The question of whether America still enjoys religious freedom is being tested again….this time at a high school in North Dakota.
A Fargo Catholic school is up in arms over a state policy saying it can’t pray before a playoff football game. That prompted the school to contact attorneys and fire off a letter saying it’s first amendment rights are being violated.
For the entire season, players and spectators at the school started the game with a prayer over the speaker system. The North Dakota High School Activities Association says that can’t happen when the playoffs begin.
The Activities Association says playoff games are actually sponsored by the association itself unlike games during the regular season. With the Association being a public state-run body, it says there can be no prayers.
Shanley High School disagrees and says the game, played on their field, staffed with their employees, is on private property and they have a constitutional right to pray.
In a letter Shanley’s attorneys sent to the association, they say Shanley is not a governmental actor. It is a private school with a religious identity. “No one attending the football game at this proudly Catholic high school will mistake it for a courthouse, city hall, or public high school.”
On WDAY radio, Peter Breen, one of the lawyers said, “That makes no sense. There is nothing in the constitution or in Supreme Court precedent that requires the state of North Dakota to police the pre-game prayers of Catholic and Christian high schools.”