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WASHINGTON — A Navy chaplain who says his Christian prayers are being censored by senior officers began a hunger strike outside the White House on Tuesday, petitioning the president to “let me pray.” Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt said he will eat nothing, drink only water, and hold nightly prayer vigils outside the White House until he gets a response. “I wonder if the president is really endorsing this behavior,” he said. “I’m facing being kicked out because I pray in Jesus’ name.” Klingenschmitt said he fell out of favor with Navy officials for refusing to drop “Jesus” and other Christian-specific language...

To pray -- or not to pray -- in Jesus' name is the question plaguing an increasing number of U.S. military chaplains, one of whom began a multiday hunger strike outside the White House yesterday. "I am a Navy chaplain being fired because I pray in Jesus' name," said Navy Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt, who will be holding 6 p.m. prayer vigils daily in Lafayette Park. The hunger strike is intended to persuade President Bush to issue an executive order allowing military chaplains to pray according to their individual faith traditions. The American Center for Law and Justice has gathered 173,000...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Dec. 20, 2005) -- With the holiday season right around the corner, the chaplains of 2nd Marine Division took an ordinary training event, hiking, and turned it into a prayer walk to pray for those servicemembers who are away from their families this year. The six-mile hike is a Fleet Marine Force (FMF) qualification for all naval officers to receive the FMF war-fighting device worn on their uniforms. But this year, the 2nd Marine Division Chaplain, Cmdr. Gary Carr, turned the training into a way for the chaplains of the division and all other...

    Your Mental Attitude - Good Old Joe In every circle of human relations there is usually a person about whom we affectionately say: “He’s a good Joe.” We usually mean that Joe is the fellow who comes through with the right gift at the right time, who has the right word of comfort or cheer for the occasion, who is the first to put forth the little extra effort that makes projects more successful, who can be counted on for the unselfish donation or the unsolicited act of thoughtfulness or service. We usually take “good old Joe”...

House Lawmakers Concerned About Limits on Military Chaplains Wednesday, December 14, 2005 WASHINGTON — House lawmakers concerned that proposed military guidelines are restricting some Christian chaplains' abilities to pray said Wednesday they will deliver a 6-inch-thick petition to President Bush this week asking him to intervene. The Pentagon is finalizing guidelines to help determine what is appropriate religious expression, following an internal investigation that found examples of religious insensitivity at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Col. Conservative lawmakers and others said they fear the guidelines, which urge sensitivity to religious diversity, go too far. They said some Christian...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Dec. 11, 2005) -- “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have met the people I have, traveled to the places I’ve been and shared all the experiences that have enriched my life.” Navy Capt. Stephen Epperson, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Chaplain, serves U.S. service members at Al Asad, Iraq. With vivid detail, he can recount story after story from his 38 years of service. His career began making coffee for an admiral during the Vietnam era. During 1983, he was off the coast of Lebanon for 43 straight days, including Christmas, where...

    Your Mental Attitude - Inspiration Whatever your life’s desire may be, it will rake on new significance and new appeal for you when that tremendously powerful force we term “inspiration” takes over command. All great works of art . . . scientific advance­ments . . . business developments . . . man s modern conveniences.., elevation of our stand­ard of living . . . greater social and civic freedoms resulted from individual and collective inspiration which devised the necessary machinery to accomplish these ends. This ‘message is inspired by a burning desire to kindle in your heart...

Additional writings from Chaplain Staton for this week: CRYING OUT I read and hear much about the crying out of people wanting us to pull out of Iraq because of the military deaths that are the result of being involved in that conflict. I deeply understand the concern and pain of those who have lost loved ones to this conflict. I also know the pain of the separation from loved ones that death brings into our lives. This crying out against the war in Iraq has caused me to give much thought to the great loses suffered by this country....

    Office of the Pentagon Chaplain Support The Office of the Pentagon Chaplain supports the spiritual well-being of Pentagon Military and civilian personnel through worship services, religious education opportunities, and pastoral care programs and activities including:    Programs for the spiritual, moral, and ethical needs of the Pentagon  personnel   Pastoral Care during times of crisis, grief, stress, or anxiety   Spiritual relationships to all personnel of the Pentagon for worship, religious   education, and pastoral care support sustaining spiritual well-being   Providing invocations, benedictions, blessings, and prayers at military ceremonies, social events, and other activities related to the...

A pattern of hostility to free speech - specifically the rights of Christians to pray - is on the rise in our country. We saw it in our nation’s public schools ... where prayer was officially banned. We have seen it in our workplaces. Now, our United States military seems to have “jumped on the bandwagon” ... with Air Force leadership recently releasing proposed guidelines that will restrict how Air Force chaplains can pray. If approved, these guidelines may well be implemented throughout the entire Armed Forces. This is an outrage that we cannot allow! Already, it is documented that...

      CHAPLAIN CLARK V. POLING Clark V. Poling was born August 7, 1910 in Columbus, Ohio. He was the son of Susie Jane Vandersall of East Liberty, Ohio and Daniel A. Poling of Portland, Oregon. In addition to Clark, the other children were Daniel, Mary and Elizabeth. Clark attended Whitney Public School in Auburndale, Massachusetts where his teachers remembered his maturity and delicate side of his nature. The Auburndale days came to an end when his mother died in 1918. She is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery, Uniontown, Ohio. Clark's father was an Evangelical Minister and in 1936...

      CHAPLAIN ALEXANDER D. GOODE Alexander D. Goode was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 10, 1911. His father was a Rabbi and his mother, Fay had two other sons, Joseph and Moses, and a daughter, Agatha. Alex received medals at Eastern High School, Washington, DC for tennis, swimming and track. He led his class in scholarship too! He planned to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Rabbi, but that did not keep him from having a laughing, shouting, hail-fellow-well-met boyhood with all the Protestant and Catholic boys in his neighborhood. He graduated from...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. Army chaplain has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to getting three underage officers drunk and forcing them into oral sex. Army chaplain Capt. Gregory Arflack,44, pleaded guilty to the crime on Tuesday and Wednesday he was stripped of his endorsement by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. "He will no longer be eligible to be a chaplain in the Army," spokesman Tom Connelly said. Arflack pleaded guilty to three counts of forcible sodomy against enlisted men, three counts of committing an indecent act, two counts of fraternization with enlisted...

BAMBERG, Germany -- A U.S. Army chaplain has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of forcible sodomy against enlisted men. Capt. Gregory Arflack, a 44-year-old Roman Catholic priest, apologized at his court-martial in Germany. He sobbed and said, "I've had a lot of time to pray and consider what I've done as a priest and an officer and I'm ashamed." One of the victims, whom Arflack had been counseling about homesickness and family troubles, told the court, "I don't understand how a person of the cloth could do something like that." He added,...

BAMBERG, Germany (AP) - A US Army chaplain was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison after pleading guilty at his court-martial to three counts of forcible sodomy against enlisted men. Capt Gregory Arflack, 44, a Roman Catholic priest serving as a chaplain with the 279th Base Support Battalion, also admitted three counts of committing an indecent acts, two of fraternisation with enlisted service members, and one count of conduct unbecoming an officer. Judge US Army Col R Peter Masterton ordered him dismissed from the Army and that he forfeit all benefits in addition to the prison term to be...

In 2001, Captain James "Yusuf" Yee [West Point Graduate] was commissioned as one of the first Muslim chaplains in the United States Army. After 9/11 he became a frequent government spokesman helping to educate soldiers about Islam and build understanding throughout the military. Subsequently, Captain Yee was selected to serve as the Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay. After serving there for ten months - and after receiving numerous awards for his role there - Chaplain Yee was arrested and subjected to much of the same treatment that is imposed on Guantanamo detainees. Accused of spying and aiding the Taliban and...

      CHAPLAIN GEORGE L. FOX George L. Fox was born March 15, 1900 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. In addition to George, he had a sister Gertrude and brothers Bert, Leo and John. When George was just 17, he left school, and with strong determination, convinced the military authorities he was 18 and joined the ambulance corps in 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. George was placed in the ambulance corps and shipped to Camp Newton D. Baker in Texas. On December 3, 1917 George embarked from Camp Merritt, New Jersey, and boarded the US...

A letter was sent by Congressman Walter B. Jones, (R-NC), to President George W. Bush earlier this week with 69 signatures of Members of the United States House of Representatives explaining that Christian military chaplains are being told to use general terms when they pray publicly, and to not mention the name of Jesus. The Members of the House of Representatives signing the letter to the president said: "We are disappointed and gravely concerned to learn that the Christian military chaplains are under direct attack and that their right to pray according to their faith is in jeopardy. As you...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 27, 2005) -- “Vocati ad Servitum” For 230 years, the Navy Chaplain Corps has been called to serve God, America, and America’s sea services. Through wars and peacetime, in good times and bad times, Navy chaplains have been there provide ministry, counseling and solace for Sailors and Marines and their families in countless places around the globe. On 28 November 2005, the Navy Chaplain Corps will celebrate its 230th Birthday. The history of the Chaplain Corps and the Navy that it serves dates back to the early months of the American Revolution. On 13 October 1775,...

      Many stories have been written about the heroic acts of four Army Chaplains aboard a troop transport ship on its way to Greenland. One such story follows. It was written by Victor M. Parachin, an ordained minister, counselor and free-lance writer. It was the evening of Feb. 2, 1943, and the U.S.A.T. Dorchester was crowded to capacity, carrying 902 servicemen, merchant seamen and civilian workers. Once a luxury coastal liner, the 5,649-ton vessel had been converted into an Army transport ship. The Dorchester, one of three ships in the SG-19 convoy, was moving steadily across the...