Florida pastor supports football prayer

Published 11:58 am Thursday, October 29, 2015

Bremerton School Board and staff,

I know you’re sick of these emails. I had the same thing happen to me when the Orange County School board tried to stop chaplains like me from praying and talking about God before the football games. When my story appeared on Fox News, the school board and the principal received tons of angry emails.

I feel your pain.

Let me tell you the side effects of that decision two years later. Prayer continued. People lost confidence in their school board and a distrust was built between parents and the schools.

After investigating this issue of separation of church and state, I’ve come to realize we’ve contaminated and watered down the original intention of the First Amendment. Groups like the Freedom from Religion Foundation have convinced the world that religion is evil and has no place in public schools. You don’t have to listen to this rhetoric. Just say “no” and these nay-sayers will eventually go away. They don’t have the money to sue and they have too many irons in the fire to take them all to court.

As a school, you preach against bullying. Now it’s time to stand up to the religious freedom bullies and kick them out.

Troy Schmidt
Campus pastor, First Baptist Church Windermere
Windermere, Florida.