective basketball teams.
FFRF wants investigated the constitutionality of employing chaplains for this post in the above-mentioned universities.
Soon after FFRF sent out its letter, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) told the universities to ignore FFRF’s complaint because they are entitled to great leeway in catering to the religious needs of their students. ADF’s letters cite all the places where church and state are not separated, including the military, hospitals, prisons, police departments, airports as well as legislative ceremonies.
“Courts upheld chaplain programs in a variety of contexts where citizens are removed from their congregations due to their government services,” ADF legal counsel Travis Barham said.
He included student athletes under this umbrella of government services, saying the American constitution offers public universities significant leeway in providing chaplain programs.
“The First Amendment does not require religious speech to be purged from the public. Instead, it requires the First Amendment to accommodate religion,” Barham said. “What the universities are doing by allowing these chaplains to continue is to accommodate students away from their usual congregations, because they are serving their university community by going on the road for games.”
Each of these universities has chaplains from Nations of Coaches, a religious group available to coaches across the country who offer spiritual support. Nations of Coaches was not available for comment.
Barham said that half of the universities have responded to FFRF’s letter. While some of them may incorporate changes, others have engaged lawyers to look into the matter.
FFRF believes that chaplains are unnecessary for the players’ religious requirements.
“There is simply no need to accommodate basketball players’ religious beliefs with chaplains,” Andrew Seidel, constitutional consultant for the group, wrote in an email. “Most schools have religious student groups and campus organizations that exist for precisely that purpose.”
FFRF chose the six universities mentioned above based on complaints it received from locals, who contended the practice because the institutions are publicly funded.
“Religious individuals are trying to use public schools and the machinery of the state to promote their personal religion. This is simply a perennial problem, with simply a new twist,” Seidel wrote. “Without doubt some of [the students] are coerced into participating in religious rituals in which they disagree.”
Barham slammed that assumption, saying chaplains are not forced upon any person, as they are merely a resource that interested players can avail of when needed.
Photo Credits: ADF Media
