Prayer and the Joint Chiefs
I take exception to Watkins’ implication that those who object to institutionalized prayer in government have no concern for moral values or religion.
The Founding Fathers prevented our government from imposing its notion of God’s will on its citizens. Other peoples have allowed their governments to define God’s will. The Egyptian government now obliges its citizens to accept a return to male polygamy and the status of women as chattel because the Koran says it is God’s will. Thousands of Iranian boys and girls are slaughtered for a government certain that their deaths are in His cause.
A religious government is apt to use “God’s will” as justification for abuse of power. When the people whose fingers are on nuclear triggers develop conspicuous religious fervor, it’s a very frightening thing.
DAVID R. FLEISHER
Los Angeles
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