Son of Timatollah

14 February 2006

Mr. Michael W. Wynne
Secretary of the Air Force
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I am writing to protest the United States Air Force’s change to the policies that had been most recently in effect regarding proselytizing behavior by superiors and non-denominational prayers by USAF chaplains.

In the former situation, there is no situation in which a superior officer can or should speak to subordinates about her or his religious beliefs as an equal to the subordinate. To do so turns the military chain of command on its end. In a time of war, this is unacceptable. Better that our commanding officers place their allegiance first to this nation and second to their winning converts for whatever it is they happen to believe.

To the matter of the second situation, our military chaplains have to minister to a diverse group of men and women. If they cannot put the demands of their particular religion aside for the good of our troops, then maybe they should find a better way to serve our nation.

We are engaged in a sustained military action in Iraq, sir. With all due respect, you should not have changed what was a sensible policy that supported the military needs of this nation over the political demands of a bunch of religious extremists. I strongly encourage you to return the policy to that announced last August.

Sincerely,

Timothy A. Wilson

# posted by Tim @ 21:04