The Freedom From Religion Foundation is rejecting Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s demand that it withdraw a letter raising constitutional concerns about religious practices within Auburn University’s baseball program.
FFRF’s letter raises serious constitutional questions about reports that Auburn’s baseball coaches lead team prayers and placed the cross and “Jesus” on the men’s baseball team’s uniforms. Public universities may not organize or promote religious activity, nor may they place student athletes in the position of choosing between full participation on the team or opting out of religious exercises.
“Our complaint has never been about students praying,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Students have every right to pray individually or together if they choose. Our concern is with coaches or university-affiliated chaplains using the authority of a public university athletic program to organize team prayers, promote sectarian religious messages, and create an environment where participation in religious exercises or displays of Christian faith become intertwined with full participation on the team.”
Marshall’s suggestion that student athletes welcome Auburn’s government-sponsored religious activity overlooks the unique power dynamics inherent in college athletics. Players depend on coaches and program personnel for playing time, scholarships and future opportunities. When prayer and religious messaging are woven into official team activities or led by individuals affiliated with the athletic department, declining to participate can carry significant social and practical consequences.
“The attorney general attacks a straw man complaint, not the one we actually sent,” adds FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “No one is arguing that players lose their religious freedom by attending a public university. The Constitution protects their right to pray. It equally protects every player from being pressured to participate in religious activity facilitated by university officials or those acting on the university’s behalf.”
The Supreme Court has consistently distinguished between private religious expression, which is protected, and government-coerced religious activity, which the Establishment Clause forbids. FFRF’s complaint seeks only to ensure that Auburn University complies with that longstanding constitutional principle.
“Religious liberty means the government cannot favor one faith over another or religion over nonreligion,” Gaylor says. “Public universities exist to serve students of every religious belief and none at all. Auburn should ensure that participation on its baseball team is never conditioned, explicitly or implicitly, on participation in Christian worship.”
FFRF remains committed to protecting the First Amendment rights of all Auburn students, including those who are religious minorities or nonreligious, and expects Auburn University to take its constitutional obligations seriously.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 41,000 members nationwide, including members in Alabama. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
