Religion was infused into my high school sports life. As I think back, this was totally unfair. Here's how the exchange went on the day I was personally, and directly, affected:
We were in the locker room before the volleyball game was set to start. Coach had just finished giving us our customary pep talk. Suddenly her gaze fell on me and she said,
Coach: Krista, you're on.
Me: (innocently) I'm on what?
Coach: PRAY, YOU IDIOT!
Me: Yes Ma'am (I dutifully prayed.)
Although the ACLU may get it's panties in a wad over this incident, this was probably the least objectionable comment uttered by my coach. Her method of motivation was criticism, constant lecturing and yelling.
Not even remotely a religious person, I suspect that praying wasn't her idea either. It was probably customary for the times.
Since almost everybody in my high school was LDS, most of the prayers were Mormon prayers. However, we hit on a solution that worked out well and that I've not seen implemented anywhere else.
We had the Buddhist kids pray.
They would give a nice little non-denominational prayer that pleased everyone and offended no one. Some might not even consider it a prayer. However, it was prayer enough for most people and not-prayer enough for the others. What's more, it never hurt anyone.
My point? I don't have one exactly, but I'm sure there's a point in here somewhere...
We were in the locker room before the volleyball game was set to start. Coach had just finished giving us our customary pep talk. Suddenly her gaze fell on me and she said,
Coach: Krista, you're on.
Me: (innocently) I'm on what?
Coach: PRAY, YOU IDIOT!
Me: Yes Ma'am (I dutifully prayed.)
Although the ACLU may get it's panties in a wad over this incident, this was probably the least objectionable comment uttered by my coach. Her method of motivation was criticism, constant lecturing and yelling.
Not even remotely a religious person, I suspect that praying wasn't her idea either. It was probably customary for the times.
Since almost everybody in my high school was LDS, most of the prayers were Mormon prayers. However, we hit on a solution that worked out well and that I've not seen implemented anywhere else.
We had the Buddhist kids pray.
They would give a nice little non-denominational prayer that pleased everyone and offended no one. Some might not even consider it a prayer. However, it was prayer enough for most people and not-prayer enough for the others. What's more, it never hurt anyone.
My point? I don't have one exactly, but I'm sure there's a point in here somewhere...
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