‘Religious Liberty Prevailed!’: Conservatives Respond To Supreme Court Ruling In Favor Of Praying Football Coach | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Dillon Burroughs.

    American conservatives celebrated the news of the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of a former Washington high school football coach praying on the field after games.

    The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-3 decision that Coach Joe Kennedy's ability to privately pray on the 50-yard line falls under the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment.

    "Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Court's opinion.

    "Religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination," he added.

    Conservatives were quick to respond on social media as news of the decision spread.

    "Today our First Amendment rights were protected and religious liberty prevailed!" Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) tweeted.

    Former Vice President Mike Pence also joined in noting the win for religious liberty.

    "Today, Religious Liberty Won! In a 6-3 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court upheld our first Freedom, the Freedom of Religion, in siding with Coach Kennedy!" Pence wrote.

    "Grateful for Coach Kennedy's courageous stand for Religious Freedom," he added in another post.

    Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) called the ruling, "A huge win for religious liberty! I'm inspired by and grateful for Coach Kennedy's determination to protect prayer for public school officials."

    Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) posted a picture of himself praying with Kennedy alongside his supportive words.

    "Huge day for our right as Americans to be able to live our faith freely. Thank you for standing up for our right to freely live our faith, Coach Kennedy & for taking your case all the way to the highest court in the land," Lankford wrote.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) spoke more broadly in response to both Kennedy's victory and Friday's ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

    "The Court rightfully held that a football coach praying alone in view of his players is not a violation of the Constitution, but rather protected religious and free speech activity under the First Amendment. This is a common-sense ruling," he wrote.

    "All those years of hard work fighting for conservative judges on the Supreme Court is paying off-big time!" Graham added.

    Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) also joined in the many responses to the Supreme Court's ruling.

    "Religious freedom is a bedrock principle enumerated within our Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court upheld this principle and our founding documents by coming down on the side of Coach Kennedy," Wicker tweeted.

    Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) added, "Glad to see SCOTUS protect our religious freedom on and off the field."

    Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) referred to the ruling as common sense.

    "The Supreme Court confirmed what is common sense. A school can't stop a football coach from having a private, post-game prayer," he wrote.