Posted on 09/09/2016 7:31:10 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
The U.S. Military Academy is launching an inquiry into a prayer led by coaches following Army’s opening-day victory over Temple last week.
Video of the post-game invocation was pulled offline on Monday after West Point officials received a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Mikey Weinstein, who heads the MRFF, said he received complaints from six members of the football team, two of whom he said identified as Christians, as well as dozens of Army graduates and staff who took exception to the religious expression.
He said the video showed head coach Jeff Monken directing an assistant coach to lead the team in a prayer, which reportedly concluded with the name of Jesus.
Although the video is no longer available online, a cached version of the post on the West Point Facebook page shows a thumbnail of football players kneeling with their heads down and arms outstretched on one another.
LTC Christopher Kasker, director of West Point public affairs, said the Army received “allegations that this act violated First Amendment rights of some of the cadets.”
“As a result of this allegation, West Point officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter,” Mr. Kasker said in a statement. “The video, which was posted on social media, was removed pending the inquiry.”
Mr. Weinstein said West Point coaches are state actors and therefore “cannot order subordinates to take a knee and pray.”
He said he was pleased with West Point’s decision to take down the video and won’t request a third-party inspector general’s investigation, as the MRFF has done in other cases.
But he is demanding a public apology from Mr. Monken.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Hope Hudson High gets the s*** kicked out of them by Severn University. Might prove to them than there is a God.
Air Force used to be a hotbed of evangelicals. Don’t know what it’s like now.
Supposedly two of the complainants identified as Christians yet they had a problem with prayer ending “In the Name of Jesus”?! I don’t buy it!
Any relation to the hollywood Weinsteins?
CC
“they had a problem with prayer ending “In the Name of Jesus”?! I don’t buy it!”
AGREE. IT’S TOTAL BS. Christians have a problem with the Holy Words of “Jesus Christ”? Can’t these assholes come up with a better lie?
THIS is what the Washington Times finds to be most Newsworthy?
How long ago did people quit paying for this fishwrap? They are obviously still in business/getting paid for something other than reporting News.
Would that, by any chance be, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels?
You are right, it ain't gonna be pretty, but he can only blame himself.
Shouldn't that be the Militaristic Atheistic Freedom FROM Religion Foundation?
This country is officially anti-Christ. It will not end well.
They're exposing the sh*theads at WP who have a problem with saying prayers.
1965 High School Football. Our coach would be in a middle of a huddle with his whole team around him. He would lead us in a short prayer, I must admit it had victory for our side in the prayer, he would end it by words about playing hard and fair. We won three state championships in a row. I was on only one of them.
Coach Hillman was an extraordinary man. The team I played on produced two pharmacists, two doctors and a couple of PHDs and a few engineers. Our school was in a poor parish in South Louisiana and vastly underfunded. We students did not even realize that it was poor and underfunded.
Due to people like coach Hillman, coach Powell, coach Aribe and the talented staff a bunch of South Louisiana Swamp Rats won some football games but more important exceeded in life.
Our teachers were also great men and women. It was a small school and everyone knew everybody. I well remember when we I and a couple of other “cut school” to go to New Orleans. One of our teachers saw us in our car heading north. When we got home not only did our parents know, even worse coach Hillman knew. Wind sprints are very ugly, lesson learned the hard way.
It is odd but a very small poor community produced great people. I fear this is only rare today. In the past it was the normal.
Go Navy!
Go Navy!
Go Navy. You don’t feel close to god in the Chapel, you never will!
Because prayer is now a crime to be investigated.
Brutal leftist oppression is coming, and Republican leaders do nothing.
Benedict Arnold’s fort, right?
Weinstein needs to experience an early death. Cancer of some sort, painful and longlasting is preferable.
There is still a huge relic here. The leftists just want you to think they have the upper hand. Don't accept their premise that they can dictate if God can be allowed in schools or the locker room.
Who's quarterbacking? That dude. From the Dr. Pepper commercial?
Mikey doesn’t like anything.
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