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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey bluntly pushed back Friday on activist atheists upset about an evangelical worship event at state-owned Auburn University and the three coaches who supported the event.
“We will not be intimidated by out-of-state interest groups dedicated to destroying our nation’s religious heritage,” Ms. Ivey, a Republican, wrote to the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s co-presidents, Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker. “Please understand that our state motto is, ’We dare defend our rights.’”
“We should be more welcoming, not less, to expressions of faith, and society would be worse off were we to purge religion from our public institutions,” added Ms. Ivey, a Baptist.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican and former football coach at Auburn, said on X he was “happy to be criticized for being ’overly prayerful.’”
The Wisconsin-based atheist group sent a “warning letter” to Auburn after the Sept. 12 “Unite Auburn” event drew national attention for a spontaneous mass baptism in which about 200 students were immersed as a sign of their religious commitment.
Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze baptized one of his football players in a small lake about half a mile from the worship venue. Mr. Freeze was the football coach at Liberty University, America’s largest evangelical Christian school, and is known for sharing his Christian testimony.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, which claims a mission “to protect” church-state separation, objected to Mr. Freeze’s role in the baptisms and said it received “numerous reports” that he, Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl and baseball coach Butch Thompson “actively promoted” the event to students.
Mr. Pearl is Jewish, but foundation attorney Chris Line said via email Friday that “he still entangles his religion with his program” because last year he led a group of athletes on a tour of Israel where “players are going to see their Judeo-Christian roots.”
Mr. Line initially said in an email to The Washington Times that Mr. Pearl “baptised” students on that trip, but later conceded “there is no evidence as far as I am aware he personally baptized” anyone.
Mr. Line this month sent a similar warning letter to Snead State Community College President Joe Whitmore, after a report that he has offered prayers before meals and at staff events. Snead, in Boaz, Alabama, was founded as a religious school, Ms. Ivey noted in her letter.
“The facts described in your recent letters do not violate anyone’s religious liberty,” the governor wrote. “Even according to your own account, these events all involved adults interacting with other adults, and no one faced any threat of adverse consequences for declining to participate.
“Requiring college officials to entirely remove faith from their lives could well violate those officials’ own religious freedom. After all, the First Amendment protects the free exercise’ of religion just as much as it prohibits government establishment of religion.”
Mr. Line responded to Ms. Ivey’s letter in an email to The Washington Times: “It is disappointing but not surprising that Governor Kay Ivey would side with proselytizing coaches and administrators over Alabama’s students and the law.” He promised the organization would send a formal response to the governor.
Jennifer Wood Adams, executive director of public affairs for Auburn University President Christopher Roberts, said Friday that the university received the letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation and is evaluating it. “We have no further comment at this time,” she said.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported when Mr. Freeze began coaching Auburn in relation to Mr. Tuberville’s tenure.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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