I think that people in Wisconsin should mind their own damn business!

My thought is that if you truly believe God is Great and All Powerful, you would not allow anyone to stop you from your worship either private or public. Why do we allow the threats of the non-believer to dictate to us and not know deep in our hearts and very soul that our Heavenly Father is greater than anything they can throw at us? This is perhaps why He sometimes ignores our request because we are hot and cold in our faith.

I think it is both un-Christian and un-American to pray before the game. Jesus told us to pray in our closets not out on the street where everyone could see. He called the people that did pray in public hypocrites, thus public high school prayers are un-Christian. The first Europeans came to America to escape religious oppression and seeking freedom to worship how they saw fit without imposition from the state. Our laws are based on a constitutional democracy and not a pure democracy in order to prevent what the founding fathers called the "tyranny of the majority", thus sanctioned prayer before a public high school game is un-American. I suspect the appropriately named rebels coming out to force people to listen to their prayers before the game consider themselves rather pious Christians and quite patriotic when if they actually read the documents that Christianity and American democracy are founded on they could truthfully claim neither. I am a Haralson County resident.

In Matthew 6 Jesus was teaching about prayer to a group of people who had chosen to follow and listen to him, he wasn't actually praying. I think his words immediately preceding the prayer speak very plainly about the subject being discussed here.

Mat 6:5 KJV - And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:6 KJV - But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:7 KJV - But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8 KJV - Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Mat 6:9 KJV - After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Check it out in The Message translation as well, you can find it and many other translations on Bible Gateway.com

You are certainly entitled to your opinon and thank you for sharing those well known verses. It still does not say to STOP praying when we come together as a group. I suppose you would be against going into a church and standing with those there and praying aloud?

However, in my opinion, I find nothing wrong with Christians or any other faith for that matter standing together in unity and having a moment of silence or prayer together.

Just because some consider this the right thing to do, you (we) can not see their hearts and judge them as "hypocrites". Our Heavenly Father knows the hearts of each of us.

The problem is everyone wants to hide and back off from what they feel is good and right because we have those that want to critise, punish and push them in the closet with their own point of view.

Praise God we have those that stand up publically for Him and are not afraid of public opinion by those that do not have any faith at all.

Shane, you did not answer my question. Was Jesus a hypocrite for saying "The Our Father" during the Sermon on the Mount?

If it's OK for him, why wouldn't it be OK for the rest of us?

The question here is not should or shouldn't be allowed to pray but of what would happen to a player who wished not to partake in the prayer. Would they be allowed to sit out or would they be somehow excluded. That is the danger of having sanctioned prayer time nobody is saying that they shouldn't be able to pray should they so wish but sanctioning it they are forcing it so hence is a violation. People can't have their cake and eat it one second ramming the Constitution down our throats for their own means, then in the next breath ignoring it. A separation of church and state is their for a reason so people are free to choose what ever path they want without fear of political reprisals.

Folks can pray to whomever, whenever they wish.....as private citizens. Once it goes over the school's PA system, it becomes government speech and the government MUST remain neutral in these matters. Government is forbidden to endorse one religion over another, or any religion over none. The best way to keep peace with your neighbors is to not insist on government endorsement of your specific religious views. Public displays of piety are in very poor taste. I am a Fayette County resident.

Jerzypeach, you and Shane are right on target with this. Jesus is quoted as saying what he did about prayer, and it's obvious that he credited the voice from the inner person as being what God is most interested in hearing. What is wrong with in public events, just call for a moment of silence so that the individual can pray, mediate or think about what they are having for dinner tonight (I suspect the latter is frequently the case during long, public prayers anyway).

I really wish people would actually READ what the constitution says, instead of repeating the same distortions over and over. The actual text of the first amendment reads:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

Please pay PARTICULAR attention to the first word of that sentence. Having a prayer before a football game has absolutely nothing to do with CONGRESS making a law! And the last part states "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Please explain to me how banning prayer at a football game is NOT "prohibiting the free exercise thereof".

It is simply amazing how the simple, clear and plain language of this amendment has been twisted to take on a meaning that is exactly opposite of what it actually says!

I understand fully why Christians want to have prayer before a game. They want to proclaim their Christian values to everyone, which are so important to them. These values are aren't always spiteful, petty, self-serving, sanctimonious, narrow-minded, confrontational, cruel, thoughtless, careless, callous, quarrelsome, prejudicial, rigid, disrespectful, irrational, irritating, vindictive and censorious. But they usually are all of the above.

Stop pushing your beliefs down everyone's throats. This is religious bigotry at its finest. Imagine the tables were reversed and atheists were a majority group and every game was initiated with a statement in support of atheist views. How would you feel then? Stop this hypocrisy and stop using public events to evangelize. Let everyone simply enjoy the game.