To the editor:

I read Donald W. Collins’ letter (Public Forum, July 25) with a sense of déjà vu. Practically the whole second half — starting with “This type of thinking causes us to lose our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values” — sounded awfully familiar. Turns out I wasn’t the only one, and that there was a darned good reason for it.

Except for the last paragraph, the entire second half of Mr. Collins’ letter was taken practically verbatim from “The Prayer of Repentance,” which was delivered to the Kansas House on Jan. 23, 1996, by Pastor Joe Wright, who appropriately acknowledged himself that his prayer was a revision of a 1995 prayer offered by Bob Russell at the Kentucky Governor’s Prayer Breakfast.

It’s unfortunate that, while Mr. Collins appropriately attributed quotes to Melinda Henderson and the Bible, he couldn’t do the same for Pastor Wright’s words, particularly in a letter about God and values.