I am not a religious person (agnostic), and especially not keen on organized religion. From the SC decision: "Petitioner Joseph Kennedy lost his job as a high

I am not a religious person (agnostic), and especially not keen on organized religion. From the SC decision: "Petitioner Joseph Kennedy lost his job as a high school football coach in the Bremerton School District after he knelt at midfield after games to offer a quiet personal prayer." "Here, no one questions that Mr. Kennedy seeks to engage in a sin- cerely motivated religious exercise involving giving “thanks through prayer” briefly “on the playing field” at the conclusion of each game he coaches. App. 168, 171. The contested exercise here does not involve leading prayers with the team; the District disciplined Mr. Kennedy only for his decision to persist in praying quietly without his students after three games in October 2015. In forbidding Mr. Kennedy’s brief prayer, the District’s challenged policies were neither neutral nor gen- erally applicable. By its own admission, the District sought to restrict Mr. Kennedy’s actions at least in part because of their religious char- acter. Prohibiting a religious practice was thus the District’s unques- tioned “object.” The District explained that it could not allow an on- duty employee to engage in religious conduct even though it allowed other on-duty employees to engage in personal secular conduct." I agree a coach has a right to offer a personal prayer whenever he wants if he does not engage students (or fans IMO) in the practice. But to me there is some gray area here too: 1. If he wanted to offer a personal prayer of thanks, why do it midfield? That's not very personal. 2. He didn't do it after people were gone, or it wouldn't have been an issue. 3. If he did this while all the fans were watching, that seems to be a public display of religion at a school function by a school employee, not a "quiet personal prayer".