Saturday, November 17, 2007

Gordon Klingenschmitt Fights For Money

Gordon's True Goal?It turns out that Gordon Klingenschmitt's fight to stay in the Navy
was really all about money!


The following is an excerpt from Ed Brayton's blog, Distpatches from the Culture Wars. It must be noted that Captain Norm Holcomb, CHC, USN (Ret) was not Klingenschmitt's commanding officer. Chaplain Holcomb was his supervisor at Naval Station Norfolk.

I see that Mr. Klingenschmitt once again wants to "spin" truth and suggest that I was less than honorable in dealing with him. Yes, I raised my voice at him when he acted like a spoiled child and wouldn't be quiet and take guidance from the LCDR who was trying to explain a legal issue to him. He was rude, insubordinate and totally crossed the line in terms of military discipline. He lies when he says that I knew that he was taping me - I did not know it until I was made aware of it the next day. But that doesn't matter because it was common knowledge that he secretly taped everyone. He was so paranoid that he complained that "they" (?, the Navy, the command?) was intercepting his emails and eavesdropping on him! No, I didn't respond to his foolish attempt to argue with the truth that I stated. I've had enough experience with him to know that arguing with him is like casting one's pearls before swine. He is a very clever liar and he knows how to "push the hot buttons" via the media to agitate well-meaning but gullible civilian Christians. I have heard him brag about that on several occasions. He was a poor chaplain and a poor naval officer who was removed from a ship by an honorable Commanding Officer because Mr. K's conduct and behavior had become prejudicial to good order and discipline. Mr. K knew that he was a loser as a chaplain and naval officer so he tried to cover his incompetence by alleging religious discrimination. He and his self-righteous cronies have attempted to get maximum distance out of that red herring! Mr. K knows how to spin stories and excite well-meaning readers/listeners by telling half-truths and omitting important details from his stories. He knows that he can play on the emotions of people by spinning the truth on such volatile emotional issues as prayer, religion, Jesus and Constitutional freedoms. Let me give you a current example of his unethical handling of the truth. In his recent article about Hindu prayer in the Senate he says: "Congress agreed with 85 percent of Americans (and apparently disagreed with Chaplain Black) by rescinding the bad Navy policy, restoring the rights of Navy chaplains to pray publicly in Jesus' name 'even in uniform.'" Wow! Mr. K states that 85 percent of Americans agree with him and support him. That's a lot of people and there is no doubt that 85 percent of all Americans is a support base that is powerful. But where did Mr. K get this 85 percent number? He got it from a 17 September 2006 article in The Decatur Daily News, a local Alabama newspaper. The following is a verbatim quote from the article: "Military chaplains should have the right to lead public prayers in Jesus' name, according to 85 percent of Daily readers who responded to an online poll. 'Should military chaplains be allowed to lead prayers in Jesus' name during public events that are not religious services?' the poll asked. The results: 182 readers (85.5 percent) said yes and 31 readers (14.6 percent) said no. The two-day poll concluded Saturday. It was unscientific, and people could vote from any location." So, the 85 percent of all Americans that Mr. K claims turns out to be a mere 182 readers of a local Alabama newspaper! I'm sure Mr. K would find some way to explain this away. Nevertheless, this is how he deceives a well-meaning but gullible public. My Deputy Command Chaplain, an evangelical Christian minister from Texas, once commented that Mr. K was the only person he knew who could take 4 truths and spin them into a whopper of an untruth. This is just one example of his unethical handling of the truth. There are many more and they are all documented. He postures himself as a hero of all chaplains and boasts that though he has lost everything he would do it all again for the sake of serving Jesus. What a crock! He said this only after he tried to use intimidation to negotiate with the Chief of Naval Personnel. What he doesn't tell the public is that he wrote a letter to the CNP stating words to the effect of "If you will give me some financial compensation I will drop all of my complaints and will promise not to ever bring anything up in the future." So much for his righteous altruism! He is a selfish, self-centered person who is contemptuous of any disciplined authority figure who attempts to give guidance to his out-of-control need to have things his own way all of the time. Mr. K is quick to warn those who disagree with him that the wrath of God will be their inheritance. It appears that he has inherited some sort of wrath as a result of his disobedience and pride. Let me say that I am a 63 year old retired chaplain who does not have "an axe to grind" with anyone at this stage of my life. However, I do know the truth and now that I am retired I will tirelessly expose the untruth of this particular situation. I fought in Vietnam as a young Marine and I have served God and country with honor and integrity for 33 years of active duty. I have never been asked or forced to compromise my commitment to Jesus Christ and neither has Mr. K. He wanted to do as he pleased and ignore the naval customs and regulations that officers swear to live by. It always amazes me how self-righteous people like Mr. K can never seem to see how far removed they are from the ethics, truth and example of the Jesus who is the Lord of the Scriptures. They seem to think it's okay for them to lie and handle the truth loosely as long as they do it "in Jesus' name." Don't expect anything near the truth from this man. He is a professional malcontent for whom truth is merely an irritant as he wages a crusade that must be won at all costs so that the Godless heathens of the world will not put his God out of business. Imagine that! These "defenders of the faith" have to lie and spin the truth so that their idea of God will not perish. Go figure! And by the way, while you refer to him as an Evangelical Episcopal priest, you should know that he lost his endorsement as a chaplain from that religious body. Oh yes, he says that he voluntarily gave it up but word from other endorsers is that he was given the choice of giving it up freely or having it taken from him. Also, the endorsing body that gave him a new endorsement has recently sent a letter to all its endorsed chaplains informing them that they now realize that Mr. K was to blame for most of his misfortune.

CAPT Norm Holcomb, CHC, USN (Ret)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are correct. Gordon Klingenschmitt's fight was not because of some pseudo-patriotic principles. He was running scared that he would lose his pension when he found out that the Navy wouldn't put up with his shameful antics. Look at his website. His fitness reports document the fact that he was a lackluster officer. He received fair, accurate reports on his fitness (or lack of fitness) to continue serving as a Navy officer. It had nothing to do with praying.

Anonymous said...

Wow. This Klingenschmitt is a real mess. Too bad he wasn't an honorable man. I would hate to be a member of his church. What a mess that would be!

Anonymous said...

Ever since I started hearing about klingOman I always thought that his bottom line was indeed the bottom line. All of his BS looked to my like a desperate man trying to do anything to save his pension. I seriously doubt that he has any real principles.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Most of us in Norfolk could easily see right through all of Klingenschmitt's baloney. He didn't start crying about persecution until it looked like he was not going to be continued on active duty. That meant loss of his salary and loss of any potential pension. Remember his whiny, "I lost my job, my house, my car..." scene. He tried to make people think that he was being evicted to live on the streets, when in reality, he was getting out with $90,000 in severance pay. That is a far cry from being destitute. Yes, I agree with San Dog Sailor, the bottom line is all that Klingenschmitt was concerned about.

Anonymous said...

Who does this Klingenschmitt fellow think he is? What a moron! Everyone can see easily that he only cried foul after he realized that his personal financial situation was about to change.

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute! Klingenschmitt got out with almost $100,000. He tried to get the Navy to buy his silence, but the Navy told him to go pound sand. That's great! Good on the Navy. Too bad he didn't go to a General Court so that he could have been given jail time. That would have taken care of his claims of being made "homeless" because of his misconduct. This guy is definitely lacking in the Navy Core Values of honor, courage, and commitment. I think this blog is right, his whole fight was about trying to save a pension. He should have never joined the Navy.

Anonymous said...

Why won't this Klinkenshmith just give it up? He is such a loser. Everyone can tell by the way he has to spin what happened. When I was in the Navy, I know that I would have been court martialed for a whole lot less than the stupid things the Klinkenshmith did. He is a criminal because he broke federal law. He should just shut up and do something to help society for a big change of pace!

Anonymous said...

Great blog!!!! I just found this via google. Believe it or not, I knew another so-called chaplain that was almost as horrible as Gordon Klingenschmitt. He should have been court martialed, but they didn't have the nerve to take him to court. He was just as big a nut job as Klingenschmitt, though.

He went to "minister" to a family that lost their husband/father to suicide. The "chaplain" was so hateful and nasty that they threw him out of the house! Then, he had the gall to blame it on "persecution" because he "prayed in Jesus' Name." The problem was, he never prayed with the family because he was too busy yelling at them about the funeral. It sounds like Klingenschmitt went to the same school as this other guy. He was another one of those fundalmentalist nut jobs. It is very sad, because the family that he offended was Baptist just like the chaplain! How could Baptists "persecute" a Baptist chaplain for "praying in Jesus' Name?"

Anonymous said...

Isn't funny how money ends up as the bottom line for so many of these type of people? Klingenschmitt is one more from the same stock as Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Kenneth Copeland, & Robert Tilton. They all did some very ridiculous things to get money out of people. The only difference is that Kling. only tried to get money out of the Navy. I wonder if he will start the PTK Club (Praise The Klingenschmitt Club)?

Anonymous said...

Yes, anonymous, it does always seem to come full circle back to money. But this Klingenschmitt seems to have some sort of unnatural need to be regularly humiliated in public. I am sure that he could be an entire chapter in a psychology text book. Come to think of it, that is a great way for Klingenschmitt to pick up some extra cash. That way, he can have his money without sacrificing any of his neuroses.

Anonymous said...

When is this guy ever going to quit embarrassing himself? You would think that Klingenschmitt would quit once he got court martialed for being a complete disgrace, but he keeps pushing himself on the world like he is some great hero. The only heroes I know are the ones who are fighting for their country against Al Qaida, not against the Navy for some extra money like Klingenschmitt.