Would you want a jehovah witness coaching your child?

• homefield

  

  I ask this because i was told that one of the coaches at a local high school is a jehovah witness and has prayer meetings that he invites kids to attend.
  Do you think this is proper or am i just making something out of nothing?
• UA5straightin2008

  

  if he is preaching to them and trying to alter their beliefs then yes it is a problem..if it is an optional prayer meeting i dont see any harm if people decide to or not to attend...hes not making anyone do anything
• sleeper

  

  I don't think that's proper, but I also think churches should be burned to the ground.
• Be Nice

  ^oh my!
• Upper90

  I see nothing wrong with that.
  
  Inviting is fine. Forcing is not.
• dwccrew

  

  What Upper said.
• captain_obvious

  Is he prompt? does he keep the kids safe? Does he give good instruction? etc.
  
  Now as far as the prayer meeting invite, I think it is immaterial what religion he is. Its innappropriate, and I coach at a Catholic school.
• Heretic

  

  Wouldn't be worse than any other Christian-type cult member.
• FairwoodKing

  Steubenville's Reno Saccoccia has the players recite the Lord's Prayer before every game. I'm not aware that anyone has ever complained.
• Gobuckeyes1

  FairwoodKing wrote: Steubenville's Reno Saccoccia has the players recite the Lord's Prayer before every game. I'm not aware that anyone has ever complained.

  We did this when I played an no one complained, either.
  
  I would tell my child that if the coach says anything about his religion in practice to let me know. As long as he isn't preaching during practice, and the "meetings" and optional, no problem.
• Swamp Fox

  We had a female weight coach a number of years ago that was heavily into the activities of her church and she began to evangelize (I couldn't think of a better word). At first it was not a problem but the complaints came and the parents of a few of our kids were not happy and so we had to remove the coach for the good of the team. It wasn't that the young lady was overbearing or anything like that, but when the issue of religion comes up, it immediately becomes controversial to some. She wanted the kids to group pray and things of that nature and it can get out of hand pretty quickly. It wasn't a constant part of practice for her athletes but was done in a little group before the weight events began etc., essentially a harmless almost non-denominational generic prayer, not to win, but to pray for health, a safe trip home etc. etc.. I should perhaps tell you that the girl was not a Jehova's Witness. I have known some Witnesses and I don't think it would be a problem, if they kept their personal religious convictions out of it. Of course, that would be true of anyone regarding their religion.
• Fab4Runner

  

  Upper90 wrote: I see nothing wrong with that.
  
  Inviting is fine. Forcing is not.

• Gblock

  my mother is a witness and growing up i attended the kingdom hall many times and they dont have "prayer meetings" so i question the validity of the story you were told
• thavoice

  coaching a kid? Wouldnt mind. INviting and attending prayer sessions? Think that is over the line. Kid may feel pressured to attend and take on the beliefs. They can be very impressionable at a young age to an authority figure like a coach.
  
  I think it is out of line for the coach to even invite. Some kids may feel obligated to go cause he is the coach.
• berry

  Not a problem. But you should probably check your child for any unusual markings after each practice.
• Gblock

  i dont think any coach of any religion should invite kids to anything involving religion
• Fly4Fun

  

  I agree with the assessment that inviting a kids crosses a line because there can be unseen pressure...
  
  Hell, everyone knows about sports and "optional" workouts. What would the difference be between those and "optional" prayer sessions.
• homefield

  

  Gblock wrote: my mother is a witness and growing up i attended the kingdom hall many times and they dont have "prayer meetings" so i question the validity of the story you were told

  I don't know much about the jehovah beliefs except that he stopped celebrating christmas for his kids because he said it was wrong and yes he does have meetings at his house.My brother lives next door to him and said that he has even asked his family to attend but they declined.
• Thunder70

  

  We had a player led (myself) prayer before each game in HS. The coaches participated and no one objected publicly...
  
  It's not a problem if it isn't forced...
• homefield

  

  I think saying a prayer before a game is fine because you are doing it for the team to be safe and healthy and maybe hoping for a little help in getting a victory but having kids think that your beliefs are the right way to live are wrong and i just don't think an adult coach should be having kids over to his house for prayer meetings.
• Gblock

  homefield wrote:

  Gblock wrote: my mother is a witness and growing up i attended the kingdom hall many times and they dont have "prayer meetings" so i question the validity of the story you were told

  I don't know much about the jehovah beliefs except that he stopped celebrating christmas for his kids because he said it was wrong and yes he does have meetings at his house.My brother lives next door to him and said that he has even asked his family to attend but they declined.

  most likely what your referring to is a bible study not a "prayer meeting"
• Fab4Runner

  

  homefield wrote: I think saying a prayer before a game is fine because you are doing it for the team to be safe and healthy and maybe hoping for a little help in getting a victory but having kids think that your beliefs are the right way to live are wrong and i just don't think an adult coach should be having kids over to his house for prayer meetings.

  So saying a prayer for the team is okay but having a prayer meeting (where the same exact prayer could be said) is wrong? It seems like you are picking and choosing what forms of religion and prayer should be okay and not okay. Not sure how that makes sense.
• Gblock

  during my coaching days we always left the room if the kids wanted to do a prayer before the game because you can be fired if you are said to have led a team prayer. it didnt come up on some teams but on some it did. personally i discouraged it because it can lead to problems but if they wanted to do it we would give them time to do it.
• thavoice

  We used to have a prayer before each game that we played in HS baseball.
• GoChiefs

  

  If the coach was of the same faith as you and was inviting members of the team to church..would you still have started this thread?