Auburn mass baptism event on solid legal ground, attorney says despite warning from atheist group

A mass baptism event held earlier this month at Auburn University in Alabama has solid grounding in legal and founding principles, an attorney representing the school's football coach told FOX News on Monday.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) claimed in a letter warning the school last week that the baptisms, including one in which Coach Hugh Freeze assisted, violated the Establishent Clause of the Constitution.

"These ongoing and repeated constitutional violations at the University create a coercive environment that excludes those students who don’t subscribe to the Christian views being pushed onto players by their coaches," the letter stated

First Liberty Institute Attorney Jeremy Dys told "The Story" on Monday that the atheist group is "upset that Christian people are doing Christian things at a Christian organized event." 

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VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - JANUARY 10:    Pope Benedict XVI baptises a newborn baby in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel on January 10, 2010 in Vatican City. ((Photo by  L'Osservatore Romano-Vatican Pool via Getty Images))

"The Founding Fathers had absolutely no problem with this kind of thing. And the Supreme Court has recently reaffirmed that this is perfectly acceptable, that coaches like Coach Freeze and all the other coaches involved here, they don't have to shed their constitutional rights when they walk to the schoolhouse gate," Dys said.

"They can actually be people of faith."

In response to the FFRF's letter, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey called the group's interpretation of the Constitution misleading and said Freeze's freedom of religion is protected by the First Amendment.

"As governor, I can assure you that we will not be intimidated by out-of-state interest groups dedicated to destroying our nation's religious heritage," Ivey said.

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Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze speaks during NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.  (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Dys added that critics should reread the Constitution and cited Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's defenses of religious liberty as an example of such activities being protected by law.

He added that there is also no proof of claims of coercion, that no player on Auburn's sports teams has been warned they would be benched if they didn't participate in the baptisms.

"If the Founding Fathers landed in 2023 America today and saw the amount of suppression in the name of religious freedom that this group and others is trying to force upon us, they would be shocked and concerned," he added.

"The reality is this we have more religious freedom in our country today than we have had in decades."

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Dys concluded that, should anyone have reservations about expressing their freedom of religion, they should reach out to his organization to help show that there should not be such reservations in this day and age.

The "Unite Auburn" event featured performances by Christian worship band Passion and included speakers like Rev. Jonathan Pokluda of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Texas.

Fox News' Kyle Morris and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

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