School Athletes and Game Prayers

* Re Kenneth Khachigian’s March 28 column, “Invoke God? You Haven’t Got a Prayer”:

If the Grant High School team were comprised of Mystic Voodoo devotees who sincerely wished their opponents to join them post-game in ritually sacrificing a chicken and praying to their deity of choice, Khachigian might be less supportive of after-game prayer meetings.

The Grant High team, with the coach’s blessing, wanted to continue praying immediately after games, on the basketball court, in uniform.

I, also a pastor’s son, recognize this as a testimonial and mild proselytizing opportunity, since it must be common knowledge up there that the whole Grant High team is not Muslim, Mystic Voodoo or Jewish, but Christian.

Khachigian misses the point that brotherhood can exist solely in joining hands as friends. Some religions are so adamantly firm in believing that they solely possess truth that brotherhood may only be possible if members of such groups join hands and don’t pray.

Parents and coaches could easily offer voluntary prayer opportunities to players from opposing teams by simply announcing a time and place off campus.

That, of course, is not likely to happen because the show-biz impact thing is to do the praying in front of fans and students right on the basketball court in uniform, so it appears to be a spontaneous expression of devotion by students who are popular sports heroes. Is the school orchestra next? The chess team?

As for Khachigian’s mention of prayer in Congress, 200 years of it hasn’t given us divinely honest senators and representatives; but I’m not against it continuing if the Senate and House chaplains as well as the prayer offered were rotated yearly.

This year, explicit evangelical Christian prayer with express belief in the supernatural; next year a rabbi offering Old Testament-style admonition; then Muslim, Catholic, Spiritualist, Buddhist, Hindu, Satanic; then Christian liberal modernist prayer expressing no supernatural divine intervention beliefs at all; then Native American peyote-influenced prayer; then . . .

MARK DAVIDSON

Costa Mesa

* Thanks to Ken Khachigian for having the boldness and common sense to expose the “prayer police” and the absurdity of their mission.

While school districts are handing out large sums for values and ethics education, we have those who would wish to abolish any reference to God, whether the students initiate it or not.

What possible harm could come from a basketball team deciding to acknowledge God in their endeavors?

I suppose at some point, if [some] groups have their way, the Pledge of Allegiance will have to be rewritten.

It is practically the only reference to God that is still allowed in our public schools.

NATALIE DAEDLER

Brea