The issue that Klingenschmitt was dismissed for poor job performance and a history of disobeying direct orders. He is making it into a personal martyrdom story and people like you are gobbling it up because it is "proof" of your fictional "War on Christians."
"Who's in charge during worship, the Commanding Officer or the Chaplain? In the military, one man's "religious diversity" is another man's "religious divisiveness." So it's logically impossible to celebrate diversity and punish divisiveness at the same time...we must choose one or the other. As a chaplain, I advocated for religious diversity, but my commanding officer punished religious divisiveness. Perhaps the tension was inherent in our different roles and responsibilities. But my CO crossed the line when he punished me for quoting the "divisive" scripture John 3:36 during a sermon, in the base chapel, at an optionally-attended worship service, advertised as a Christian memorial service, honoring the Christian faith of my deceased Sailor who was a member of my flock. No. Federal Law gives the Chaplain, not the CO, full authority over worship inside the chapel, period. Does anybody disagree? See Ridgon vs. Perry, Title 10 Section 6031, Lee vs. Weisman, Article VI religious test for office, First Amendment, etc." -Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt
The issue is that he abused his position as chaplain and went against the code of ethics for chaplains because he felt he had the right to put his own religion on a pedastal and by doing so alienated over a quarter of the sailors on his ship.
Sounds like your word against his at this point. Aside from which, Klingenschmidt is a small beach head in a sea of this controversy.
What do you think would have happened if the chaplain was a Muslim and decided to preach about "Allah's wrath against unbelievers" at a funeral, even if it was a Muslim sailor's funeral?
The funeral procession was for a Christian sailor, inside the chapel. Any person of any faith would like for a member of their faith to preside in prayer. But something tells me you wouldn't cry foul ball if it was any one other than a Christian. Interestingly, that's how it often works.
What if the same preacher had had multiple complaints lodged against him?
Then you address them. If the complaint was relevant to the Instruction, then you proceed accordingly.
What if he had disobeyed direct orders? He would have been fired and rightly so.
Then you address it the same way. If the direct order entailed anything contrary to the man's faith. Secondly, since when are you in favor of following direct orders, such as the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy drafted by the Clinton administration? So much for following orders. If something stinks, you speak up. You think the DADT policy is crap and you have every right to defend that, just as military chaplains do not need to be barred from carrying out a service in the name of Jesus as the behest of the deceased prior to death.
Scroll down and click on the video link
On that note, who are these "special interest groups?" Can you name one group that has spoken out against the right of chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus during worship services or private counsel with those that share their faith? Do you have any evidence that chaplains are denied the right to pray in the name of Jesus during worship services or private counsel with those that share their faith?
Does anyone have any proof otherwise? Again, this is just one small incident, just the most
prominent.
You mentioned earlier that every soldier, sailor, marine and airman had the right to a chaplain who understood or represented them (or something to that effect). Well, that is not always possible which is why chaplains have to be able to counsel anyone from any faith without alienating them or acting like a superior asshole. Unfortunately, Klingenschmitt did not fit that job description and he was fired. Had he been an honest man he would have resigned knowing that he could not compromise.
If a serviceman wishes to speak to them about some hard times they are going through, chaplains are required to be impartial and not to proselytize. That's fine. No argument there. The issue is that what it is going on is that the continued secularization of everything is trying to turn military chaplains in to an amorphous blob of ambiguity. It was Christians who began the entire chaplain corp and they shouldn't be pushed out when we agreed to let other faiths in. We want all faiths to join in the chaplain corp, but not at the risk of us all being assimilated into one unidentifiable blob. We need Christian chaplains, Jewish chaplains, Muslim chaplians, we have Wiccan chaplains. Let it be so. But don't undercut their faith by forcing them not to speak about key elements of their faith at a funeral honoring the dead's faith.
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." -C.S. Lewis
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