At Florida High School, Football Coach’s Main Goal is to Convert Students to Christianity

Jeremy Brown became the head football coach at Mosley High School (in Florida) nearly three years ago. And how has the team done since then? If you ask Brown, very well. That has nothing to do with their record — which, this season, was an unimpressive 4-6 — but that’s not the point.

Here’s Brown explaining to WJHG News how he knows his team has been successful:

… for one coach, teaching the game of football isn’t the most important thing.

“It’s got to be sharing Christ with kids,” Mosley head football coach Jeremy Brown said. “It’s got to be creating an environment where they can be successful. I’m in the business of earning crowns and not rings. If every kid on our football team is saved then I’ve been successful as a coach.”

“Well, I never really had a coach tell me about Christ or anything like that,” Mosley student athlete Ben Raybon said. “We pray every day before and after practice so he helped me kind of get closer to Christ and give the glory to Him.”

If the students were praying on their own, this wouldn’t be an issue. But that’s not the case at all. Brown is freely admitting his main goal is to convert every kid on that team to Christianity and that he’s taking steps to that effect.

If he were pushing any other religion, he would have been out of a job a long time ago, but because it’s Christianity, his proselytizing his just been accepted for years.

“I know that it’s probably not, maybe not politically correct, but at the end of the day that’s my heart and that’s where I’m at,” Brown said. “We just want the kids to know we love them and that we’re there for them, and that it is bigger than football.”

This isn’t a matter of political correctness. This is blatantly illegal. It’s absolutely irrelevant that he cares for these kids — you don’t get to break the law in the name of “love.”

I (still) serve as a head coach for a public high school team and I want the best for my kids, too. Does that mean it’s okay for me to tell them they need to stop believing in Bible-based bullshit? Of course not. If I did that, the district would have every right to get rid of me.

You could also say it’s not right for Brown to get a pass when he’s teaching these kids that if they don’t accept Jesus into their hearts, they’ll burn in hell for all of eternity. (So, screw you, Jewish and Muslim students.)

On a more practical level, how many students have just accepted his ways because they didn’t want to be the ones rocking the boat? How many said they accepted Christ just so their playing time wouldn’t be cut or they wouldn’t get on Brown’s bad side? We have no idea because the consequences for speaking out in a community like this are often devastating.

Here’s another question: Where are all those conservative Christian legal defense groups that tend to pop up in situations like this? When will they admit what Brown is doing is wrong? Groups like Liberty Counsel and Liberty Institute love to defend Christian coaches when they think there’s a legal loophole on their side. Remember Joe Kennedy, the publicly praying coach from Bremerton High School currently on paid leave for violating the law? Liberty Institute said what he was doing was legal because his prayers took place after games and students weren’t required to join him. His district’s attorneys, however, concluded that he was pushing Christianity while on duty enough that they would lose a lawsuit if this went to court.

Those Christian groups are too cowardly to say what Brown is doing is wrong. But when a lawsuit comes — and you bet your ass this has been reported to the Freedom From Religion Foundation — they’ll either try to defend him using the most distorted mental gymnastics you’ll ever see, or they’ll stay silent, which is their way of saying “Even we can’t defend you.” Their silence in this case will speak volumes.

(via Peacock Panache. Thanks to Brian for the link)