HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – History will be made when atheist Kelly McCauley delivers the invocation at Thursday's Huntsville City Council meeting.

The American Atheists began pushing the city last year to add secular speakers to the list of local religious leaders who offer an invocation – usually in the form of a short prayer -- at the outset of council meetings.

Their position gained traction in May, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Town of Greece vs. Galloway that public prayer before government meetings is Constitutional – as long as the opportunity to deliver the invocation is open to anyone, "including an atheist."

McCauley's invocation – scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday on the ground floor of Huntsville City Hall, 308 Fountain Circle – is believed to be the first by an atheist at a government function in Alabama.

"I think it is historic on a statewide basis," American Atheists Regional Director Chuck Miller said Tuesday.

Reaction to the news has been mixed. Here's a sampling of comments from AL.com readers:

"All hail free thought and man's vanity and pride. We are in big trouble folks." – whupem

"Funny, this was all started by the vanity of extremist Christians who felt the need for everyone to see them pray in public, at government functions." – dbexthree

"An atheist giving an invocation? What do they invoke? Talk about a waste of time (and lack of sense!) but then, hey, that is government for you. A lot of hot air and not getting anything done." – BamaDave57

"POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS. Say one nice thing about each person in the room. Way better than prayer." – Peachy Nietzsche

"Looks like the city council has decided to give Huntsville to HELL. Was going that way any way." -- ahsgrad07

"If, over the course of it's existence, a governmental body only invites and allows people of one particular faith to give an invocation, and this particular faith isn't representative of all those governed, there seems to be an unfair bias. There's no harm in inviting these other voices be recognized, is there?" – Yukon67

"Freedom of Religion" is not "Freedom FROM Religion" and does not mean that every Tom, Dick, and Harry has to be allowed to give an "invocation" at every public event. That being said, every Tom, Dick, and Harry (and Miller) DOES have the right to be heard at the public council meetings within the rule of order." – unbiasedopin

What about you?