Top West Point general: ‘Valid concerns’ raised about prayer after Army football game [View all]
Top West Point general: Valid concerns raised about prayer after Army football game
By Dan Lamothe
http://twitter.com/danlamothe
September 10
WEST POINT, N.Y. The top general at the U.S. Military Academy said that valid concerns about separation of church and state were raised by people who questioned why the Army football coach asked a staff assistant to lead his team in prayer after an upset victory last week.
The issue emerged after Coach Jeff Monken was shown in a video produced by West Point celebrating with his players and directing a member of his staff to lead a prayer after an upset victory Sept. 2 over Temple University. The video was taken down at the direction of Athletic Director Boo Corrigan after West Point received complaints because it was offensive to some people and leaving it online would have been like grinding salt into the wound, said Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, the superintendent at West Point.
Maybe 90 percent of the people who were out there supported the prayer, Caslen said. But, when you look at it from a legal basis and from a legal standpoint, and then you look at it from a leadership standpoint, there were some concerns, and I think theyre valid concerns.
....
The issue,
first reported Thursday by the independent Army Times, emerged after the nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation raised concerns publicly and said it had received dozens of complaints. The foundation regularly raises questions about issues of separation of church and state in the military.