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The secular Lefts campaign to purge the public sphere of all religious practice suffered a major defeat Monday when the Supreme Court ruled that a public high school violated a coachs First Amendment right to exercise his religion when it fired him for praying after a football game.

Joseph Kennedy had been a football coach at Bremerton High School for seven years when he invited an opposing football team to join him in prayer at the 50-yard line after a game. The opposing coach thought it was cool that Kennedy had invited another team to pray with him and approvingly mentioned the practice to the principal of Kennedys school.

The bureaucrats at the Bremerton School District did not think Kennedys post-game prayer was cool at all, however. They sent him a letter ordering him to stop. At first, Kennedy complied, waiting until long after a football game was over before he returned to the field to pray alone.

But then, Kennedy changed his mind. He decided he did not want to hide his religious beliefs from his players. He informed the district that he would pray by himself after games while the team was singing the school fight song. This was not good enough for the district, which issued a new letter forbidding Kennedy from any overt actions that appeared to endorse prayer while he was on duty as a coach. When Kennedy continued to pray after football games, the district fired him.

The First Amendment clearly states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. But the First Amendment also prohibits Congress from prohibiting the free exercise of religion. This means that public schools cannot force a teacher to remove a cross from around his or her neck or a yarmulke from the top of his or her head. Employees of state institutions such as schools should be able to keep their religious identities when they are working.

But the liberal justices on the court disagree. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Kennedys status as a school official means his right to pray at any time and in any manner he wishes is not absolute. Because of his unique coercive power as a football coach, Sotomayor argued, his players are especially vulnerable to the sight of him praying. The danger of just one player seeing his coach pray and then thinking that he too must pray justified Kennedys firing in Sotomayors eyes.

Fortunately, Justice Neil Gorsuch's majority opinion rests on much firmer ground.

Mr. Kennedys proposal to pray quietly by himself on the field would have meant some people would have seen his religious exercise, Gorsuch wrote. Those close at hand might have heard him too. But learning to tolerate speech or prayer of all kinds is part of learning how to live in a pluralistic society, a trait of character essential to a tolerant citizenry.

The Left, unfortunately, has lost its capacity to tolerate public displays of Christian belief or really of any beliefs except for its own very peculiar moralism. Teachers can sponsor gay pride clubs, and schools have entire curricula centered on environmentalism, feminism, and critical race theory. But if one football coach dares take a knee at the 50-yard line after a football game to give thanks to God, Democrats lose their minds.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has signaled it will now protect religious believers who are fired for publicly displaying their faith.

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A supreme win for football, faith, and democracy - Washington Examiner