When the Supreme Court recently ruled that prayers from a distinct religion could be offered in public meetings, it allowed for Christian prayers in Jesus’ Name.  But the ruling also said that prayers from other religions would also be allowed, including the equivalent from atheists.   So now atheists are being invited to preside over the ceremonial openings.   They are invoking not God, of course, but things like the spirit of goodwill, “self-government, the human condition, intellectual openness and minority viewpoints.” (more…)