The coach of a successful high school boys’ basketball team has resigned after an atheist organization complained about the players wearing Bible verse-themed t-shirts.
The Animas High School Panthers in New Mexico advanced to the Class 1A state tournament this year, but not before sparking a controversy with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an organization of atheists and agnostics.
The Panthers’ players wore t-shirts in a Feb. 27 game warmups emblazoned with the phrase, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” A community member reported the t-shirts to the Wisconsin-based FFRF, which wrote a letter to the school superintendent, calling the t-shirts a violation of the First Amendment.
The superintendent, Loren R. Cushman, wrote back April 22, saying the matter had been resolved.
“The coach has submitted his resignation from the district,” Cushman wrote.
Animas is a small community of about 230 people, roughly an hour from the Mexico border.
Cushman did not identify the coach.
“I attended the game in question,” Cushman wrote. “When I observed the players wearing the t-shirts during pregame warmup, I immediately questioned the coach and athletic director.”
A local religious group, Cushman said, provided the shirts, and the coach handed them to the players a day or two prior to the game.
“I…
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