Should players be penalized for praying on the field at games? Agree or disagree

1. 66

   Lyrickkwposted 8 years ago

   Should players be penalized for praying on the field at games? Agree or disagree and why?
   
   Watching the news this morning and a young football player was penalized for thanking God for a touch down. He was later penalized for praying on the field. Do you think that is was fair or unfair and why? Mature comments are welcome!
   
   

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2. 84

   tsmogposted 8 years ago

   There may be complexity with that as a discussion. Consideration is schools are governmental  and publicly (Bonds issues) supported unless a private school enterprise. As a public school activity a big issue with some is the separation of church and state.
   
   So, using prayer in the school setting being frowned upon on campuses today that may apply with school athletics and other activities too. I dun'no . . . With non-school events quite possibly being private enterprise and not supported by the governments - national and state, it is not an issue. For instance Pop Warner Football to the Pro's.
   
   However a personal perspective is for the child that may be confusing particular to age groupings. It may simply be hard for parents to explain separation of church and state, what is private and public, and desired behavior by different factions.

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3. 51

   bradmasterOCcalposted 8 years ago

   This is freedom of speech in action, but at the same thing the act itself is ridiculous. God shouldn't be involved in the outcome of a football game when the world is going to hell in a handcart.
   
   Feel free to deleted my comment for any reason.

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4. 60

   Sakshi Davessarposted 8 years ago

   I feel this is unfair. There is no point of such legal actions. He was simply praying ( just praying ) to thank God for what he achieved . He is not a culprit

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5. 94

   lisavollrathposted 8 years ago

   I saw the film of the kid thanking god for his touchdown. It was quick, and it didn't interrupt play, or slow the game down. I saw nothing wrong with that.
   
   My feeling about praying and football: the players are there to play, and the crowd generally pays to see them do so. As long as their prayer doesn't delay or slow down play, I don't see anything wrong with it. If it gets in the way of the game, they should be penalized, not for praying, but for getting in the way of the reason they're there: to play football.
   
   Praise your god, but do it on your own time, not on the time of everyone else in the stadium!

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6. 75

   aliasisposted 8 years ago

   As long as he's not interrupting the game at all, I reckon he's free to do what he wish. Of course, if his coach tells him to get over here and get ready for the next play, then he should do that, too. After all, they're there to do a job, first and foremost.
   
   Though it should be noted that last year, the NFL actually penalized a player for praying - that is, a Muslim player. I hear about Christian players praying or thanking god in interviews all the time, but it was a Muslim player who was penalized. Ridiculous. As I recall the NFL went back and apologized for it, but if players can pray, then that means players of ALL religions can pray.

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7. 82

   ronbergeronposted 8 years ago

   If it's against the rules that all the players agreed to play by, then yes, being penalized is valid. If it's not against the rules of the game and it's not disrupting anything, then there's no justification for any penalty.
   
   Whether someone feels the need to pray or not is really no concern of mine, although I'd prefer that it be a private rather than a public act.

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