High school mass baptism both unites and divides

One pastor believes there is a deeper meaning.

A controversial YouTube video featuring a mass baptism of high school football players in Villa Rica, Georgia has become a source of both kinship and animosity.

MUNTINLUPA CITY, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - A national controversy has emerged from the release of a YouTube video featuring the mass baptism of Villa Rica high school's football players. The pastor, who is now at the center of the controversy, believes a lot of people are missing the point.

Pastor Kevin Williams of the First Baptist Villa Rica believes there is a "bigger story that everybody's missing" in the heated debate over the mass baptism of high school football players at Villa Rica public high school.
Pastor Williams believes the baptisms showed an impressive unity among the diverse students present at the voluntary event.
He said, "In all this racial tension going on - and 'Black Lives Matter,' police getting killed - my thing is, if you watch this video, you see African American kids getting baptized, you see white kids getting baptized, you see Hispanic kids ... And they're all coming up hugging each other and high-fiving." 

Pastor Williams said the baptisms were a "positive thing." The event was held on the school's football field and was seen as a unification of the players at the Villa Rica high school. Students and players voluntarily decided to take part on August 17.
"It's been huge," Williams described. "They feel like they are brothers in arms."
In the wake of player camaraderie, atheist group  Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the Caroll County School District, demanding the officials of the school to investigate the event.
FFRF called the religious ceremony an "egregious constitutional violation." The letter concluded with "Please reply detailing the steps taken to bring Caroll County Schools into compliance with the First Amendment."
The Carroll County School District has already begun "looking into the specifics" of the mass baptism with investigations starting last week.
There have been no comments from the District.

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