The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against US House of Representatives Chaplain Patrick Conroy [official website] on Thursday after being barred from delivering an invocation. Dan Barker [profile], Co-President of the FFRF, was prohibited from offering a secular invocation before the House. Conroy argues that Barker renounced his religion and was no longer a true minister. Although Barker no longer practices the religion that he did when he became ordained, his certificate was still valid. Barker argues that Conroy’s actions discriminate against the nonreligious and minority religions. Barker has also included other members of the House in the lawsuit, claiming discrimination against non-believers because no non-believer has ever been asked to offer an invocation in front of the House.

Throughout the country religion continues to raise controversial First Amendment questions. In April the governor of Tennessee vetoed [JURIST, report] a bill declaring the Bible as the official state book. Also in April a California federal judge required Los Angeles County to remove [JURIST report] a Latin cross from the county seal. In November a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas [official website] ruled that a nativity scene on Baxter County Courthouse grounds violated the First Amendment [JURIST report]. In September the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled that a six-foot-tall statue of Jesus may remain [JURIST report] on US Forest Service land.