Rank and file Navy chaplains all over the country have been speaking out against Gordon Klingenschmitt's false claims of persecution by the Navy. Evangelical Navy chaplains from all denominations simply cannot believe how many conservative evangelical civilians have simply accepted Klingenschmitt's "sky is falling" account of religious repression in the Navy without checking how his story squares with the truth. A cursory look into Klingenschmitt's claims is more than enough to repudiate his wild accusations. Every one of Klingenschmitt's claims of religious persecution has been investigated by proper authorities and has been found to be baseless fabrications.
Below is a copy of an email sent from a conservative Navy chaplain to the Conservative American Union, sponsors of the 34th Annual Conservative Annual Political Action Conference (CPAC) concerning their scheduling of Gordon Klingenschmitt to give the invocation at the conference.
From: (redacted)
Sent: Tue 2/20/2007 6:23 PM
To: CPAC
Subject: Gordon Klingenschmitt
Dear CPAC
I'm a conservative, Republican Christian Navy Chaplain who in most things would agree with you. I cannot believe that you have a man like Gordon Klingenschmitt giving the invocation at your meeting. This is embarrassing. The man is a liar who has used alleged discrimination against him, discrimination that in every case has been disproved by Inspectors General, Courts, and EEO investigations. If what he said was true I would support him, but you guys should know better. If you had anyone with any real military background go through his web site and read all his crap you would find out that he is a fraud. There may be some cases of actual discrimination against Christians, in fact I know that there are, but Klingenschmitt is not one of them. Good luck, I'm tired of this kind of acceptance and legitimization of Klingenschmitt's story by conservatives who should know better. Klingenschmitt's dissembling makes Bill Clinton's actions look principled. I'm tired of conservative leaders that I used to respect sinking to such lows. Maybe that's why we lost the last election and will likely lose the next. You guys are killing us. And by the way Klingenschmitt is no longer a chaplain. He is mere a undesignated line officer because he lost his endorsement and because of his poor performance as an officer. The court martial he brought on himself did not have his new endorsement accepted. Give him the microphone and you will lose the support of many conservative, Christian Chaplains who routinely pray in Jesus name without a problem, no thanks to Klingenschmitt. I've been in the military 25 years serving as a line officer and chaplain and I too gave up rank to come in the Navy, as does everyone who comes in at a higher rank from another service to the Chaplain Corps, Medical Corps or Judge Advocate General Corps. If you guys keep this up and decide to let him do the invocation at the Presidential dinner don't ever count on my support. The least you guys can do is have someone actually research his claims, read his website and look a the Wikipedia article about him (that he himself initially began) before you embarrass yourself.
Respectfully,
One Concerned Chaplain (actual name redacted)
Somehow, Gordon Klingenschmitt was able to get himself on the schedule to appear with Vice President Cheney at this year's CPAC. Imagine the scene, a former chaplain who lost his professional qualifications due to his criminal misconduct gives the invocation at a conference with the Vice President as a scheduled speaker. What an embarrassing situation! Who in their right mind would have ever invited a convicted officer, who was forced to resign his ordination from his church because of his criminal behavior, to appear with the Vice President of the United States? Undoubtedly, Klingenschmitt would have used his appearance at the conference as some sort of a validation for all of his unseemly behavior since he transferred to the Navy to serve as a chaplain. Thank God that the CPAC organizers heeded the message above and disinvited Klingenschmitt. At least this saves the world from yet another Klingenschmitt spin-machine story. It seems that the truth about Klingenschmitt and his propaganda machine is finally getting out.
FLASH: NEW UPDATE!!!
(NOTE: Updated on 28 February 2007)
On 28 February 2007, Gordon Klingenschmitt posted an old copy of the CPAC Agenda listing him as scheduled to deliver the invocation at the Presidential Banquet on 1 March 2007 on his personal website in an attempt to make people believe that he was still appearing on stage with the Vice President despite his knowledge that his appearance was cancelled. Klingenschmitt posted this even though he was informed earlier this month that he was disinvited by CPAC organizers. (CPAC replied to "One Concerned Chaplain's" email on Monday, 26 February 2007 at 7:50 PM stating that Klingenschmitt was neither attending nor participating in the event.) He also posted this webpage listing him as a chaplain when, in fact, he lost the right to refer to himself as a serving chaplain since he lost his professional qualifications back in October 2006. He is currently an undesignated Navy officer without any current qualifications whatsoever awaiting discharge for loss of professional status.
The current CPAC Agenda lists J. William Lauderback of the American Conservative Union as the person scheduled to deliver the invocation at the banquet. Why would Klingenschmitt post an inaccurate, outdated copy of this webpage with the title "Chaps invited to pray with Vice President Cheney (Thursday night)" on his personal website when he knew that doing so was a total deception? What possesses a man to publish such distortions on such a regular basis? This is yet another piece added to the voluminous evidence of the dishonesty and fraud that the Klingenschmitt propaganda spin-machine produces on a regular basis.
FLASH: NEWER UPDATE!!
(NOTE: Updated on 1 March 2007)
The Klingenschmitt propaganda spin-machine is already in full swing with the following headline on his personal website: "CHAPS BOOTED FROM NAVY FOR 'DISOBEDIENT' PRAYERS AND SERMONS...CNO FORBIDS PRAYING WITH VICE PRESIDENT". The DC Court of Appeals dissolved its emergency stay on Klingenschmitt's discharge from the Navy on 28 February 2007. Klingenschmitt will finally discharged from the Navy by the end of the 1st day of March 2007. The reason for his discharge is his loss of professional status, his well-documented poor performance, his misconduct, and his criminal conviction. The fact that Klingenschmitt prayed had nothing to do with his discharge. His troubles are solely the result of his poor choices and criminal activities. Klingenschmitt's false claim in this headline makes about as much sense as saying that Charles Manson was sentenced to life in prison because he prayed before murdering. Had Manson prayed, it would have not changed the fact that he was still guilty of the crime of murder. Gordon Klingenschmitt prayed while committing a Federal crime. The fact that he prayed during the commission of his crime does not alter the fact that he committed a crime. Gordon Klingenschmitt was convicted of the commission of a Federal crime--NOT FOR PRAYER! It is time for Klingenschmitt to finally come clean and begin telling the truth about what happened and why.
The Klingenschmitt propaganda spin-machine has been caught in yet another deception. Yesterday, I cut and pasted the following headline from Klingenschmitt's personal website "Chaps invited to pray with Vice President Cheney (Thursday night)." Today, I just noticed today that Klingenschmitt inserted the word "was" in the the headline to make it appear that he was not being deceptive yesterday. This blog had hundreds of hits yesterday after I posted the first update. Too many people already know about the deception.
31 comments:
Man! This Klinkerman is really shameless. How in the world did he ever get invited to speak at a conference with the Vice President? Didn't CPAC know that the Vice President would have been severely injured politically if they allowed Kinkoman to pull this stunt?
Wait a minute! Klingenschmitt posted this stuff on his website even though he knew that it was a lie. I guess you titled this blog correctly. This man is in serious lack of any honor period! How could an Air Force Academy graduate resort to such dishonorable conduct. Good on the Navy for finally throwing him out. And think, this man used to have the trust and confidence of the Air Force to launch strategic missiles. Thank God, he got out of the Air Force. Too bad that he inflicted all of this shame on the Navy.
We Marines love our Navy chaplains because they freely choose to go with us into very dangerous ground combat to minister to us. I have never met a Navy chaplain that was a bad person. However, it appears that former Lt Klingenschmitt is the first really bad person that I have ever heard of who became a Navy chaplain. I applaude the Navy for getting rid of this guy. After reading his website, I can't believe that the Navy didn't send him to General Court Martial rather than the lower Special Court Martial. Seriously, this man should be serving time in Fort Leavenworth.
I agree with Lejeune Marine. Klingenschmitt should be breaking rocks at Ft. Leavenworth! Gordon is the only man I know that could (and probably has) started an argument with a glass of water. His nasty disposition is the source of all his problems. It was obvious that his character flaws was making it impossible for him to serve successfully in the Chaplain Corps. Gordon is just too difficult in his dealings with other people. He was failing both as an officer and as a chaplain. He was fired by a very devout evangelical Christian, not because he disagreed with Gordon's theology, but because Gordon was being an unprofessional jerk with the Sailors. Gordon then contrived the story that he was fired for praying in Jesus' Name. I do this all the time in public, in uniform, in the Navy and Marine Corps without any complaints at all. Then again, I am friends with most of the people in my unit here in Iraq. If Gordon acted on the ship like he did in Chaplain's School, he had everyone upset with him because of his inability to accept people for whom they were. The command climate survey bears this out. Gordon thinks that his abysmal numbers are a sign that he was being successful. Actually, I have never seen any chaplain that much hated in any Navy or Marin unit! Gordon took a golden opportunity to minister and turned it into a "Look At How Wonderful I Am" moment. Like one of your blogs says, Gordon already has his reward. Men have seen him. It is too bad that his poor behavior overshadows the very message he wants to get out.
Well said, Navy Priest! This man should be in the Federal Disciplinary Barracks, Ft. Leavenworth. Why his chain of command did not refer him to a General Court Martial is beyond me. He should be ashamed of himself.
I thank God that my chaplain in Iraq was an honorable man who did not do anything as slimy as Klingenschmitt. Klingenschmitt has brought dishonor to the Navy Chaplain Corps. I am glad that they threw him out on his ass.
I just looked Klingkerman up on google. I can't believe all the stupid stuff this guy still does. Could he be for real? I think that it is really one big, sick comedy act. But, who throws away everything that Klinermn did just for a practical joke. I still can't believe that someone is that stupid. Maybe he thinks that we are so stupid that we will believe his trash. I am glad that he got thrown on his ass out my Navy.
What a FRAUD!!! Klingenschmitt is a big phoney.
All of you are right about Klingenschmitt, WHAT A FRAUD. He should be in Iraq today ministering to those of us who are serving our country. He shouldn't be sitting safely at home pretending to be a hero for manufacturing "persecution" by the Navy. Every Navy chaplain I have ever had in the Marine Corps has always prayed in Jesus' Name. We Marines always love it and we always say AMEN, even if the chaplain isn't from our own church. Who does this Klingenschmitt think he is? He obviously invented an entire story to try to cover up the fact that he is one big fat failure as an officer and as a chaplain. I say again, WHAT A FRAUD!
Hey, I started out in Fifth Marines (2/5). Semper Fi.
Kling-O-matic is too stupid to have any shame. Things that would make any demon blush have zero effect on Klingenschmitt. How does someone get to such a hard-hearted state such as this?
I guess if you tell enough lies long enough, you become stupid enough to believe your own lies. Remember, there is no deception like self-deception, a practice which Klingenschmitt is a grand master!
I thank God that you Navy chaplains fixed his wagon. The shame of Klingenschmitt appearing at the same banquet as the Vice-President would have been absolutely horrible. But, Klingenschmitt is just that kind of a horrible person--one whose agenda is himself over all else.
Klingeschmitt should be glad that I was not his Commanding Officer. I would have taken him to a General Court Martial. He is so fortunate that his CO went extremely light on him. He deserved much worse than what he received.
Will this guy never just go away? He is still posting his stupid interviews all over the internet. When will Klingoshnith ever fade away like all disgraced former officers are supposed to do?
Thank God that someone stopped this FRAUD known as Gordon Klingenschmitt from dishonoring the uniform that I wear by using it as some sort of a circus side-show. I noticed how deceitful he was on his website concerning the invitation. I am ashamed to admit that Klingenschmitt ever wore the uniform of a Navy Chaplain.
"Self-important" is an apt description of Gordon Klingenschmitt. I knew him before he entered the Navy Chaplaincy. He had personal problems then and refused wise counsel. I encountered him again in FEB 2007 when he successfully convinced my former Chaplain Endorser that he was a great American victim who was getting a raw deal from the Navy but was otherwise a righteous man. Since my former Endorser already had lawsuits filed against the Navy for some alleged promotion inequalities among charismatic chaplains, I'm sure Gordon saw his opportunity to secure a new endorsement since the Evangelical Episcopal Church had revoked his Endorsement to serve on Active Duty as a Chaplain. Gordon was given the Endorsement by Jim Ammerman and I suppose remains affiliated with the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches in some capacity even though he was thrown out of the Navy and is no longer a military chaplain.
I too am appalled that this man gets away with this game he is playing. It will eventually catch up to him. Galatians 6:7
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." What sickens me is that I still hear and see his pitiful rantings going out as the Gospel over Christian radio and the Internet.
As an Army Chaplain serving on Active Duty, I am disturbed and embarrassed that this man continues to use his former credentials as a Navy Chaplain as some form of credibility. And it is shameful how he is dragging in the dirt honest, evangelical chaplains who are trying to do the right thing and serve the Lord and their Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines with honor and integrity.
I remember well the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches Conference of FEB 2007 in Dallas when my wife and I had lunch with Gordon. I had heard a little about his ordeal, but hadn't really dug very deeply into the whole mess. So I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and hear from him personally on the matter.
Of course, we had barely ordered when he had to politely excuse himself in order to conduct a radio interview. It was during this time that the newly named Endorser of CFGC warned me about Gordon. He apparently knew much more about him than did I. I assured him that I simply wanted to give him a fair hearing. After lunch, I still had some questions but he had sufficiently snowed me because I participated in an ordination service at the Conference in which the President and Founder of CFGC, Chaplain (Colonel) (ret.) Jim Ammerman was in effect accepting Gordon into our fold. The next day Chaplain Ammerman gave Gordon the floor. He wasn't far into his propaganda before I began seeing through this megalomaniac. First of all, he represented himself as a Navy Chaplain and yet he was no longer a chaplain. He had been stripped of his standing as a chaplain and was now an undesignated line officer because he had lost his endorsement due to his poor performance as an officer. He was very self-serving in his presentation and sounded much more like a politician or a traveling salesman than a preacher or a professional military chaplain who was proud of his service to God and Country as such. He carried so much disdain and animosity for the Navy and for authority in general.
What caused me a great deal of consternation was when the current Endorser stormed out of the room as Gordon took the podium and began to speak. I wondered what was going on but wanted to hear him out. He had promised to go into more detail in his presentation so I stayed around.
When he had finished his pitch, two Navy Chaplains asked to offer some balance to what Gordon had said. They were very gracious in their remarks but came out pretty strongly against Gordon and for the very Navy commanders he had railed against. Their story of service in the Navy was much different. They enjoyed a great deal of religious freedom and did not agree with Gordon's assessment of the lack of religious liberty or fairness within the Navy.
After the rebuttal, I went to find out why our new Endorser had stormed out at the beginning of Gordon's speech.
I was shocked to learn that Chaplain Ammerman had done an end-run around the man he had named to succeed him by secretly asking Gordon to speak against the new Endorser's better judgment. Apparently they had sparred over the issue of Gordon's Endorsement and podium time prior to the Conference. The successor voiced his disapproval. Chaplain Ammerman assurred him that this would not take place. When confronted after the endorsement and presentation, Chaplain Ammerman simply said, "I knew you wouldn't approve, so I didn't tell you ahead of time."
This was yet another instance of Chaplain Ammerman not allowing a successor to succeed. The current Endorser saw he was not going to have the ability to lead the organization in the direction he thought it should go, so he left the Conference and his new position before ever really getting a chance to succeed.
Because I could see the handwriting on the wall, I followed him to another Endorsing Agency as quickly as I could.
I agree with the owner of this blog site that most military chaplains are honorable men and women of God who serve their troops and commanders with integrity and with a great deal of freedom, I might add.
It is important to use discretion when praying publicly in settings where troops are ordered to be present such as formations at a change of command. But there are many ways to pray after the manner of our Lord that are not offensive even in those settings. And certainly in worship settings a chaplain has the liberty to exercise his or her faith in accordance with the tenets of their faith and in keeping with the style of worship they are conducting (ie, Collective Protestant, Gospel, Liturgical, Gen-X, Charismatic, etc.)
As for Gordon K., I mean no ill will toward this Brother (and I would refer to him as such). He is misguided and no doubt needs to seek professional and pastoral counseling to address some serious personality issues. I pray the Lord is gracious to him and pulls him away from the public eye quickly so that he cannot continue to discredit himself and inadvertently bring discredit to the military chaplaincy and the greater Christian community.
A word about Chaplain Ammerman and I'm out. He is an incredibly anointed man of God with amazing gifts, leadership abilities and vision. He had a tremendously successful career as an Army Chaplain and then went on to found an organization that provides Ecclesiastical Endorsements to nondenominational charismatic chaplains through the Armed Forces Chaplain Board. He has numerous chaplains in all branches and components of service as well as many chaplains endorsed to serve in civilian institutions. The Lord has given him two illustrious careers in which he has served nobly. However, it is time for him to step down and allow one of his successors to succeed and take the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches to the next level.
Very Respectfully,
Hey Abn Chaplain,
Dude, you rock. God bless,
Cdr Stephanus
ABNChap,
Way to go! You are not alone in realizing that Gordon K. has some sort of a weird agenda. It would be really funny if it did not involve people being misled and hurt by this man.
I'm going to contact those people who supposedly did that indorsing for the Abn Chaplain, lies all of it. How you can demeen the honorable service of Chaplain Klingenschmitt is a travisty. I mean he is supported by real Christians like Judge Roy Moore, Allen Keys and World Net Daily.
Hey So-Called Believer,
I was wondering why it took you two years to finally make it to the end of this blog post. It finally dawned on me that a moron like you probably reads with his lips moving!
Get a real life and become a real Christain.
"Real" "American?" "Believer??"...Or, should I say, Gordon?
You must be another one of those Gordon Klinkoman sock-puppets as they call it on wikipedia. I say that because only Klinnnermen is stupid enough to write such idiocy. GK is a proven liar who will not simply go away. He is kinda like a bad case of mold. No matter what you do, it still festers!
Why did G. Kinnnerman not go to war like my current chaplain who transferred to my ship from the Marines? Becuase he failed. Then he lied about it! My chaplain went on a ton of combat missions with the Marines and was shot at many times. Klingercon stayed safely home and lied about why. SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME on Klingensmith.
This stuff is so funny, like there is a courts-martial university, but sweet anyway!
Botany Bob,
I am glad that you get the humor on this and our other blogs.
We really are a few authentic Navy chaplains who got fed up with Gordon's twisted ways. I can't tell you how many Sailors, Marines, and civilians have asked me if it is true that we cannot pray in Jesus' Name. I tell them that most of us do quite regularly and in uniform.
Gordon was having difficulties as a rookie minister, having been ordained only very shortly before transferring to the Navy. Rather than accept the wise, godly counsel of his very devout, evangelical Commanding Officers, he chose to pout publicly and claim that he was being "persecuted." The truth is that Gordon never quite made the enormous transition from Air Force missile officer to Navy chaplain with a vocation as a minister of the Gospel. It is very sad because he is a very intelligent and talented man. I regret that he chose to fall on his sword for nothing but prideful ambition.
San Dog Sailor,
I am from San Diego as well. I love your comment Klingenschmitt "stayed home and lied about why." I think that we should make a protest chant "Klingenshmitt stayed home from war and lied about why!"
What a pathetic loser! Getting court martialed for protesting his own service in their uniform to keep from having to go to Iraq with the Marines. What a stinking, lying loser!
Why doesn't anyone ask him why he failed to serve with the Marines during this war at one of his supposed "patriotic" meetings.
WHAT A STINKING, LYING LOSER!!!"
I tell you what, if Klingenschmitt were a chaplain in any of the Marine infantry battalions that I have been in, he would have failed miserably. He exhibits such a weakness of character that I seriously doubt that he could have ever kept up with one of our hikes, let alone performed honorably in combat with Marines. I think that San Dog hit the nail right on the head. Klingenschmitt didn't go to war and lied about why! He is truly a sad, sad loser. What a shame.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
Thanks all, for your continued interest in the lighter, humorous side of Gordon Klingenschmitt's abominable behavior as a failed Navy officer, convicted criminal, and all-around nutcase. I guess that he might have a few "death prayers" saved up for us.
Please, don't place those idiotic "check out my website" posts. Thank you.
COURT MARTIAL UNIVERSITY. That is absolutely great! I totally agree. How Mr. Gordon Klingenschmitt got on the CPAC program is unconscionable. Thank God that one chaplain was able to bring this potential embarrassment to the attention of the organizers.
I like what I read on one of your blogs. "The fact that Gordon Klingenschmitt prayed while he was committing a Federal crime does not excuse him from the crime." That is so true. Gordon Klingenschmitt passed out press releases that his "act of civil disobedience" by wearing his Navy uniform to protest against the Navy was equivalent to Rosa Parks. Only a coward would then try to deny his crime by claiming that he was being persecuted for praying in Jesus' Name. If he truly thought that violating United States Code Title 10 by wearing his uniform to a political protest was the right thing to do, he should have been man enough...and Christian enough to stand by his decision. I could have at least had a little bit of respect for him. But by pulling the "you are persecuting me" card, he lost what little credibility he had and actually went way into deficit mode in the honor department.
"Real American Believer said...
I'm going to contact those people who supposedly did that indorsing for the Abn Chaplain, lies all of it. How you can demeen the honorable service of Chaplain Klingenschmitt is a travisty. I mean he is supported by real Christians like Judge Roy Moore, Allen Keys and World Net Daily."
Brilliant, brilliant satire. Thanks! (World Net Daily was the giveaway.) :D
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