As a matter of history, prayers by tax-funded legislative chaplains go way back to the First Continental Congress and the Congress that framed the Bill of Rights. I like the phraseology used by Chief Justice Warren Burger in 1983, when writing the majority opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court that rejected a challenge to a state-funded chaplaincy that was offering prayers at the start of state legislative sessions. The Chief Justice wrote: “an invocation for divine guidance is not an establishment of religion,” but simply “a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country.”

The First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion. All of the uniformed services have worked for decades to accommodate the diverse religious and cultural traditions that are the American melting pot. Offering prayers at mealtimes in the military is not “establishment of religion.” Chaplaincies, and prayer in the armed services have become part of the diverse fabric of our pluralistic society.

Members of the uniformed services, who are called to put their lives on the line for their country, have the right to seek divine comfort and guidance through prayer. Those who are in communal gatherings who don’t share that faith have the right to focus their minds on whatever thoughts might give them comfort, peace, and courage. They may think of others who have given so much to preserve our freedom, or may simply engage in a moment of silence honoring those who have fallen. They are no more forced to swallow prayers they don’t agree with than the food in front of them. That’s their choice. But they don’t have the right to deny others the privilege and comfort of prayer in such group settings.