Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has recently bad-mouthed the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s criticism of the Auburn University baseball team coach leading players in prayer and the inclusion of crosses and the phrase “Jesus won” on team gear. FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor have released the following statement in response:

Sen. Tuberville’s comments demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of both the Constitution and FFRF’s mission. The First Amendment protects every American’s right to practice their religion — or no religion at all — free from government coercion. It does not permit public university employees to use their official positions to promote Christianity to student-athletes.

FFRF has never objected to private religious expression by Auburn players, coaches or anyone else. What we object to is a public university baseball program using its official authority to organize team prayer and promote sectarian religious messages through university-sponsored athletics. Student-athletes come from a variety of religious backgrounds — and public university officials have a duty to respect that diversity rather than use their positions to advance a particular faith. Student-athletes should never be made to feel that participation on a public university team requires conformity to a coach’s religious beliefs.

Sen. Tuberville is also mistaken when he claims the United States was founded on “freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.” The Founders deliberately rejected religious establishments and created a secular Constitution that guarantees freedom of conscience for believers and nonbelievers alike. Religious freedom necessarily includes freedom from government-imposed religion.

As for the accusation that FFRF “hates God and America,” such rhetoric is as tired as it is false. FFRF’s members include patriotic Americans from every walk of life who are dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of church-state separation. We will continue standing up for the rights of all students, including Auburn’s Christian students, to make their own religious choices free from pressure by government officials.

The issue here is not whether Auburn players may pray or otherwise express their faith. They absolutely may. The issue is whether public university employees may use their positions of authority to promote Christianity through official team activities. The Constitution’s answer is: No.

Religious freedom means every student gets to decide for themselves what to believe. It does not mean government officials get to decide for them.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America, is a national nonprofit organization with about 41,000 members nationwide, including hundreds of members in Alabama. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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