On September 1, Christian football coach Joe Kennedy returned to his beloved Bremerton High School in Washington state for his first game in eight long years. That was when he was fired for continuing to kneel and pray on the football field after games when he was ordered to stop by school officials.
Coach Kennedy fought back against this egregious violation of his First Amendment religious freedom. After a long struggle, he won a landmark decision last year at the Supreme Court in the case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. That case makes clear that our personal expression of faith cannot be censored. This ruling also reverses a lot of bad decisions restricting religious liberty in recent years. In fact, our First Amendment protections are stronger now than perhaps anytime in 50 years.
Just think about that. One brave Christ-loving man did not give in to illegitimate demands of government bureaucrats, and because of his courage and perseverance our religious freedom has been strengthened. Praise God for Coach Joe Kennedy and the new majority on the Supreme Court.
The First Liberty Institute that argued Coach Kennedy’s case before the Supreme Court has come up with a great idea on how to celebrate the victory and to “exercise” our own First Amendment religious freedom. They have launched the First Freedom Challenge: Take a Knee With Coach Kennedy Campaign. JDFI joins First Liberty in hoping that millions of Americans will “take a knee” in personal, private prayer starting on Friday, September 1. Here at JDFI, we hope this day of prayerful solidarity with Coach Kennedy will inspire us all to pray daily for America for revival and for God to grant us the courage to defend the liberties that previous generations sacrificed for.
First Liberty Institute also suggests that we share a message on social media promoting freedom of religion. You can use hashtags such as: #RestoringFaithInAmerica and/or #TakeAKneeWithCoach.
