Joe Kennedy is a high school football coach in Washington state. He has been suspended for leading his team in organized prayer. As a representative of the high school, and therefore the government, it is illegal for him to facilitate a religious service, yet he says he won’t stop. Ana Kasparian (The Point), John Iadarola (Think Tank) hosts of The Young Turks discuss.

Do you think it is okay for him to lead the team in prayer? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more here: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_an…

“High school football coach Joe Kennedy has made national news for refusing to stop praying on the field at the end of games. Last week, Kennedy, a coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Washington, was placed on paid administrative leave after he declined to comply with school district orders to stop praying midfield, which he regularly does with players from both teams.* Soon after he was told to stop his postgame prayer, Kennedy conferred with lawyers from the conservative Liberty Institute who are threatening to sue the school district for violating Kennedy’s religious liberty.

The former Marine and coach has prayed at the 50-yard line of the public school’s football field for years, since 2008 to be exact. Students, coaches, and opposing players have come to join him. Evidently it took years for the authorities to notice. But when the ritual came to the school district’s attention this fall, it decided to take action.”