if i have a reason to be sitting at that parade, then yes i am being forced to endure something i may not believe in. if i go to a government meeting, it is because i am participating in my government. active participation, not passive, as you say. it is presumed that i chose to attend a government meeting in order to do my civic duty as a citizen. why should i be subjected to an invocation that i do not practice, and what will the government agents' reaction to me be if i do not participate in the prayer? you know what i would appreciate, if we are going to have this kind of religious discussion at government meetings? do the invocation at the end, after the business has been taken care of, and for the people who wish to participate. i do not go to meetings to get deluged with religion, i go to them because their business affects me and i need to participate to be heard.

that being said, if the town of greece wants to invite multiple faiths to provide the invocation, that is fine because they are then truly not establishing a particular faith for their meetings. by only allowing in the other faiths after they ask to be included, they are de facto establishing a particular religion as the preferred one, something i think should not have been able to stand.