Atheists deserve respect just like believers. That means I don’t use the law to restrict their speech anymore than they use the law to restrict mine. That’s what happens in a free country. We all get to practice our religion or non-religion so long as we don’t force others to participate.
I also believe that’s the intent of the constitution. The founders would have laughed at anyone who said a government official couldn’t invoke the name of the Lord while acting in an official capacity, and they didn’t have to invoke the name of every possible deity in order to be fair either.
BTW, a non-religious event could be considered coercive in an area where most people believe a particular religion. That’s what some people don’t seem to understand. They think it’s coercive to mention Jesus for example, but it’s also coercive to drive the name Jesus from the public square!
I should also add that I have no problem sharing the public square with other religions (before someone raises that point). I know Christianity will survive competition, and if I expect to be able to freely discuss my beliefs, I should respect the right of others to discuss theirs. I may not like an Islamic prayer and wouldn’t participate, but I’d listen respectfully or even use the time to quietly pray to my Lord.
My best friend at the time was Jewish (loved Sandy Koufax who had just beat the Twins in the World Series the season or two before) and he wanted to go, simply because they were going to be meeting the kids one on one and signing autographs at the end.
This was 1966 or 1967 and nobody saw a problem with it, least of all my friend. It was an invitation, after all, as most public prayers are. Yeah, I've sat through some public prayers where I felt uncomfortable and even rolled my eyes, where the person doing the prayer thought he or she was displaying their oratorical skills. So what? I've sat through some political speeches which were even worse.