U.S. military health officer draws complaint for writing blog post promoting prayer

U.S. Army Col. Thomas Hundley seeks to improve soldiers' 'spiritual fitness through increased prayer.' (Military Religious Freedom Foundation)

All military health officer Col. Thomas Hundley wanted to do was uplift the spirits of his comrades and share a touching conversation he had with his grandfather Jimmy Jordan of Millington, Tennessee.

On his January 4 blog post entitled "Motivational Monday Message: A Little Something to Work With," Hundley encouraged members of the armed forces to improve their "spiritual fitness through increased prayer."

Hundley was so encouraged by the wisdom shared by his grandfather about dedicating one's life to Christ that he shared Jordan's words on his post: "You don't need a whole lot to make it in this world. You just gotta give God a little something to work with. The Bible says that Jesus took two little fish and five loaves of bread and fed thousands. You know how He did that? He just gave God a little something to work with."

"If you desire to improve your health in this new year, just give yourself a little something to work with. During my grandfather's story he said, 'A person can't pray for a new job and expect to get it when they haven't even filled out an application. You have to give God a little something to work with,'" he added.

However, Hundley's post was met not with approval but rejection by the activist group Military Religious Freedom Foundation headed by Mikey Weinstein, who filed a complaint about it with the Army Regional Health Command in Virginia, according to Military.com.

"Apparently, Col. Thomas Hundley can't figure out whether he's an active duty senior Army officer or an evangelical Christian missionary," Weinstein wrote. "Col. Hundley has absolutely no business or authority under American law to be conflating his Army officer rank, title and position with his professed evangelical Christian faith."

When asked for a comment regarding the matter, the command's public affairs office did not provide any.

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