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Navy chaplain convicted
of praying 'in Jesus' name' 
Klingenschmitt jury to resume
work in morning on punishment

A military jury today convicted a Navy chaplain of a misdemeanor count of disobeying his commanding officer for wearing his uniform while delivering a prayer "in Jesus' name" at an assembly in front of the White House.

"But I had prior written permission to wear my uniform if it was a religious observance, (so) prayers are not a religious observance," Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt told WND after the military court-martial recessed for the night.

"Therefore I disobeyed my commanding officer's order not to pray in uniform," he said.

Klingenschmitt, who raised immediate concerns with this superiors when the Navy issued a new order that prayers could only be "non-sectarian," also has alleged he was punished for raising those concerns, and later notifying Congress and President Bush of the situation.

Klingenschmitt told WND that his lawyer rested the case without calling any witnesses, one of whom was scheduled to be former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, because of the Biblical injunction in Isaiah, where the prophecy about Jesus says he "was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth."

Klingenschmitt told WND that there is an appeal process that will be pursued, up to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed.

The five-officer military jury is scheduled to return to work on Thursday to determine what punishment, if any, Klingenschmitt should receive.

"I do respect the verdict of my peers. I am a humble man and respect the authority of the jury. I do not respect the authority of the military judge who declared worshipping in public is not the same as public worship," he said.

Judge Moore, who lost his own job over his refusal to obey a federal judge's order that conflicted with constitutional authority and remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court building, had been set to testifying about the White House assembly where he and Klingenschmitt were.

Moore, also a columnist for WND, said, "When the Legislature of Indiana or a chaplain in the Navy, Army or Air Force says a prayer in the name of Jesus, no religion is being established and no religious freedom is abused. On the contrary, the religious freedom enjoyed by all our people is being exercised in the finest American tradition."

Klingenschmitt had pleaded not guilty yesterday.

As WND reported, Klingenschmitt was at the White House March 30 with Moore to protest Navy policy requiring non-sectarian prayers outside of worship services.

Klingenschmitt had been ordered not to wear his uniform during media appearances without permission, unless he was conducting a "bona fide worship service." The chaplain, ordained in the Evangelical Episcopal Church, has said the March 30 event qualified.

Klingenschmitt could forfeit two-thirds of his pay per month for one year and receive a reprimand as punishment.

The chaplain also is promoting a bill in Congress he says aims to overrule a policy passed by the secretary of the Navy that requires non-sectarian prayers.

The Navy secretary, Klingenschmitt said, is "deliberately censoring the content of our prayers."

This court martial, he said, was over that new Navy policy.

The judge, refusing Klingenschmitt's motion earlier this month to drop the case, concluded chaplains are protected only inside the chapel on Sunday morning. If ordered not to worship in public, and they disobey, chaplains can be punished at a criminal court martial.

"There is no more fundamental right than the inalienable right to worship our creator, and I pray in Jesus name," Klingenschmitt said. "For any government official to require non-sectarian prayers is for him to enforce his government religion upon me, to censor exclude and punish me for my participation."

Several dozen other chaplains also have joined in a civilian lawsuit that alleges the Navy hierarchy allows only those Christian ministers who advocate only non-sectarian blandishments to be promoted. Those with evangelical beliefs, they say, are routinely drummed from the Navy.

Janet Folger, president of Faith2Action told WND she couldn't even express the horror of such an outcome.

"If they can silence a chaplain, they'll come after you next," she told WND. "The Navy has ruled that chaplains have just one hour of freedom of religion on Sunday morning."

Folger, the author of "The Criminalization of Christianity," said what is incomprehensible is that the judge concluded that public worship is not the same and worshipping in public.

"While our soldiers fight for freedom abroad, our own chaplains are facing court martial for praying for them," said Folger. "Where does the Constitution say that freedom of religion is limited to one hour?"

Prayer in Jesus' name
results in $3,000 fine 
Christian chaplain guilty of wearing
Navy uniform at White House event

A jury of U.S. Naval officers has recommended a reprimand and a $250 fine per month for a year for a Christian chaplain who was convicted of disobeying an order not to wear his military uniform for media appearances.

However, the jury also recommended the fine be suspended.

Chaplain Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt was convicted of the count, even though he charged that the White House appearance at which he prayed "in Jesus' name" was a bona fide religious event and he had written permission from his commander to wear his uniform at such events.

According to a report in the Virginian-Pilot, Cmdr. Rex Guinn said the government's case had been documented.

"We are pleased with the results and justice is done," he said.

Klingenschmitt had faced a maximum punishment of a reprimand, restriction to base for two months and fines or forfeiture of pay of nearly $42,000 – two-thirds of his annual salary, officials said.

Klingenschmitt's military lawyer, Lt. Tiffany Hansen, had told the jury that a conviction was enough.

"There was no financial gain as a result of him doing what he did," she said.

"Doing what he did," was to appear at a news conference at the White House with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, a WND columnist, to protest a new Naval directive that called for all prayers to be "nonsectarian."

Klingenschmitt told WND that he had been given written permission to wear his uniform at bona fide religious events, and that's what he considered the March 30 appearance. He said he took off his uniform before answering media questions that day.

Bush's spokesman, Tony Snow, today responded to a WND question about the issue, saying, "The president believes the chaplains ought to be able to be free to express to their religious beliefs, and he further believes in allowing the military to handle its own issues."

Klingenschmitt had rested the case without calling any witnesses, one of whom was scheduled to be Moore, because of the biblical injunction in Isaiah, where the prophecy about Jesus says he "was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth."

He also said there is an appeal process that will be followed.

Judge Moore, who lost his own job over his refusal to obey a federal judge's order that conflicted with constitutional authority and remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court building, had been set to testify about the White House assembly.

The chaplain also is promoting a bill in Congress he says aims to overrule that new policy, passed by the secretary of the Navy, that requires nonsectarian prayers.

The Navy secretary, Klingenschmitt said, is "deliberately censoring the content of our prayers."

In his court martial, he said, the Navy judge enforced that policy by declaring worshipping in public is not the same as public worship.

The judge, refusing Klingenschmitt's motion earlier this month to drop the case, concluded chaplains are protected only inside the chapel on Sunday morning. If ordered not to worship in public, and they disobey, chaplains can be punished at a criminal court martial.

"There is no more fundamental right than the inalienable right to worship our creator, and I pray in Jesus name," Klingenschmitt said. "For any government official to require non-sectarian prayers is for him to enforce his government religion upon me, to censor, exclude and punish me for my participation"

Several dozen other chaplains also have joined in a civilian lawsuit that alleges the Navy hierarchy allows only those Christian ministers who advocate only non-sectarian blandishments to be promoted. Those with evangelical beliefs, they say, are routinely drummed from the Navy.

President believes chaplains can 'express beliefs'
But he'll let military handle case of chaplain who prayed 'in Jesus' name'


President Bush believes military chaplains should be allowed to express their religious beliefs, but he'll also allow the military to handle its own dispute over that very issue, according to his spokesman, Tony Snow.

In a face-to-face interview with WND, Snow was asked whether the president believes that Christian chaplains, in view of the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, should be able to express their faith, even at the White House.

"The president believes that chaplains ought to be free to express their religious beliefs," Snow said. "He further believes in allowing the military to handle its own issues."

Asked if the president prays to Jesus while he is at the White House, Snow confirmed he does.

But he declined to go further when WND referenced the case involving Navy Lt. Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, saying, "I am not going to get into a legal dispute."

A military jury in Virginia has recommended a reprimand and a $250 per month fine for a year for the chaplain who wore his military uniform and prayed "in Jesus' name" at an event at the White House in March. The event protested a Naval directive that all chaplains' prayers be "non-sectarian."

Klingenschmitt said he considered the event a bona fide worship event, for which he had written permission from his commanding officer, but the Navy didn't see it that way.

Congress tackles chaplains' right to pray 
Klingenschmitt says senator's proposal would 'add insult to my injury'

In the wake of a Navy chaplain's punishment related to a public event in which he prayed "in Jesus' name," Congress is debating several versions of a bill to address the religious liberties of military ministers.

As WND reported, a jury of U.S. Naval officers Thursday recommended a reprimand and a $250 fine per month for a year for Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt, a Christian chaplain who was convicted of disobeying an order not to wear his military uniform for media appearances.

Klingenschmitt insists the White House appearance at which he prayed "in Jesus' name" was a bona fide religious event and he had written permission from his commander to wear his uniform at such events.

The chaplain continues to press the issue on a public-policy level, consulting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as they consider language that is part of the Defense Authorization Bill.

The House has passed a version authored by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., that would allow chaplains to pray according to their faith.

The bill is in a conference committee in which the House and Senate are working out differences.

The House bill reads: "Each Chaplain shall have the prerogative to pray according to the dictates of the chaplain's own conscience, except as must be limited by military necessity, with any such limitation being imposed in the least restrictive manner feasible."

In the Senate, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., is advocating language that has Klingenschmitt concerned.

The proposal reads: "In situations other than theological services or sectarian ceremonies when a prayer is offered, the policy shall require chaplains to be sensitive to and respect the diversity of faiths represented."

The Navy chaplain calls Warner's version worse than hate speech laws, contending it empowers the Pentagon to make bad policies that will censor chaplains' prayers and enforce "pluralism" as a new government religion.

"Pluralism is the opposite of diversity," Klingenschmitt told WND. "Pluralism requires we all pray 'sensitive' prayers to one government-god, but diversity means we can take turns and each pray according to our own diverse beliefs."

Klingenschmitt said the proposal would add "insult to my injury."

"If Senator Warner imposes theological sensitivity requirements, all chaplains could be punished for the content of their sermons," he said.

Amanda Banks, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action – a public policy group tied to James Dobson's Focus on the Family – said Warner's proposal would violate the First Amendment rights of chaplains.

"The alternate language seeks to establish a right not to be offended, rather than protecting freedom of speech," she said. "It rejects religious liberty and would likely prevent a chaplain from praying 'in Jesus' name' outside of a church service."

Klingenschmitt favors a proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to simply add the words "and pray" to the existing statute.

10 USC 6031 would then read: "An officer in the chaplain corps may conduct public worship and pray according to the manner and forms of the church of which he is a member."

The Navy chaplain said this would return the law to the way it had been until 1860. In the course of his case, Klingenschmitt said, the secretary of the Navy redefined "public worship" as only during "divine services" inside a chapel on Sundays.

Earlier this week President Bush's spokesman, Tony Snow, responded to a WND question about the issue, saying, "The president believes the chaplains ought to be able to be free to express to their religious beliefs, and he further believes in allowing the military to handle its own issues."

Klingenschmitt contends the Navy secretary is "deliberately censoring the content of our prayers."

In his court-martial, he said, a Navy judge enforced that policy by declaring worshipping in public is not the same as public worship.

The judge, refusing Klingenschmitt's motion earlier this month to drop the case, concluded chaplains are protected only inside the chapel on Sunday morning. If ordered not to worship in public, and they disobey, chaplains can be punished at a criminal court martial.

"There is no more fundamental right than the inalienable right to worship our creator, and I pray in Jesus name," Klingenschmitt said. "For any government official to require non-sectarian prayers is for him to enforce his government religion upon me, to censor, exclude and punish me for my participation"

Several dozen other chaplains also have joined in a civilian lawsuit that alleges the Navy hierarchy allows only those Christian ministers who advocate only non-sectarian blandishments to be promoted. Those with evangelical beliefs, they say, are routinely drummed from the Navy.