Why should any religious person have to accept a communal activity that does not involve having "spiritual" matters being addressed?

Because some things are civil. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.

If the Nazarene could recognize that (in an exchange with some Pharisees, btw), why can't some of his followers?

Besides, a truly religious person can include his own religious outlook in any civil matter by bringing the ethics of his religion to the matter with him, without having to hit his fellow citizens over the head with by praying out loud at them. The Nazarene again: Those who give alms in public seek the approval of men. The right hand should not know what the left hand is doing.

Why should a jewish kid who lives in a mostly christian culture not be exposed to Christian religion.

For crying out loud, how can he help but be exposed? There's all kinds of private religious expression of Christianity going on all the time that non-Christians are exposed to, passively. Why should they be stuck with even more that they either must attend or are forced to pay for, and which are not instructional in nature but evangelical? (Evangelical in this case not referring to any denomination, but to the practice of preaching.)

Do we want to promote alienation as a social value?

People are already alienated by the infliction of majority religion upon them. Society at large is hearing about their alienation more often. That's why we have these lawsuits in the first place.

Are you going to have problem with some buddhist blessing a plane?

Does the government own it? Am I required to stand there and listen to it?

Say a christian kid for some reason was allowed to play football at Muslim or Jewish school does that mean they should restrict what they might normally do because they have a non jew or muslim is involved?

If a Jewish kid is playing ball, or attending any function at a Christian school, the kid would be obliged to follow the customs of that private organization. Nor would there be any reason to expect otherwise.

We are talking about public functions at public facilities supported by public money. This is the fundamental difference.

Why do you assume that a different religion should be so offensive to someone who holds a different faith.

Because I have listened to people of non-majority religions say so. Repeatedly. Out loud. If you will pay attention, you will hear them too. Some of them even go to court and say so. Thus, this conversation.

Wouldn't this just be an opportunity to get a better understanding of the people they are interacting with?

If it were a dialog, freely entered into, yes. We're not talking about a dialog here. The only thing that can be learned from having to submit to a prayer that you do not believe in order to "play nice" is that the majority religion does not recognize, or care about, your presence, your beliefs, or your feelings.

Another thing is there is quite a difference between different Christian sects, would a Catholic be so affronted to have a Baptist say a prayer?

When I was a child, raised a Catholic in Catholic schools, I was forbidden from attending other religious services, especially the heretic Protestant ones. In the spirit of ecumenism, Catholicism will now recognize other prayers, but will not recognize other religious services or sacraments. And there are quite a few old-school Catholics who, yes, are offended by having to listen to heretic prayers.

And attempting to drive religion from the public space is also sending a message.

No one is driving religion from the public space. People wear tee shirts proclaiming their faith. They play Christian music on their car radios with the windows open. They have religious displays on church property and in the yards and windows of private homes that front on the street.

The issue is public expression of any particular religious belief on public property at public functions funded by public money.

As a person who does not belong to a faith, I don't find expressions of various beliefs as distracting as anything else that someone might saying about anything. Say, a bake sale announcement or any other thing that I may or may not be interested in.

Good for you. Your approach to spiritual expression and to state sponsorship of religion are not universally shared. People who have other opinions get to express them too.

"(In the case of the Jewish kid, it's no less than idolatry to worship a human being! But that's OK, I suppose, because they're "only Jews".) It would be different if the kid's attendence were not required, or if the event were not paid for using money coming from taxpayers who are not all Christian either."

You can't force people to worship.

You can inflict involuntary participation on them. Why should they have to hear it? Is the function of a football game to invoke the Christian God to bless the team? No.

Even people who go to a church can fall asleep during a sermon.

The person asleep in the church: did he arrive there for church, or for a non-sectarian activity? Who pays for the church?

If you can't get followers of a church to be "involved enough", what "hope" is there of bringing this about with someone merely "passing through"?

That's not the point. The point is, religion is being sponsored by a government-supported activity.

If I attend a marriage- it doesn't mean I want be to married. If I accept a fortune telling, it doesn't mean I believe in palm reading. If I witness a witch cleansing an area of bad spirits, it doesn't mean I think there actually are bad spirits. I could find any of this stuff interesting or not interesting- so what?

If you attend. If you accept. If you witness. You have a choice, and you don't have to pay for it involuntarily.

The problem is you are being just as supersitious as church people who fear the influence devil worshipers.

The problem is, I understand what the First Amendment says and why it's there, and you don't. Minority rights are every bit as important as majority rights. Everyone ought to be able to go someplace where we are all citizens together, not Christian citizens and those of us expected to shut up and take it.