This year, secular Americans are holding an event that provides a counterpoint to the National Day of Prayer. On March 24 on the National Mall, the largest ever gathering of secular Americans will take place. They’re calling it the Reason Rally.

It isn’t just historically inaccurate to create a public display claiming that World War II was a religious crusade. It’s also unconstitutional. The First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” H.R. 2070 is in violation of this part of the Bill of Rights.

U.S. Representative Mo Brooks has declared atheists and agnostics to be his foes. The Secular Coalition for Alabama has reminded him that many of his constituents are atheists and agnostics.

Given that Americans have lived in a democracy, not a monarchy, for almost 240 years now, why are we having official religious rituals in Congress that use the language of the British Empire?

If H.R. 3600 succeeds, political candidates and political parties will be able to convert churches and charities into little more than campaign tools. Power brokers will be able to make donations to campaigns for political office through churches, and then to write off these campaign donations on their taxes. New corrupt relationships forged by financial transactions between churches and politicians will encourage radical schemes to increase government interference in religious matters, in order to give special advantage to well-connected preachers.

If you want an education, but don’t have the money or time to go back to school, just show up at the office of the United States Senate Chaplain, and ask Alan Keiran to pray you the knowledge and insights you need.

Atheists are Americans. Buddhists are Americans. Hindus are Americans. Humanists are Americans. Under H. Con. Res. 13, unfortunately, they are second class Americans.

The truth is that there is increasing distrust in the idea of God in the United States, and increasing disagreement on religious issues. If Congress passes any resolution on the subject, it should be to reaffirm that the government should simply stay out of religious affairs, and neither promote nor oppose any religious beliefs. The U.S. House of Representatives couldn’t help itself yesterday, though, and so it voted overwhelmingly to pass H. Con. Res. 13.

Gary Glenn proposes the idea that the United States is a Christian nation, with the government providing only a limited sort of religious freedom – that which protects Christianity in particular. He also expresses the idea that American rights don’t come from the Constitution at all, but rather from the deity that he worships.

H. Res. 211, if passed, would give congressional endorsement to the designation of the first weekend in May as a national celebration of an ancient Judaic equivalent of Islam’s sharia. That old religious law includes the command to refrain from creating most kinds of artwork.