Should prayer during non-religious ceremonies be banned when it comes to mandatory events?

Why- are you proposing that if you have a prayer- instead of just 1 prayer, you have to have 50 different prayers to accommodate all religions. You have no belief, so we know the prayer isn't for you. All service prayers are non-denominational chaplains of each faith rotate- you may even see a Muslim Iman soon. Your religious freedom, means that you do not have to take an active part in religious ceremonies of a different faith (you stand still in respect for the other people.) They can not try to sway up for own on beliefs. The 1st Amendment does not SAY there is NO Religion, it says all religions are welcome and the STATE will not ESTABLISH a religion. Study the history of the Church in England to get a handle on that

I get the feeling that prayer is ok. As long as you are in the church. Or your home. I'm sure that is how Obama and Hillary feel.

Has everyone forgot this?????????
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

This poses some interesting questions? Does hearing a prayer in public mean a religion has been "forced" on you? Does it somehow negate your atheism? In what way are you harmed by it? Sometimes, when I am in the car with my daughters I am "forced" to listen to music I believe lacking. Music which is neither thought provoking nor fulfilling. In most cases, we do not share similar beliefs about what makes a song good. That said, while I am inconvenienced by having to listen to it, I am not harmed by it. Annoyed? Absolutely. But, my annoyance is driven by my inability to appreciate it from their perspective. However, thise moments give me the opportunity to open dialogue with them to try to discover what it is about a particular song that they find appealing. In most cases, all they can say is that it makes them happy and gives them comfort. Since I am neither physically or emotionally harmed, I see no reason to change the station. When they get out of the car, I change it and give it no more thought. I have yet to unwillingly change my musical tastes from listening to their music and, in fact, my beliefs about good music are only reinforced. At the same time, it allows me insight into how my girls think, what influences them, and the kind of people they are.

I dont mind the prayer....i have seen others just remain silent and not participate in the prayer. Some dont bow their heads and such. I think prayer is an important part of a lot of lives and should not be removed from anything.

I think pray at any time is perfectly acceptable when it is the person's choice or even a group of people's choice. The establishment cause only goes into effect when it is some mandatory government entity requiring a particular view. And, I believe forcing a non-religious or theist free atmosphere is also promoting and forcing a particular view.

As an atheist, I really couldn't give two sh-ts about what you believe. In this country, you have that right.

With that said, they prayer in ceremony is tradition. It's mostly a show. We once had a Buddhist 'Chaps' do the prayer and opened with the same line, "Our heavenly Father".

Do I think it should be retired?

Personally, yes, but I'm not in the service anymore, so it doesn't affect me. Besides, I was more worried about falling out of the 2 hour retirement formation than what Chaplin Johnson was praying about.

I ‘me sure that anybody that didn’t want to be part of this group picture was free to walk away and not be part of it. People don’t have to participate if they don’t want to.

Some will say it offends them, so their rights are being violated. Not so they are free to leave whenever they want to.

Get over it. The Constitution says the government won't establish a religion. However that Constitution is being wrongly used to supress religion. Remember this country was founded by people escaping religious persecution.

Most of my military experience around Chaplains and invocations at events have been neutral and not inclusive to any one particular religion. I am a strong atheist, and feel organized religion has no place in the 21st century, and I have been satisfied with what I have seen... At least up until my most recent assignment. Currently, our Chaplains verbiage in his invocations are very indicative that he believes we should all share his viewpoints, and it is very unwelcoming. I have never been worried to go to a Chaplain because they always claim their neutrality, and should not bring religion up. However, with my current Chaplain, I have zero intentions of wanting to talk to him. So, regardless, he is still causing people to be pushed away, and it IS causing a problem within the military. I also understand that the reverse about the opposite situation could be said, but even a neutral prayer, I believe, would satisfy even the most extreme religious people.