PETER BUFFA -- Comments & Curiosities

Costa Mesa High School 1, U.S. Supreme Court 0. Go Mustangs!

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court came up with one of those decisions

that make most of us think, “Don’t these people have anything better to

do?”

Based on a Texas case over whether or not a prayer could be said before

high school football games, the Really High Court said “No way, no how,

knock it off.”

The actual ruling contained a little more legalese than that, but you get

the point. Likewise, Costa Mesa’s athletic director and baseball coach,

Kirk Bauermeister, was no less to the point.

“If anyone has a problem with praying, they have a problem with life,”

said Coach Kirk.

A little philosophical for a baseball coach, but well said, say I. The

tradition of saying a brief, voluntary team prayer before Mustang games

will go on -- with or without the Supreme Court’s, well, blessing, said

the coach.

How do these things get started? Let’s review.

It’s customary at high school football games in the Lone Star State to

have a student take the microphone and offer a short, pre-kickoff prayer

to “... keep the kids safe, have a good game, etc., etc.”

Believe it or not, some parents at a public high school had a schmoo over

the pregame prayers, and filed a complaint. What’s interesting, though,

is who filed the complaint.

Was it an agnostic? An atheist? Did Madalyn Murray O’Hair finally turn

up? Heavens, no. The original complaint was filed by two families -- one

Catholic and one Mormon. It is a funny old world, is it not?

In 1995, the American Civil Liberties Union, God bless them, sued the

local school board on behalf of the two families, claiming the pregame

prayer was a form of public worship, and thus unconstitutional. And so

for five years, countless hours and dollars have been spent by both sides

in one court after another, and now the highest court in the land, over

whether or not some 15-year-old kid from Lubbock can pick up a microphone

and say, “Dear Lord, let it be a great game, don’t let anyone get hurt.

Amen.”

If anyone knows what the two families who were offended by this were

thinking, please let me know.

Speaking for the majority in the 6-to-3 decision, Supreme Court Justice

John Paul Stevens tried to clear it up for us mortals: “It sends a

message to members of the audience who are nonadherents that they are

outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an

accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members

of the political community.”

Wowski. That’s a lot of meaning stuffed into a five-second prayer by a

sophomore from Lubbock with bad skin. According to Justice John, you got

your “adherents” and your “nonadherents.” In Texas, adherents believe in

God. Nonadherents believe in Troy Aikman. Apparently, at the moment the

pregame prayer is done, the concern is that small groups of nonadherents

will grab their seat cushions and say, “Let’s go, honey. They don’t want

us here. Darn adherents!”

The underlying issue here, though, is that the two families, the American

Civil Liberties Union and the Supreme Court majority are all missing the

point. In Texas, pregame prayers at high school football games do not

constitute “public worship.”

In Texas, high school football itself already is public worship. In fact,

it’s a recognized religion. The religious preference section of census

forms in Texas lists “High School Football” just above “Hinduism” and

“Other.”

Here in Newport-Mesa land, 3,000 or 4,000 people is a bona fide big deal

for a high school game. In Texas, a crowd of 10,000 or 15,000 is no big thing. And we’re not talking about the state championship in Texas

Stadium. We’re talking about Thursday night in Midland-Odessa.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that the Texas legislature passed a law banning

the discharge of firearms at athletic events. The problem wasn’t violent

crime. It was fans at high school football games.

When either team scored, a few fans on that side of the field would jump

up, scream “God bless Texas!” and fire a few rounds in the air. I suspect

that gets the full attention of the folks sitting nearby, regardless of

their religious beliefs.

But we digress. The separation of church and state is an important issue.

No argument there. But does any reasonable person believe the entire

constitutional order will unravel because someone offers an innocuous,

little voluntary prayer in a public school?

Doesn’t the Supreme Court have enough on its plate? What about the

Microsoft case? That’s the kind of thing the Supremes should be chewing

on. A hundred lawyers on each side, and a zillion dollars hanging in the

balance. Bill Gates’ voice is getting even higher and 90% of the

computers in the world could be affected. Figure that thing out.

What about the price of gas in the Midwest? I was in Chicago last week --

$2.02 cents a gallon for regular! What is that all about?

And that doesn’t even address the fundamental questions of life, which

the Supreme Court never seems to answer. How does dry-cleaning work? Why

can’t you tickle yourself? How does a Thermos know whether to keep things

hot, or cold?

Solve some of those, High Courtiers, if you really want to earn your

lifetime tenure.

So to Coach Kirk and high school players everywhere, I say pray early and

often. Pitted against the power of prayer and the Amarillo Armadillos JV,

those gray hairs in the black robes don’t have a prayer.

I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Fridays. He

can be reached via e-mail at o7 [email protected] .