General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Insulting Invocation [View all]MineralMan
(146,338 posts)However, that's to be expected in an invocation. I can give a good non-religious invocation, and have done so on a number of occasions, but I'm not particularly offended when an invocation includes religious references. I'm an atheist of longstanding, but I can let such invocations slide past my consciousness without difficulty. And that's just what I do. We live in a country that has a religion followed by a large proportion of our population. So, religious sentiments are often expressed in public and ceremonial gatherings.
None of those force me to worship anything. None of them carry any weight at all. I do not believe, so I do not bother with them. Ceremony like a presidential inauguration will always contain some sort of religious content. It would be silly to expect otherwise. Just let it pass over you and ignore it, like most non-believers do and like most followers of religions other than Christianity do.
There is no potential for harm in such words. They are an expression of belief that is shared by large numbers of our fellow citizens. Just shrug and let them pass. They will do you no harm.