The recent flap over the firing – and subsequent “un-firing” – of House chaplain Rev. Patrick J. Conroy raised a number of questions about House Speaker Paul B. Ryan (R-Wisc.) and his motives. An even more compelling question: How did a nation founded on separation of church and state end up with taxpayer-funded chaplains in Congress?

Americans United and allies explained to a federal appeals court why the U.S. House of Representatives must allow nontheistic guest chaplains to offer secular invocations. Nontheists are as capable as theists of solemnizing events by calling upon values that our nation holds dear – values like unity, tolerance and equality that are, in fact, undermined by the House chaplain’s policy.

“The U.S. House of Representatives’ practice of having overwhelmingly Christian and monotheistic invocations does not reflect the religious pluralism of today’s America,” said Rachel Laser, AU’s president and CEO. “The chaplains offering invocations to the House should reflect this religious diversity.”