Georgia pastor banned from football field, team keeps praying
Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
January-February 2019 – In September 2018, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote a letter to the Dawson County school board formally complaining that Dawson County High School in Dawsonville, Georgia, was in direct violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. FFRF’s complaint was filed in response to a viral video clip seen by over 70,000 viewers in which Pastor Russell Davis leads a pre-game prayer with the team. He prayed that members of the DCHS team would “unite people together” as they played the game of football.
Undeterred by the school board’s decision to bar Pastor Russell from leading any more pre-game prayers, the high school football players decided to conduct their own student-led pre-game prayers.
The football team completed their regular season play with a winning record of 8-1.
