Keeping prayer secular is the right thing to do

Re “Invoking God’s Blessing -- but Whose God?” Oct. 7

Kudos to Lt. Cmdr. John Dickens, a Navy chaplain at Camp Pendleton, who seems to understand that keeping prayer at mandatory ceremonies as secular as possible is the right thing to do. For a presiding chaplain to assume that each of the troops shares his particular faith would be patently absurd.

Retired Army chaplain Billy Baugham refers to nonsectarian prayer as “neutered prayer.” Obviously the policies of our armed forces make no attempt to control the nature of his (or anyone else’s) personal prayer. Personal prayer, after all, is the only type that, according to the New Testament, really matters. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m a little nervous about the motivations of anyone who objects to respect for diversity and inclusiveness.

LAURA DAVI

Aliso Viejo