A mass campus baptism assisted by the head football coach of an Alabama university has been criticised by an anti-religious group as “unconstitutional.”
Auburn’s Hugh Freeze took part in the baptisms following the Unite Auburn worship event, which was attended by around 5,000 people at the university’s Red Barn.
The event, which was backed by large donations, featured performances from the Christian band Passion and speakers such as Jennie Allen, a Christian author and Rev. Jonathon Pokluda, the lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.
After the event had concluded, one individual reportedly was seeking to be baptised, but a tub was not available so students and visitors started making their way down to the lake.
Eventually, 200 students lined up at the banks to be part of the baptism, according to reports.
"It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever gotten to witness because there was such a genuine joy and sense of peace in the air. I would look back toward campus and constantly see mobs of flashlights from more students that were running to come to join the crowd," Kenzie Gay, a senior at Auburn, told Fox News.
The Auburn Tigers head football coach, Hugh Freeze, also helped in assisting the college baptising.
However, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a non-profit anti-religion organisation that advocates for atheists, agnostics and nontheists, said that the mass baptism was “unconstitutional and inappropriate.”
The FFRF claimed that the event was unconstitional and that the coaches need to reminded they were not hired as “religious leaders”— (Unite Auburn/Instagram)
In a press release titled “FFRF warns Aubrun U over coach Freeze athlete baptism,” the organisation, based in Wisconsin, alleged that various sports coaches from Auburn University, as well as Freeze, took place in directing the baptisms.
They claim that alongside Mr Freeze, the basketball coach and the baseball coach were involved in promoting Unite Auburn, with the assistant men’s basketball coach and his wife organising and planning the event.
“It is unconstitutional and inappropriate for public school employees to direct students to partake in religious activities, or to participate in the religious activities of their students, they said in the statement.
“Auburn’s sports programs are full of young and impressionable student athletes who would not risk giving up their scholarship, playing time or a good recommendation from their coach by speaking out or voluntarily opting out of any team religious activities — even if they strongly disagreed with his beliefs.”
“Coaches exert great influence and power over student athletes and those athletes will follow the lead of their coaches. Using public university coaching positions to inject religion into its sports programs amounts to religious coercion,” the FFRF continued.
The FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said that the coaches performed an “abuse of power” during the event.
The Unite Auburn event attracted thousands of visitors, many of whom were college students— (Unite Auburn/Instagram)
The FFRF references the First Amendment and alludes that Auburn University has violated the constitution.
They ask that the university make sure that the coaches know they have “been hired as chooses, not religious leaders,” and not let them lead any other religious activities.
The Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, responded to the FFRF’s statement and letter to the university, saying Alabama “will not be intimidated by out-of-state interest groups dedicated to destroying our nation’s religious heritage.”
Ms Ivey, who is a Baptist, referenced the First Amendment, reminding the FFRF that it also protects the “free exercise” of religion and that she was committed to safeguarding “all Alabamians, religious and nonreligious alike.”
Alabama’s US representative Robert Aderholt also took to X to respond to FFRF’s condemnation of the event at the university.
“The Freedom From Religion Foundation should remember that the U.S. Constitution protects religious expression for everyone, regardless of who their employer might be. This event should be praised, not criticized,” he said.
Jennifer Wood Adams, executive director of public affairs for Auburn University’s President Christopher Roberts, said Friday that the university received the letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation and is looking it over.
“We have no further comment at this time,” she told The Washington Times.
