How could one be a Christian chaplin without invoking Jesus' name? Or a Muslim chaplain without invoking Allah's?

A valid question, Alan.

As usual, CBN isn't telling the whole story. Military chaplains are REQUIRED to serve ALL of their charges, not just the ones who happen to follow the same faith as they do. Military policy requires and has required for quite some time that chaplains be inclusive in their pastoring so as to be sensitive to those members of the military who require their services while not necessarily sharing their faith. There is nothing in military policy to prohibit a Christian pastor from praying in Jesus' name when ministering to a strictly Christian audience. Klingenschmitt and his fellow travelers want the right to pray EXCLUSIVELY to Jesus regardless of the faith(s) of the soldiers to whom they are ministering. Given that the large majority of military chaplains are from Christian denominations, this practice would effectively negate the non-Christian soldier's access to chaplaincy services without first giving up his or her own religious beliefs...

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. How can the government tell a Christian that it's OK to pray as long as you don't pray specifically in Jesus' name? Whose name are they supposed to pray in?

Regardless of the beliefs of anyone else who might be present or participating, anyone who believes the Bible (Old Testament, New Testament or both) knows that praying to any entity other than the God of the Bible is forbidden. "Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing...."

So, in light of the Bible's teaching, please tell me why it's not a violation of the Klingenschmitt's Constitutional rights if "Klingenschmitt and his fellow travelers want the right to pray EXCLUSIVELY to Jesus regardless of the faith(s) of the soldiers to whom they are ministering?" Requiring them to do otherwise would force them to contradict direct Scriptural teaching.

Another CBN article had these details:

"Gordon Klingenschmitt was the chaplain onboard a Navy cruiser. He says his skipper had a problem with a sermon he preached.

"It was advertised as a Christian memorial service,� Klingenschmitt said. “And it honored the Christian faith of one of my sailors who had passed away in a motorcycle accident. And, in that sermon, when I was preaching at his memorial, trying to honor his faith, I quoted John 3:3. I said, ‘You must be born again.’ I quoted John 3:36. I said, ‘If anyone has the Son, he has eternal life. If you do not have the Son, you do not have eternal life.’""

And this:

"When asked whether chaplains were allowed to pray in Jesus’ name, Ridgeway replied, "There is no prohibition on praying in the name of Jesus. We just ask our chaplains to use the wisdom God has blessed them with."

Federal law states, "An officer in the Chaplain Corps may conduct worship according to the manner and forms of the church of which he is a member.""

lawyerchik1 -

Why do I have a feeling your answer would be different if it was a complaint against a Muslim chaplain who insisted on praying to Allah in all situations instead of against an evangelical preacher who insists on praying to Jesus?

I think it's entirely fair to say that if you feel that your religious beliefs prevent you from usefully ministering to members of other faiths, you shouldn't join the military, since it's a job requirement to minister to ALL members of your flock, not merely the ones who believe in your god. This is in the same vein as saying that if you're a rabid racist who can't avoid verbally abusing members of other races, you shouldn't join the military where they'll abridge your freedom of speech and say you can't.

Of course there is a even more obvious solution: get rid of military chaplains entirely. It neatly eliminates all constitutional issues of faith, lack thereof, and government funded prayer. No one can be forced to say or listen to prayers against their faith, no one is made a second class citizens by the fact that their faith is not mainstream and we only bother to fund religious support for members of the mainstream, and no athiests are excluded from government funded support services that require possession of religious faith.

"Why do I have a feeling your answer would be different if it was a complaint against a Muslim chaplain who insisted on praying to Allah in all situations instead of against an evangelical preacher who insists on praying to Jesus?"

It actually wouldn't be because there would be significantly more latitude and protection afforded to the Muslim chaplain. If you look at the rest of the article (and attachments), you will notice that the censure was specifically directed at a Christian minister praying in Jesus' name. When Muslims, wiccans, satanists or whoever else does it, the media applaudes because they're "finally" getting recognition.

Nice job posting 3 days after the last comment to try to make sure no one has a chance to respond to you.

And I bet you that if a Wiccan chaplain was to say at a public memorial service for a fallen sailor that Mother Earth was sorry to see him fall but now that he had returned to the Earth from which he came he was whole again, Bill O'Reilly would be calling for the immediate hanging of that chaplain.

And why do you claim that there's more freedom for Muslim chaplains than for those of Christian denominations? Do you have first have case evidence of this? Are there any complaints filed by servicemen about their Muslim chaplain forcing them to accept Allah or they would withold their required counseling services (and getting away with it)?

Considering it was effectively the weekend before Christmas, forgive me for not waiting with baited breath for someone to respond to my comments so that I could reply within the appropriate time frame.

And as far as proof, when you provide yours for " if a Wiccan chaplain was to say at a public memorial service for a fallen sailor that Mother Earth was sorry to see him fall but now that he had returned to the Earth from which he came he was whole again, Bill O'Reilly would be calling for the immediate hanging of that chaplain," then we'll talk.

BTW, you wouldn't have decided to go with "none" because your name is "Dick", would you? ;)

"more freedom for Muslim[s]": http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0430/p01s03-ussc.html

Nice, an ad hominem to start things off...

Your link doesn't mention a single chaplain or any other military institution. However, if we focus on the government approval angle from that article, the claim by a resident that church bells do not endorse a particular region is disingenious. Of course they do. When my (Catholic) Church rings its bells 10 minutes before each Sunday service (3 on Sunday morning, one on saturday evening) and twice during the offertory, the meaning is very clear: we ring the bells in joyous celebration of our Lord. And that's why there's no difference between allowing a church to ring its bells multiple times during the day and letting a mosque send out prayer calls that say "Mohammed is the messenger of Allah." If people really object to having a Koran verse called out in speech, just use bells to transmit it in morse code. Then it will sound just like church bells. :)

For the record, the Wiccan example I posted was just that: an example, something that is used to indicate what would probably happen were it to occur[1]. You said

It actually wouldn't be because there would be significantly more latitude and protection afforded to the Muslim chaplain.

but have not yet shown any evidence that muslim chaplains in the military are given special rights or permissions that chaplains of other faiths are not.

[1] If you have heard any of O'Reilly's recent missives against people who don't say "Merry Christmas", you would understand why I wrote that. Note, that to my knowledge, O'Reilly hasn't yet advocated the hanging of Muslim chaplains. However, he has advocated and urged the flattening by explosives of several United States cities.

"Merry Christmas" - I hope you have more fun things planned for your holiday than starting arguments with yourself. But I doubt it.

To address the subquestion below your other comments, see:

Talk:Chaplain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Christians are not the only faith to have chaplain-equivalent positions. There appear to be some Wiccan chaplains.

I'm not sure about the Wiccan chaplains - any proof? It sounds rather unlikely - what army has a high enough Wiccan membership to warrent it?

I know for a fact that there are chaplains from other more mainstream faiths (Moslem, Jewish, etc.), but I'll wait to clear up the Wiccan thing before I add more info' on that. -- stewacide 04:45, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I trust religioustolerance.org, which claims that there are no clear-cut examples of the US Army funding Wicca in any way [1], but that there was a significant controversy over alleged funding. This might be what the author meant. A note that the US Army Chaplains give support to the spiritual needs of all soldiers, regardless of religion, including Wicca, might be relevant in this article, but I would be inclined to not believe the statement that there are Wiccan Chaplains in any army until I see proof. It seems like there are a lot of similar statements going around these days -- I recently heard that a Wiccan coven was trying to get a religious emblem, signifying personal and community-based spiritual achievement, approved for the Boy Scouts of America. This is probably also untrue. Tuf-Kat 05:11, Sep 22, 2003 (UTC)
Wiccan boyscouts? I don't think the Mormons would allow that! -- stewacide
Non-military chaplaincy could probably be expanded - for example University chaplaincy - tends to be 'multifaith'. Chaplaincy is often lay. - In these settings the chaplain is often paid by the faith community/religious body by which they are appointed. - A search in google picks up a few. Flinders University of South Australia is one example . This does include a Wiccan chaplain. --Paul foord 02:50, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)[user: Paul Foord]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Chaplain"

At Fort Hood, top brass have sanctioned the New Age religion, and the group says it has 300 members
By Kim Sue Lia Perkes
Cox News Service
KILLEEN, Texas
The robed high priestess turned her back to the fire, faced a makeshift outdoor altar and blessed the essentials of life: water, bread and salt.

"Great goddess Freya, bless this creature of the Earth to your service," she recited, after placing the shiny blade of her dagger over a small bowl of salt. "May we always honor the blessed Earth, its many forms and beings."

The congregation, holding hands in a circle around the fire, replied in refrain "Great Freya be you adored."

This Wiccan celebration of the vernal equinox didn't take place in some secret spot in the woods. The site Was Fort Hood, and most of the witches were active duty Army.

On the U.S. military's largest installation, more than 40 witches, male and female, celebrated the Rite of Spring on March 20 the day of equal daylight and darkness that symbolizes the witches' goal of perfect balance.

Their on-post ceremony was possible because three years ago, Fort Hood's top brass recognized Wicca as a legitimate faith, making it the first U.S. military base to provide space for neopagan rituals.

The Wiccans, whose religion is a reconstruction of nature worship from tribal Europe and other parts of the world, had to meet the same criteria as other religions to conduct services on the base, including sponsorship by a legally incorporated church, in this case one in San Antonio.

Fort Hood worked hard to understand and accommodate the Wiccans, said Col. Jerome Haberek, a Catholic priest and head chaplain of III Army Corps, which includes 75,000 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood and other posts worldwide. "We kind of struggled through," he said.

Following Fort Hood's lead, other U.S. military bases around the world have sanctioned Wicca. The top chaplains at Fort Hood are considered the military's experts on the religion, fielding calls from base chaplains and even the chief chaplain's office at the Pentagon.

Because of the volume of requests, the Fort Hood 'chaplain's office keeps a packet of information handy to mail out, said Lt. Col. Donald Troyer, a chaplain who oversees the post's Wiccan group, called Fort Hood Open Circle.

In the past two decades, Wicca's popularity has grown steadily, along with the Earthcentered spirituality of the New Age movement.

The Covenant of the Goddess in Berkeley, Calif, one of the oldest incorporated Wiccan organizations, estimates there are 50,000 adherents in the United States.

It's difficult to gauge the religion's reach in the military. Defense Department statistics on the religious preferences of members place Wiccans under the "other" category, which represents less than 2 percent of those in the armed forces. The category includes Jews, Muslims, Orthodox Christians and followers of American Indian faiths. But Pentagon officials said they believe many Wiccans are among the 28 percent who claim no preference.

At Fort Hood, where 42,000 soldiers are stationed, the Open Circle has more than 300 members, about 100 of them regular attendees, said Army veteran Marcy K. Palmer of Killeen. Palmer is a deaconess in the Sacred Well Congregation of San Antonio that sponsors the Fort Hood Open Circle.

Fort Hood is so popular among Wiccans that some want assurances from recruiters that they will be stationed at the post.

Pfc. Marion Lloyd of Alexandria, La., said he was one of them, though he does not advertise his religious preference. "I'm still not comfortable putting it on my dog tags yet," he said.

Palmer and Sacred Well founder and high priest David Oringderff of San Antonio have helped set up congregations at Fort Polk, La.; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Kadena Air Base in Okinawa; and Fort Barrancas in Pensacola, Fla. Sacred Well is opening congregations on bases in North Carolina, New York, New Mexico, Guam and Germany, said Oringderff, a psychologist who retired as an Army major in 1995 after 22 years of service.

From Fort Hood to the Pentagon, officials are reluctant to talk about how the armed forces are accommodating neo-paganists.

"It's such a volatile subject," Troyer said. "It just sparks a fury."

Troyer, a Seventh-day Adventist, has faced guilt by association from other military personnel and a cool response from some of the post's other 95 chaplains, he said.

For almost two years, fundamentalist Christians from communities near Fort Hood showed up at the Open Circle's ritual site at the post Boy Scout camp to protest. The chaplain's office responded by beefing up security, Troyer said. Parts of the 335 square-mile post are open to the public.

A letter writing campaign to Fort Hood's commander also did not sway the post's commitment to accommodating the spiritual needs of its Wiccan soldiers.

Most of the letters came from congregants at the Tabernacle Baptist Church and School in Killeen, at the urging of their pastor, the Rev. Jack Harvey.

"I have no tolerance for evil or people who do evil," Harvey said. "We don't think anybody in the Army or otherwise should be in favor of witchcraft."

Troyer said it's that kind of reaction, fueled by popular myths about witchcraft, that he must combat. "I still get calls from people asking me if they kill babies out there."

Navy Capt. Russel Gunter, executive director of the armed Forces Chaplains Board at the Pentagon, said the military is obligated to respect and make provisions for the religious needs of its members without passing judgment on their beliefs.

From: http://www.spiritpathways.com/wiccanmilitary.html

Wiccan is new state prison chaplain
Some a bit bothered by hiring of Rev. Witch
By NAHAL TOOSI
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Dec. 5, 2001
The new chaplain at Waupun Correctional Institution is a Wiccan.

And a Witch.

Quotable

The rest of society is not expecting a prison to be a conversion place for Wiccans or for witches.

- The Rev. Timothy Maschke,
theology professor

Most Wiccans in general do not proselytize. We don't ever try to convert
anyone.

- Tizzy Hyatt,
Reformed Congregation of the Goddess


The Rev. Jamyi Witch, who has voluntarily ministered to Wisconsin inmates for at least two years, began her new full-time position at the maximum security facility this week. She is believed to be the first Wiccan chaplain in Wisconsin and one of only a handful nationwide.

Department of Corrections officials on Wednesday defended the hire, saying Witch met the position's requirements and that it would be unfair and illegal to bar her from serving because of her faith. They also said that because the facility has another chaplain, and because inmates will have access to numerous volunteer ministers, that no one would feel uncomfortable with Witch.

However, a state lawmaker questioned the process, saying it made little sense to have a chaplain who practices a religion with fairly few followers.

Rep. Scott Walker (R-Wauwatosa), said the committee he leads, the Assembly Corrections and Courts Committee, may look into Witch's hiring.

"I can't imagine that most of the inmates would feel particularly comfortable going to that individual," Walker said. "I would think, in some ways from a religious standpoint, it might actually put inmates in a position that talking to (a Wiccan) is contrary to what some of their own religious beliefs might be."

Witch, whose address is listed as Mount Horeb, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

While Wicca is associated with paganism, many of its followers refer to it as a religion. The traditions of Wiccans, in general, celebrate nature and the Earth.

Followers are sometimes referred to as witches, though many dislike that term, calling themselves goddess women or, merely, Wiccans.

Out of 1,200 inmates at the institution, 30 are Wiccan, 400 are Christian, and the rest are either non-religious or practice other religions, including those in the Islamic and American Indian traditions, said Gary McCaughtry, the institution's warden.

McCaughtry said about 10 people were interviewed for the civil service position, which does not require ordination or a theological degree. Witch's interviews, references and background propelled her into the top slot. One selling point was that Witch has extensive knowledge of alternative religions, having previously made presentations on the topic to corrections officials.

"Basically, a lot of it has to do with the duties and character of the individual, and Jamyi is an outstandingly approachable person - somebody that I wouldn't mind approaching on spiritual matters myself," McCaughtry said. "If biases are present, it's a matter for us to work through those biases."

There are some limits on the faiths of chaplains and volunteer ministers, he said. Satanists or members of some violent cults, especially those associated with hate groups, wouldn't be allowed to serve.

McCaughtry did not have information on Witch's salary on Wednesday evening. He said the other chaplain is Protestant.

The Wisconsin corrections system has 36 chaplain positions, said spokesman Bill Clausius. "Times have changed," he said. "It's not just Catholic and Protestant anymore."

Discomfort with hiring
The hiring of a Wiccan chaplain leaves the Rev. Timothy Maschke, a professor of theology at Concordia University Wisconsin, "uncomfortable." He said he worried about how much ministering Witch would do.

"The rest of society is not expecting a prison to be a conversion place for Wiccans or for witches," Maschke said. Concordia, in Mequon, is associated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Though Witch may be the first official Wiccan chaplain in Wisconsin, Wiccans have been volunteer ministering to inmates for many years, said Tizzy Hyatt, development director for the Reformed Congregation of the Goddess in Dane County. Hyatt said she knew of five people in Wisconsin alone.

Wicca is "a very fast-growing religion, and also there's so many misconceptions about it," Hyatt said. "We're just like any other ordained folks. We have ordained priests and priestesses. Most Wiccans in general do not proselytize. We don't ever try to convert anyone."

According to press reports, about 50 Wiccan chaplains are in hospitals and prisons in the United Kingdom. In the United States, chaplains in the armed forces recognize Wicca, and its followers sometimes meet on military bases.

Selena Fox, a senior minister with Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan congregation in Mount Horeb, said she has performed ministerial duties in prisons as far back as 1980 and serves as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on religious accommodation for Wiccans and followers of other nature religions.

Estimates of Wiccans in the U.S. vary greatly, from 200,000 to 5 million, Fox said, adding, "in the state of Wisconsin, I'm sure there's over 5,000."

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Dec. 6, 2001.
Original URL: http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/dec01/witch06120501a.asp

Navy's Muslim chaplain visits Singapore
Journalist 2nd Class Daniel Butterfield, Commander, Logistics Force public affairs
Posted 01/07/2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SINGAPORE -- Like the population in Singapore -- or the United States -- people from different ethnic groups, religions and backgrounds make up the Navy team.

The sea service includes Christians, Jews, Muslims and a multitude of members from other religions who serve together aboard ships, overseas and at stateside ports.

Religious leaders, known as chaplains, from each faith group also wear the uniform.

"We're neither politicians, nor are we military commanders," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Saville, chaplain for the U.S. military community stationed here. "We don't make battlefield decisions.

"We advise military commanders on ethics, morality and religious concerns."

Approximately 880 Navy chaplains serve about 550,000 Sailors and Marines worldwide. Military clergy include rabbis, Roman Catholic and Orthodox priests, imams and Protestant ministers.

"All military chaplains provide religious services for their own faith group," Saville said. "They also facilitate and arrange for meeting the needs of worshippers from other faith groups.

"And we care for all people -- including people of no faith."

Recently, one of the U.S. Navy's three Muslim chaplains visited with Sailors and Islamic leaders here. Lt. Hussain Muhammad Shaikh, born in Karachi, Pakistan, earned his master's degree in Islamic sciences in 1999 from the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences. Although stationed in Japan, he hoped to strengthen ties while visiting Singapore during Ramadan.

“The United States of America actively supports a multi-religious, democratic society which includes Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims -- people of all faiths,� saidhaikh. "Like Singapore, we have a place for all faith groups."

Muslim Sailors live and work in Singapore, where approximately 15 percent of the population follows the Islamic faith. During his trip, Shaikh met with two Muslim Sailors and one coast guardsman and their families.

Each day, one of the three families prepared the morning meal before the day's fast began. Just after 5 a.m., the local military Muslims followed the chaplain in morning prayers.

"It is very important for Muslims to share during the month of Ramadan," said Coast Guard Warrant Officer Scott Chroninger. "[Shaikh's] visit not only provided us the opportunity to learn from the chaplain but to share with him the goodness of Singapore and all it has to offer."

Shaikh also met with leaders of Singapore's Islamic community. During his three-day visit, Shaikh met with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, which advises the government of Singapore on issues concerning working and living in a pluralistic society. He also visited with the Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore. It provides support to expatriate Muslims, including active duty military personnel stationed here and those who visit when their ships stop in the “Lion City.�

This marked the first time a Muslim chaplain has met with leaders in Singapore, and whether talking to military members or community leaders, the Navy chaplain's message stayed the same.

“The bottom line is security and peace,� said Shaikh. “The way to do this is to get to know each other. It states in the Quran that, ‘all people were created by a single pair, a male and female, and He scattered us into nations, tribes and communities so we may know each other.’ We are all one family, one home and one heart, serving the Creator. One half of the world is just waiting for the other half to say 'hello.'�

- USN -
http://www.c7f.navy.mil/news/2002/1/3.htm

And that's just from about 15 minutes' worth of research.

And frankly, if you want to spend time going through these articles and coming up with stuff to support your own agenda, that's fine, but as someone else pointed out to me when I first started reading and commenting on this site, do your own reading and research before you open your mouth, and make sure your comments are responsive to the post and not some side- or sub-issue that you just like to write about. If you want to get into a side conversation like that with an individual, do it off-site.

Thank you for the articles. Apparently there are more wiccan (and I'm guessing non-christian) out there than I had thought. So I take back the O'Reilly comment. I now remember reading about the wiccan prision chaplain a while back now that I reread about it, but had forgotten it.

I still do not see any evidence of non-christian chaplains getting special treatment and/or rights that christian chaplains are not granted in administering their duties, which is what you claimed during the discussion of Joshua's post about evangelical Chaplains not being allowed to proselytize to non-evangelicals.

However, since you seem to enjoy ad hominems, I won't be reading here anymore, as putting up with your childish name calling is not worth the rest of what makes ITA educational. For the record, I'm meeting for dinner and drinks with several friends from college after work before we all head home for the holidays. So have a Merry Christmas yourself, and please stop trying to assume what it is that I do on my own time.

You're welcome, and Merry Christmas.

And, to quote from a former ITA member:

"an ad hominem is not merely an insult, it is a logical fallacy. In order to be an ad hominem, one must attempt to disprove an assertion by reference to an irrelevant personal characteristic of the person making the assertion. Example:

Why should I listen to anything Ed has to say about evolution, he can't even dance a jig?"

Yes, that's a particularly silly example, but that's what an ad hominem is. It's not, as is commonly assumed, anything that the recipient might find insulting."

I think that one must start with the a priori that God is the universal sovereign to whom all clergy work to reconcile our human condition.

The path to this reconciliation is done through the name of each Faith. So, for the military to choose chaplins from many Faiths and permit all of them to practice their alchemy in the customs and precepts of their particular Faith is what needs to be required -- Not a requirement that all clergy represent the same path.

In this regard another Christian said it best (coincidently at a place called "Mars Hill" -- Mars, the Greek god of war?):

(Acts17:22) . . . "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

(Acts17:23) For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

(Acts17:24) God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

(Acts17:25) Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

(Acts17:26) And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

(Acts17:27) That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

(Acts17:28) For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

(Acts17:29) Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

(Acts17:30) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

(Acts17:31) Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

Now, therefore, it seems to me that military men and women facing death would rather be comforted by the prospects of a resurrection, even if it were only a placebo, than to have the feeling of an UNKNOWN GOD in whose name they have no personal attachment.

lawyerchik1 ditto ditto ditto lawyerchik1 ditto ditto ditto and kudos! I was way too oppressesed as a pagan in the military.

Wow - almost a year afterwards, and this is still of interest to people!

For what it's worth, I think Joe G! is right, to a point. My point in quoting all of the articles I quoted was that there is more support in government for far-outside-the-mainstream religions than there is for the Christianity of the Bible, and that is the wrong way to do things.

Christians have become the acceptable whipping boy of the American public - television programs and movies freely paint wacko serial killers, etc., as Bible-thumpers who are out of touch with reality, and if the same characterizations were made of any other religious practitioners, the entire media world would be under siege.

The problem with the "diversity movement", however, is that it dilutes Christianity. Christianity - and Judaism, for that matter - is founded on the belief that there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Acknowledging any other God is blasphemy.

Klingenschmitt has been told by the Navy that he cannot pray in Jesus’ name. That policy is wrong and should not be allowed.