Chaplain's Court Martial Highlights Attacks on Americans' Religious Liberty

Chaplain's Court Martial Highlights Attacks on Americans' Religious Liberty

By Bill Fancher, Chad Groening, and Jenni Parker
September 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - The court martial of an evangelical Christian Navy chaplain began Tuesday morning at the Norfolk, Virginia, Naval Station. The 15-year military officer is being tried for closing prayer "in the name of Jesus" in public, while in uniform, during a news conference in front of the White House.

Lieutenant Gordon James Klingenschmitt believes he is being punished by U.S. military authorities for being a whistleblower about the Navy's new policy regarding prayer. On February 21 of this year, the Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter signed a new policy requiring Navy chaplains to use "non-sectarian" content during public prayers outside of a chapel setting, and authorized Navy commanders to discipline any chaplains who disobeyed the directive.

Klingenschmitt filed a formal whistleblower complaint against the Secretary of the Navy and the policy's author, Chief of Navy Chaplains Rear Admiral Lou Iasiello. Later, on March 30, he attended an event hosted by former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in front of the White House, and offered a prayer while in uniform, closing the invocation with "in Jesus' name," despite the new Navy policy mandating "non-sectarian" prayers.

Four weeks later, charges were filed against the Lieutenant for disobeying a lawful order. He contends he is innocent and says a superior officer had ordered him not to wear his uniform during media appearances without first receiving permission, but had said he could be in uniform if he were conducting a "bona fide worship service," which the chaplain insists his part in the news conference was. Now, as he faces a court martial, the Christian military officer is aware that the stakes are high, and the consequences of a guilty verdict, serious.

"If I'm found guilty," Klingenschmitt points out, "I will be drummed out of the Navy, I will lose my 1.8-million-dollar pension, and my wife and dog will be evicted from military housing -- all for the 'crime' of praying in Jesus' name in uniform and also for quoting the Bible in the chapel." The chaplain describes his case as "historic, in a bad way."

One positive turn of events, the Lieutenant notes, is that the military court is allowing Judge Roy Moore to testify in his defense. "He's going to say that, yes, Chaplain Klingenschmitt only prayed. He didn't make any political speeches," the defendant asserts, "and we have an inalienable right to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, even in public."

Moore was subpoenaed and is expected to testify today. As a WorldNetDaily report notes, the former Alabama Supreme Court justice has stated his belief that President George W. Bush should get involved in protecting the rights of Christian chaplains to pray in Jesus' name. In so doing, Moore says, the President "would be upholding the religious freedom of all Americans."

Klingenschmitt, who has pleaded not guilty, thinks the trial will not last more than a few days. If the verdict goes against him, he could possibly forfeit two-thirds of his pay per month and be reprimanded, could receive jail time, or could even be dismissed from the Navy and lose his retirement benefits.

Pro-Family Advocate: Chaplain Klingenschmitt's Battle is America's Battle
The plight of Klingenschmitt and other military chaplains has focused the attention of many Christian conservatives on the erosion of religious freedoms in American society. Pro-family activist and commentator Janet Folger of the group Faith 2 Action is one of many who are livid over what is taking place, and she is calling on the public to rise up against what she describes as the beginning of the criminalization of Christianity.

For chaplains in America's armed services, Folger says, the rules have grown increasingly restrictive, until "you're not allowed to pray in public, you're not allowed to pray at a memorial service, you're not allowed to do anything, except for that one hour of Sunday morning worship." She feels this is a great wrong, especially at a time when America is engaged in a war on terror and its troops need their chaplains to have the religious freedom the soldiers in combat are fighting to preserve.

"Our troops are at risk," the Faith 2 Action spokeswoman stresses, noting that religious liberty is one of the principles for which many soldiers have risked or even laid down their lives. "We're at war, and this seems to me to be a pro-troops, pro-America, pro-freedom message that somebody needs to be articulating," she says.

One important reason that Klingenschmitt's case needs to concern civilian America, Folger suggests, is because what is happening in the military could easily presage the same loss of religious freedom across U.S. society. And as the fall elections approach, she says, "I just think this would be a campaign issue that we could be shouting from the rooftops and that could really, I think, show the difference between where we all stand."

The United States House of Representatives recently passed a bill (H.R. 5122) that, among other provisions, would allow chaplains in all U.S. military branches to "pray according to the dictates of their conscience." The legislation is currently pending in the Senate.