Navy dismisses chaplain who prayed 'in Jesus' name'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Navy dismisses chaplain who prayed 'in Jesus' name'*
'We are homeless, jobless, and we are in God's hands'
Posted: January 12, 2007
A U.S. Navy chaplain who prayed "in Jesus' name" as his conscience
dictated is being ejected from the military service "in retaliation" for
his victorious battle to change Navy policy that required religious
rites be "non-sectarian."
"This fight cost me everything. My career is over, my family is now
homeless, we've lost a million dollar pension, but Congress agreed with
me and rescinded the Navy policy, so chaplains are free again to pray in
Jesus' name," Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt said. "My sacrifice
purchased their freedom. My conscience is clear, the fight was worth it,
and I'd do it all again."
Klingenschmitt, as was reported, has fought an extended battle with the
Navy over its restrictions on religious expression by its chaplains. He
appeared and delivered a public prayer "in Jesus' name" at a White House
rally last winter and was court-martialed for that. The Navy convicted
him of failing to follow a lawful order because his superior didn't want
him praying "in Jesus' name."
He's also launched a legal battle that he said he hopes eventually will
result in his reinstatement, alleging the Navy assembled a "civic
religion" by ordering its chaplains to pray in a certain way.
"There's a Unitarian system of religion that's aimed at Christians,"
John Whitehead, founder of the The Rutherford Institute, said. "It boils
down to that. We're seeing it all across the country, with council
prayers, kids wanting to mention Jesus. What's going on here is it's
generally a move in our government and military to set up a civic religion."
"I think the Supreme Court's going to have to look at the idea of can
the government in any of its forms tell people how to pray, set up a
basic religion and say you can only do it this way," he said.
Klingenschmitt said that he'd been delivered a formal letter of
reprimand for his appearance at a White House function in March 2006 at
which he wore his uniform and prayed "in Jesus' name." For that he was
convicted at a special court-martial of violating a lawful order from
his commanding officer not to do that.
His appearance was with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and
Judge Roy Moore, who was removed from his office when he refused to
follow a federal court order he considered unlawful: to remove a Ten
Commandments monument from public property.
Klingenschmitt's $3,000 fine was suspended and because of the issues,
Congress got involved and ordered the Navy to rescind that particular
policy, and allow chaplains to pray as their "conscience dictates."
In a Congressional report on the situation, members of a conference
committee noted, "The House bill contained a provision … to prescribe
that military chaplains shall have the prerogative to pray according to
the dictates of their conscience, except as must be limited by military
necessity, with any such limitation being imposed in the least
restrictive manner feasible." That position was adopted with orders that
the "Secretary of the Navy rescind Secretary of the Navy Instruction
1730.7C dated February 21, 2006, titled 'Religious Ministry within the
Department of the Navy'" and replace it with a policy allowing such
freedoms.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also then promised Congress that no
chaplain would be punished under the now-cancelled policy, but the
Navy's plans to get rid of Klingenschmitt moved forward anyway.
A federal judge in Klingenschmitt's lawsuit also concluded that his
termination from the service and the damage that would result would not
be "irreparable," so he would not step in at this point, and
Klingenschmitt was delivered a Navy letter this week ordering him to
move out of his home in conjunction with his removal from the service.
"Access onto all military installations within Navy Region Mid-Atlantic
for Lieutenant Gordon J. Klingenschmitt, CHC, USNR, will terminate on
January 31, 2007," said the letter from S.W. Wong, who is with the Judge
Advocate General's Corp.
While he's battling for reinstatement, Klingenschmitt said, he'll be
accepting speaking invitations and can be contacted through his website,
and working with supporters Alan Keyes and Rick Scarborough who have
assembled an online petition that calls on new Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates to honor Rumsfeld's promise that no chaplain would be
punished under the old policy.
"U.S. Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt is being unjustly
punished for praying in Jesus' name, for quoting Scripture passages in a
military chapel, for voicing evangelical messages about Christ while in
uniform," the petition says.
"Chaplain Klingenschmitt courageously stood for what is right, and his
stand was completely vindicated by Congress. I am calling on you to
immediately exonerate him and allow him to continue his outstanding
service as a Navy chaplain. Mr. Secretary, you must act! And fast!
Otherwise Chaplain Klingenschmitt will be kicked out of the service by
Jan. 31, ending an award-winning 15.5-year career. He will lose his
pension, health care benefits and be evicted from military housing – and
our sailors will lose this faithful vicar of Christ."
"I think the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, should keep the promise
of his predecessor," the chaplain told WND. "We are homeless, jobless
and we are in God's hands."
"My separation is in direct retaliation for my victory on Capitol Hill.
This is how the Navy treats whistleblowers," he added.
In the lawsuit filed by the Rutherford Institute, the authors noted that
courts in the District of Columbia already have concluded: "What we have
here is the government's attempt to override the Constitution and the
laws of the land by a directive that clearly interferes with military
chaplains' free exercise and free speech rights, as well as those of
their congregants."
The case developed when "one Navy Captain decided that he did not like
the content of the Chaplain's religious speech during an optionally
attended sermon in the chapel," the lawsuit said. Then a Navy
investigation showed Klingenschmitt had prayed "in Jesus' name" and had
even prayed in public in uniform. For that, the court-martial was held,
"ignoring Naval Uniform Regulations that permit chaplains to wear the
uniform during public worship."
The lawsuit notes that the Navy is using the chaplain's resignation from
one "ecclesiastical endorsement" and acceptance of another from a
different church group as its reason for terminating him. However, the
lawsuit notes that the Navy's own regulations state that a chaplain
"shall" be recertified on request.
In apparent conflict, a letter from J.C. Harvey Jr., a vice-admiral,
ordering Klingenschmitt's removal from the Navy, opined that
"presentation of a new ecclesiastical endorsement from a qualified
Religious Organization does not automatically mandate recertification."
The district court judge also found, in ruling against the chaplain,
that in the military "public worship" is different from "worshipping in
public," so that the Navy's punishment could move forward.