"I'm still not comfortable with the fact that the government will require people to attend what is essentially a religious service as criminal punishment"

Maybe there's some kind of slippery slope there, where they eventually start sending you to church for a parking ticket. But we don't seem to be sliding to that conclusion very quickly; so if it works, just go with it.

If you want to make a big federal case out of it, you could probably win it. But I honestly don't see how anyone wins with that outcome.