When one thinks of pregame rituals for football, many people would consider the prayer part of it. It has been seen in movies like “Varsity Blues,” “The Replacements” and “Remember the Titans.” No one can dispute that it has taken place, and many embrace the practice, but the question has come up in recent years about legality.
The Constitution specifically states that we are to be a country forged not under a single religion, but that we are to embrace those that come from many. Even with Christianity in all of its forms being the majority religious belief, according to a study done in March 2009 reported by the Christian Post, the number of non-religious Americans has doubled in every state from 1990. On top of the decline in Christian believers, the total non-believer population has gone form 8 to 15 percent in the time frame. This includes atheists (no God) and agnostics (not sure), as well as deistics (belief in a higher power, but not necessarily God).
The study also shows that mainline Christianity and Catholicism are on contraction, shedding numbers overall (some minor sects showing small gains, however) while a generic brand of Christianity has begun to consume a good portion of the non-denominational believers.
With prayer still being commonplace in sport, there are even some that wish to have public prayer before games for the crowd to take part in as well. Given the data on the contraction in religious Americans over the last two decades, for us to uphold the rights granted to the populace by our government, this would be an offense against those who are of a non-Christian faith.
