Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
October 2000 – …O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. As students, players, parents, and fans sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at season-opening football games across the nation, many may have questioned the words “land of the free.” Why? Because a Supreme Court ruling, if its dictates were followed, would hinder people from participating in a tradition that has been cherished and followed for many years – organized public prayer before school sporting events.
Despite the ruling, literally thousands of people from places like Artesia, New Mexico; Asheville, North Carolina; South Point, Ohio; and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, expressed their guaranteed religious freedom by praying anyway. The methods they used were creative and diverse, with one of the most popular being spontaneous voicing of the Lord’s Prayer right after the national anthem.
At North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia, spectators observed a moment of silence instead of a verbal prayer, while in Searcy, Arkansas, a nonprofit interfaith group prayed around a stadium flag pole after receiving the school board’s approval.
In Hattiesburg, only a few students initially bowed their heads and began speaking the familiar words to the Lord’s Prayer. But before they finished, most of the 4,500 people in the stadium were standing, openly and proudly saying the prayer in unison.
At the high school in Santa Fe, Texas, (where student prayers prompted the Supreme Court ruling), several hundred people wearing shirts with religious inscriptions joined fans in reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Others sang hymns, while two protesters shouldered crosses outside the football field fence. “It’s not about praying anymore,” said Tom Taggart, a 40-year-old spectator. “It’s about our rights and freedoms being taken away.”
Perhaps most daring were the folks at the Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina, game, where the student body president took a microphone and prayed while school officials and football fans stood silently. The ACLU has threatened a lawsuit to stop the practice.
“Of course, we knew the ACLU would go berserk,” said AFA President Donald E. Wildmon, “but on the other hand, there is no way the Supreme Court can stop this because it is simply individuals participating on their own without any leader.”
AFA has been one of the major promoters of the grassroots effort to promote voluntary prayer. In fact, full-page newspaper ads have been run in various cities as a part of “Project Prayer,” a campaign urging people to spontaneously pray the Lord’s Prayer immediately following the national anthem at all future games.
“These ads are being run so that the ACLU and other groups like it will know that Americans are tired of being bullied and having their religious freedoms taken away,” said Wildmon. “We’re urging people to stand up and be counted – to say ‘enough is enough!’”
Wildmon said the ads are also being run to clear up any misunderstanding about the Supreme Court ruling itself. He said many believe they have been forbidden to pray at sporting events, period. But that is incorrect. Prayer is permitted, so long as the prayer is not “organized” (school sanctioned) or delivered by a student or school official.
“It is gratifying to see the way God’s people have already responded to this endeavor,” said Wildmon. “There has been a great outpouring of concern, and we have been pleased to see so many citizens respectfully drawing attention to the fact that ours is a nation founded on prayer – and we intend to keep it that way." 
