Gordon Klingenschmitt, a Republican state legislator from Colorado and Religious Right activist, spoke at a "Prayer For Our Warriors Conference" at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Arizona recently, the same event at which fellow right-wing pastor Rick Scarborough declared that God would give us the cure for AIDS if only this nation would repent for tolerating homosexuality.
For his part, Klingenschmitt dedicated his speech to recounting his battle back in 2006 when he was a Navy chaplain over supposedly being prevented from praying in the name of Jesus while serving in his official capacity, for which he was eventually court-martialed. (In reality, he was disciplined for appearing in uniform at a political rally.)
As Klingenschmitt explained in his remarks, he intentionally violated Navy policy and then brought it to the attention of his superiors, only to find out that the Navy was initially willing to just give him a slap on the wrist and allow him to return to his job. But Klingenschmitt wanted to be a martyr and so he insisted on receiving a full court-martial and being put on trial for his actions, which is exactly what he received ... and was then found guilty.
But even though he lost his case in court, Klingenschmitt knows that he won his case in Heaven because "on 14 September, 2006, the same day I was literally found guilty of worshiping in public in a Virginia Beach courtroom, 1,000 miles off the Virginia coastline, Hurricane Gordon is swelling at full strength."
"My first name is Gordon," Klingenschmitt helpfully explained in case anyone missed the significance. "Glory to God! Hallelujah! God is doing signs and wonders in the heavens."
