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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

mendelman said:
I hear you but this restraint only appears to exist in certain groups of public workers.

Seems like police, fire and public works employees often ignore this…in my experience.
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The way it works in our town is through unions. The City FD/PD does not say anything for or against The City. The TND FD/PD will support candidates, etc. all in the name of the union.

mendelman said:
Justice Thomas better watch what he’s saying as Loving v Virginia is also predicated on the same precedent as Roe. (Loving v. VA removed interracial marriage bans)
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I think he wants a divorce, but is too afraid. Sorry dear, the Supreme Court says we can't be married any more. It's them, not me.

michaelskis said:
What are your thoughts on what happened at the Arizona State House?

www.abc15.com

DPS: 7,000+ protestors marched near AZ Capitol; property, memorials damaged

An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people marched at the Arizona State Capitol complex following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade Friday.
www.abc15.com www.abc15.com
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I'll drive by tomorrow and see how bad the damage is. It sounds like they knocked the fence down and might have done some minor damage to nearby memorials.

I think protest marches are a good way to organize and rally your cause and maybe get some new voters that usually stay home like Mskies said. I'm just not big on the damage thing. Yell, scream, get in the way, but don't vandalize stuff. The good part, kind of, the Arizona capitol has nothing around it for blocks other than more sad looking state buildings. So private business usually doesn't get hurt in these things. What I might see the next few days is people protesting downtown. We tend to get a small group of people protesting state level stuff in front of the city.
 
jsk1983 said:
Fireworks are illegal in Illinois though they don't seem to do much enforcement of people actually using them. The local park a block from my house has quite the amateur display every year, with fireworks going off on multiple baseball diamonds at once.
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Bitching to your alderman is the only way things get done here.
 
michaelskis said:
This one does not surprise me, but it is frustrating that it was an issue in the first place. The coach didn't ask his players to join him, but they did one by one over a period of time and it was their choice.

www.cnn.com

Supreme Court further erodes separation between church and state in case of praying football coach | CNN Politics

The court said high school football coach Joe Kennedy's prayers amounted to private speech protected by the First Amendment
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
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But it certainly can be an issue of equal protection and separation of church and state.

It's a cultural pressure issue as the players have a right not to be socially forced to participate either.

I don't want anyone complaining the next time someone kneels during the National Anthem.
 
jsk1983 said:
Fireworks are illegal in Illinois though they don't seem to do much enforcement of people actually using them. The local park a block from my house has quite the amateur display every year, with fireworks going off on multiple baseball diamonds at once.
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They're legal here. We get the neighborhood idiots shooting them off on the Fourth of July, but that pales in comparison volume-wise to Diwali. There's a sizeable Indian/Hindu population in the apartments on the eastern edge of my 'hood, and they take their Diwali celebrations very seriously.
 
michaelskis said:
This one does not surprise me, but it is frustrating that it was an issue in the first place. The coach didn't ask his players to join him, but they did one by one over a period of time and it was their choice.

www.cnn.com

Supreme Court further erodes separation between church and state in case of praying football coach | CNN Politics

The court said high school football coach Joe Kennedy's prayers amounted to private speech protected by the First Amendment
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
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Eh, growing up in the Bible Belt in a town where high school football was most folk's secondary religion, we generally had a prayer over the PA system as part of the pre-game ceremonies. "Let us pray. Dear Lord, please help our good God-fearing boys smite the Philistines from that school in the next county over. Amen."
 
mendelman said:
But it certainly can be an issue of equal protection and separation of church and state.

It's a cultural pressure issue as the players have a right not to be socially forced to participate either.

I don't want anyone complaining the next time someone kneels during the National Anthem.
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Cultural pressure, you mean kind of like this?
www.cbssports.com

Five Tampa Bay Rays players decline to wear LGBTQ+ logo on uniform during Pride Night celebration

The players said it was a 'faith-based decision'
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

If a person's religion does not support something, who are they to force them to do something that would be opposed to it.

As for complaining, people have a right to complain all they want as long as it stops at complaining. I don't think that someone should lose their job, be suspended, or docked pay because of it, especially if it is a governmental organization. Wife had this conversation several years back with the director of nursing at her hospital when she refused to assist in an abortion. One of the other nurses complained to HR, HR called her in to a meeting for a "discussion" where they tried to pressure her into it, and my wife simply explained that she was not going to do it. That is where it ended and she was never again asked to assist. They realized that my wife was ready to be fired and to sue the hospital for wrongful termination as it was not a procedure that was typical of her department and was outside the scope of her employment agreement.
 
A public school and the TB Rays are not the same types of entities.

One is a public institution funded with public money and who's existence is ultimately established by the US Constitution.

The Rays are a private business.

Not analogous.

The rules of your employer tell you what you can or have to do.

If you don't like it you can leave that job or define it legally in terms of your employment contract (if one has one).

Additionally, the 'pressure' from a High School coach on a child is objectively different than an employer (especially private) and an adult employee.

I know you know the difference.
 
mendelman said:
A public school and the TB Rays are not the same types of entities.

One is a public institution funded with public money and who's existence is ultimately established by the US Constitution.

The Rays are a private business.

Not analogous.

The rules of your employer tell you what you can or have to do.

If you don't like it you can leave that job or define it legally in terms of your employment contract (if one has one).

Additionally, the 'pressure' from a High School coach on a child is objectively different than an employer (especially private) and an adult employee.

I know you know the difference.
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I am not saying the are the same in organizational structure. But I am referencing cultural pressure. One is a private business and yes, the structure is different in what they can and cannot do.

But even more so, a governmental entity, the school, told this coach that he could not pray publicly. In what world is this not a violation of the coaches freedom of religion. If he was punishing players or other coaches for not joining him, that would be a very different conversation. But he didn't and people joined him anyways.




On a side note, I had to take a break from following a person who lives in my neighborhood due the the amount of misinformation they were posting on facebook due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
 
Doesn't matter what action you're arguing.

You shouldn't use this comparison.

The coach was told to stop doing it because it was, rightly so, easily seen as inappropriate pressure on the underage children on his team. That was inappropriate and the coach should have the respect to respect others' cultural/societal wishes.

But my position is moot. So, bring on the Muslim/Mormon/Judaic/Satanist/Zoroastrian/etc. coaches too.
 
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mendelman said:
But it certainly can be an issue of equal protection and separation of church and state.

It's a cultural pressure issue as the players have a right not to be socially forced to participate either.

I don't want anyone complaining the next time someone kneels during the National Anthem.
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I feel like the supremes are gaslighting the US

The coach agreed to scale back his public prayers to a private practice then a month later he lawyered up and they told the school district he’ll be back kneeling in prayer while inviting others and the opposing team and anyone in the stands to join him.

 
Jen said:
I feel like the supremes are gaslighting the US

The coach agreed to scale back his public prayers to a private practice then a month later he lawyered up and they told the school district he’ll be back kneeling in prayer while inviting others and the opposing team and anyone in the stands to join him.
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Sounds like crusading more than 'preserving rights' in my opinion.

It feels a lot like performative Christianity and that's always suspect in my opinion and experience.
 
Sadly, this is why Federal Laws have to exist. People shouldn't have a choice sometimes, because their choices infringe on others freedoms. Religion is EXTREMELY good at trying to use government to regulate people based on their opinion, but doesn't want to pay taxes, etc to that government as they want their only freedom.

I honestly think if we just defined religious institutions as businesses, lots of issues would go away. You pay taxes, you are held to fair practices, OSHA, etc. If you want no split for church/state, than be regulated appropriately.

With support for organized religion plummeting in the US, it is very odd to see a Supreme Court that is very at odds with the majority of the United States public opinion. But the Supreme Court should be above public opinion, so really it shouldn't matter, they should be doing what is right anyways. But clearly (especially Thomas) some have a strong axe to grind.

Religious acts are fine with me, honestly. You want to pray before a meal, go for it. You want to pray before a game, after a game, go for it. Don't do it with other people, particularly in government settings, and don't make it seem like if you don't do it, you are being left out (like teams, etc.).

I go to church. I am a fairly religious person, but this push to force Christianity down people's throats in the US is not doing our country any favors. People are running away from organized religion because it is doing exactly what it shouldn't be doing - picking and choosing who is righteous, and dividing groups of people. It should be uniting people, accepting everyone, for whatever they are, and trying to find ways to heal a very broken and hurt group of people. I can and do, do that on Sunday. I don't need you to see it, and I don't need you to know about what I do. And I don't care if you do, or don't do it yourself. More power to you.
 
mendelman said:
I agree. But I bet certain communities in our country will not and that's my point about cultural pressure.
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I think you are correct. When we moved here complete strangers would strike up a conversation with us in the grocery store and it would quickly go into "have you found a good church" to which we would reply that we were looking for a Catholic Church. They would quickly try to pressure us to attend the Baptist Church instead. I would then reach for a case of beer.

I think there are elements of pressure regardless of the community. In some urban areas, they are pushing a liberal agenda, in some rural areas it is a conservative agenda. I some cases the pressure is to do something, in other cases the pressure is to not do something. We pay before we eat. Locally, it is no big deal. Last time when we were in Philadelphia, we got some really dirty looks.
 
My problem with the whole coach praying thing is that it should be just be common sense. The coach, being a leader and mentor to these children, and also a public employee, should know not to mix religion with his job. If he wanted to quietly walk out onto the field after that game and maybe after the kids left that's his business. I'm sure it was more of a, "hey kids I'm gonna go pray now." What, does he think God will listen more when he yells and screams about it? More people should keep their religion to themselves. It's between you and your god and I should have no part of it. I can get into my rant about churches wanting special signs out on the street to attract more congregation, but their not businesses, but we all know that one.
 
In a bit more lighthearted "political" news...

I was scrolling through my NextDoor feed looking for the contact info of some kid in the neighborhood who was collecting recyclable cans and bottles and came across a picture of somebody who had cleaned out their garage and basement and put everything in their driveway as free. The pictures looked like the contents of some house on hoarders if they had collected and held on to every spool of wire and old telephone cord and extension cord spool and dulled, rusty saw blade they had ever come across in 40 years. The name struck me though because it was my local state senator. :rofl:

I did drive by to try and get one of the old tool boxes that she had posted (I can always use another of those!) but it was gone by the time I got there.

This was probably about a 10th of what was up for grabs on the driveway:
1656350502300.png
1656350523264.png

1656350557204.png


The garage was also open when I walked past and it was still packed to the gills with stuff.
 
DVD said:
My problem with the whole coach praying thing is that it should be just be common sense. The coach, being a leader and mentor to these children, and also a public employee, should know not to mix religion with his job. If he wanted to quietly walk out onto the field after that game and maybe after the kids left that's his business. I'm sure it was more of a, "hey kids I'm gonna go pray now." What, does he think God will listen more when he yells and screams about it?
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All I could think of when I read this is:

 
I never want to hold back anyone's practice of religion, but no one should hold back a person's choice of religion as atheist by pushing a view on them.
 
DVD said:
I never want to hold back anyone's practice of religion, but no one should hold back a person's choice of religion as atheist by pushing a view on them.
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I agree.

Do you think that if an Atheist saw a head coach of an HS team praying on the sideline after a game, would that be pushing religion on anyone?
 
That act of openly praying or proselytizing violates someone's belief as an Atheist. They're just usually too polite to mention it. If I were an Atheist I would be offended by any prayer in school, commandments at the court house, or other religious symbols at public places. The core belief is that there is no god and people keep pushing it on them. It's even on out money. The problem is we want to allow people the freedom to practice their religion and we forget that Atheist is a religious choice as well. Yet we keep violating their rights.

One person praying at the HS is not the problem. Kids pray before tests all the time. They just do it quietly to themselves. I have a feeling God still hears them and ignores them all the same. The problem is picking a specific religion to pray to at a public school event. Not that it happens, but what if one of the kids was Muslim or any of the other hundred religions out there. They just suck it up because they're the minority? They go pray by themselves and feel like an outcast?

My message to everyone is keep your religion to yourself. On the field, in public, wherever. I don't need to here about it.
 
michaelskis said:
I agree.

Do you think that if an Atheist saw a head coach of an HS team praying on the sideline after a game, would that be pushing religion on anyone?
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I AM an atheist. If I saw a coach praying on the sidelines of Our Lady of Whippity-Do, no, it wouldn't bother me. But at public HS, yes it would and it does. And when I see kids joining coach for post-game prayer, I suspect that some are being peer pressured into it. It happened to me and it is a very powerful thing during already confusing teenage years.

(An aside, I pause from saying "under God" during the Pledge, but I can't avert my eyes from state-issued religious auto license plates "In God We Trust".)

People either forgot, or were never taught, that the founding fathers lived under a theocratic monarchy (Church of England) and when it came to religious disputes, GIII had the final say. The founders created a wall, not to protect the government from the church, but to protect the church from government. That's why I caution that the Roberts court is very, very dangerous for religion. This court is more and more inviting it into the public sector. It'll get eaten alive.
 
mendelman said:
Justice Thomas better watch what he’s saying as Loving v Virginia is also predicated on the same precedent as Roe. (Loving v. VA removed interracial marriage bans)
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He conveniently omitted Loving from other rulings that should be revisited in his concurring opinion: Obergefell v. Hodges (marriage equality), Griswold v. Connecticut (right to contraception), Lawrence v. Texas (right to have non-hetero sex).

Other turd nuggets SCOTUS dropped this session:

Vega v. Tekoh deals with Miranda rights. You know the right to remain silent and have an attorney present during questioning? By a 6-3 vote SCOTUS ruled that an individual who is denied Miranda warnings and whose compelled statements are introduced against them in a criminal trial cannot sue the police officer who violated their rights, even where a criminal jury finds them not guilty of any crime.

Carson v. Makin pertains to Maine's public taxpayer funded school vouchers that are used by rural students without nearby high schools to attend private non-sectarian schools. Two families sued arguing that their religious freedom was being infringed upon because they could not use the vouchers for their children to attend private religious schools. By a 6-3 vote SCOTUS ruled that Maine must allow the vouchers to be used at private religious school. I have a huge issue with this because it will likely be used to allow private religious schools to convert to publicly funded charter schools and perhaps a revival of the southern segregation academies which were "religious" when they were formed to defy racial integration. I fully expect a challenge to Brown v. Board of Education sometime soon.
 
When I coached kiddie soccer at the YMCA Rec League, we had both teams pray together, usually lead by the ref or a coach. Basically play with heart & courage, support your teammates and opponents and no injuries.

When I coach Classic, there was no prayer.


I view this as the same as what G'dunk said.
 
Bubba said:
Eh, growing up in the Bible Belt in a town where high school football was most folk's secondary religion, we generally had a prayer over the PA system as part of the pre-game ceremonies. "Let us pray. Dear Lord, please help our good God-fearing boys smite the Philistines from that school in the next county over. Amen."
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Local HS received a letter from the Freedom From Religion group last year because they were still having a student led pre-game prayer over the PA. Lots of people were upset and for a game or two recited the Lords Prayer from the stands. The school board stopped the prayer. Wasnt a big deal after the 1st game. So far the field has not split open to reveal the fiery depths of hell, but the HS didn't win state last year either.

I grew up in an environment probably similar to what Bubba did. I can say as we grew, the issues with prayers didn't happen because of a different religion but more of different denominations. There would arguments over whether some mentioned the trinity "incorrectly", said ghost vs spirit, or used a different variation on one of the creeds. Some of the worst fights were when some of the few Catholics mentioned Mary/saints or some other non-protestant variation. I think they actually stopped most of the public religious displays in my high school when everyone found out the star football/basketball player/president of FCA was Mormon. People didn't want to really recognize the religion/differences but didn't want to piss off the best player so most of it went away.

At some point, I think evangelicals will find a major fault with the decisions of the Catholic justices and start calling them activist judges.
 
kjel said:
He conveniently omitted Loving from other rulings that should be revisited in his concurring opinion: Obergefell v. Hodges (marriage equality), Griswold v. Connecticut (right to contraception), Lawrence v. Texas (right to have non-hetero sex).

Other turd nuggets SCOTUS dropped this session:

Vega v. Tekoh deals with Miranda rights. You know the right to remain silent and have an attorney present during questioning? By a 6-3 vote SCOTUS ruled that an individual who is denied Miranda warnings and whose compelled statements are introduced against them in a criminal trial cannot sue the police officer who violated their rights, even where a criminal jury finds them not guilty of any crime.

Carson v. Makin pertains to Maine's public taxpayer funded school vouchers that are used by rural students without nearby high schools to attend private non-sectarian schools. Two families sued arguing that their religious freedom was being infringed upon because they could not use the vouchers for their children to attend private religious schools. By a 6-3 vote SCOTUS ruled that Maine must allow the vouchers to be used at private religious school. I have a huge issue with this because it will likely be used to allow private religious schools to convert to publicly funded charter schools and perhaps a revival of the southern segregation academies which were "religious" when they were formed to defy racial integration. I fully expect a challenge to Brown v. Board of Education sometime soon.
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I know. They are killing rights across the board.

As for Thomas: “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”

My emphasis of 'including' leaves the door open for people to backward assault this idiocy.

I mean could a State enact miscegenation laws that are then immediately sued to SCOTUS and then he has to rule against a banning of the law in order to be internally consistent. But in the example of McConnell and Gorsuch and Barrett and Kavanaugh, he would just hypocritically do the opposite of what he says/does.
 
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Gedunker said:
I AM an atheist. If I saw a coach praying on the sidelines of Our Lady of Whippity-Do, no, it wouldn't bother me. But at public HS, yes it would and it does. And when I see kids joining coach for post-game prayer, I suspect that some are being peer pressured into it. It happened to me and it is a very powerful thing during already confusing teenage years.

(An aside, I pause from saying "under God" during the Pledge, but I can't avert my eyes from state-issued religious auto license plates "In God We Trust".)

People either forgot, or were never taught, that the founding fathers lived under a theocratic monarchy (Church of England) and when it came to religious disputes, GIII had the final say. The founders created a wall, not to protect the government from the church, but to protect the church from government. That's why I caution that the Roberts court is very, very dangerous for religion. This court is more and more inviting it into the public sector. It'll get eaten alive.
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When I worked for the county in South Carolina, the commissioners meeting would generally open with a public prayer and it was always a Christian prayer. In a different city/county a lawsuit was filed by a Wiccan who argued that such activities were discriminatory because including "In Jesus' Name" in the prayer it was promoting one religion over another. She won and SCOTUS refused to hear the case. The county manager I worked for made immediate changes.
 
mendelman said:
I know. They are killing rights across the board.

As for Thomas: “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”

My emphasis of 'including' leaves the door open for people to backwards assaults this idiocy.

I mean could a State enact miscegenation laws that are then immediately sued to SCOTUS and then he has to rule against a banning of the law in order to be internally consistent. But in the example of McConnell and Gorsuch and Barrett and Kavanaugh, he would just hypocritically do the opposite to what he says/does.
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I mean he could have easily listed Loving because that's a very obvious case focusing on 14A as the other cases, but you know pot-kettle and all that. For someone who purports to be a Constitutional originalist, Thomas wouldn't even have personhood if the Constitution existed as it was ratified in 1788.
 
kjel said:
When I worked for the county in South Carolina, the commissioners meeting would generally open with a public prayer and it was always a Christian prayer. In a different city/county a lawsuit was filed by a Wiccan who argued that such activities were discriminatory because including "In Jesus' Name" in the prayer it was promoting one religion over another. She won and SCOTUS refused to hear the case. The county manager I worked for made immediate changes.
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Similar to my previous employer - always opened commission meeting with a prayer, either by a commissioner or an invited preacher. A small minority of Muslims questioned this and the county attorney said the commissioners had 2 choices - end prayer time or allow it. One of the bunch said in a public meeting that he would leave if that was ever allowed. Sure enough about 3 meetings later, a Muslim gave the prayer and the commissioner got up and walked out as it began and said out loud "I have to go to the bathroom'.


The one thing that made an impression on me is the only way you could've known it was a Muslim prayer is that he said Koran rather than Bible.
 
Hypocrisy alert:

In a Fox News interview, Kevin McCarthy on Monday insisted that voters really don’t need to worry about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ calls to reconsider landmark cases that granted the right to same-sex marriage and contraception, among other decisions, when they cast their ballots in the midterms.


mendelman said:
Pro tip: It's the same God too.

o_O :p :D ;) :) :cool: :coffee::coffee:
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I know, crazy ain't it.
 
Planit said:
Hypocrisy alert:

In a Fox News interview, Kevin McCarthy on Monday insisted that voters really don’t need to worry about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ calls to reconsider landmark cases that granted the right to same-sex marriage and contraception, among other decisions, when they cast their ballots in the midterms.

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In related news:


























SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU SPINELESS TOADY, MCCARTHY!
 
Gedunker said:
I AM an atheist. If I saw a coach praying on the sidelines of Our Lady of Whippity-Do, no, it wouldn't bother me. But at public HS, yes it would and it does. And when I see kids joining coach for post-game prayer, I suspect that some are being peer pressured into it. It happened to me and it is a very powerful thing during already confusing teenage years.

(An aside, I pause from saying "under God" during the Pledge, but I can't avert my eyes from state-issued religious auto license plates "In God We Trust".)

People either forgot, or were never taught, that the founding fathers lived under a theocratic monarchy (Church of England) and when it came to religious disputes, GIII had the final say. The founders created a wall, not to protect the government from the church, but to protect the church from government. That's why I caution that the Roberts court is very, very dangerous for religion. This court is more and more inviting it into the public sector. It'll get eaten alive.
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And that is ok if you are an atheist. I have no issue with that. Would you have the same opposition if it was someone who had a non-Christian practice? Would you have the same opposition if you saw me praying in the City Hall break room before I eat my lunch? I do that because it is important to me. I don't care if anyone joins me or not. It is not my decision.

As for your thoughts on what the Constitution does, I completely disagree. Church of England was mandated by the King and Catholics were prosecuted or executed. The founders established a format that allowed people to choose and practice their religion without government interference.

1st Amendment said:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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It is very clear that if someone wants to pray, let them pray. It does not matter if it is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Flying Spaghetti Monster, let them pray.
 
michaelskis said:
And that is ok if you are an atheist. I have no issue with that. Would you have the same opposition if it was someone who had a non-Christian practice? Would you have the same opposition if you saw me praying in the City Hall break room before I eat my lunch? I do that because it is important to me. I don't care if anyone joins me or not. It is not my decision.

As for your thoughts on what the Constitution does, I completely disagree. Church of England was mandated by the King and Catholics were prosecuted or executed. The founders established a format that allowed people to choose and practice their religion without government interference.



It is very clear that if someone wants to pray, let them pray. It does not matter if it is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Flying Spaghetti Monster, let them pray.
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And, therefore, Maine taxpayers should not have to pay for private religious education. Right?

@luckless pedestrian @MacheteJames
 
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kjel said:
When I worked for the county in South Carolina, the commissioners meeting would generally open with a public prayer and it was always a Christian prayer. In a different city/county a lawsuit was filed by a Wiccan who argued that such activities were discriminatory because including "In Jesus' Name" in the prayer it was promoting one religion over another. She won and SCOTUS refused to hear the case. The county manager I worked for made immediate changes.
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Yep, here in South Cackalacky we pray at EVERY meeting, not just council meetings. And it's always Father God, in Jesus name, etc." So say you're Jewish or Hindu or whatever and you have a case on the agenda. I can see where you could possibly think you might not get a fair shake.
 
michaelskis said:
It goes back to the 1st amendment. Government should not tell someone they can't pray, even if it is on a public HS field, but they should not be giving money to the religious school either, no matter what religion that school is.
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insert: /oh...so close gif

;)
 
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I think if you are an atheist, and if you have a child on a public school sports team, and you witness the coach initiating and leading a prayer with the team, you ought to do two things.

First, have a conversation with your child. Ask your child if he/she is okay with the prayer. Guage her/his comfort level with the words that were shared by the coach. I would do this because I want to give my child agency, and I don't see myself indoctrinating a young, impressionable mind, I want to encourage my child to think for himself/herself.

Second, after the conversation with the child, and if the child is uncomfortable with the prayer, I believe a phone call to the school's principal and/or athletic director is in order. The gist of the phone call would be to project upon the administrator(s) that the coach-initiated prayer is likely unnecessary and inappropriate and that we need to come to terms if there will be consequences if a student doesn't actively participate in the prayer. And further, given that the team does have a diversity of beliefs (because my child is uncomfortable with the prayer) among the players, then what will the school do to accommodate differing beliefs such that, perhaps a non-denominational moment of silence would be more appropriate as it better promotes the concept of a team, so all students are playing together for the same goal, and putting forth the effort to make sure, on this base level, that all are included.

This is what I would do. Or at least this is what I've rehearsed in my head in preparation should that day ever come.
 
Sadly so much of this can be avoided by actually talking things out and using some common sense. If you're in a small community you know people and if a prayer would be out of place or not. If your community has any size you know not to do anything that can be considered forced prayer in public.
 
To let Coach BigBob bully his team into taking that knee robs his team members of protection from Establishment of Religion.
 
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