Gordon Klingenschmitt

The Ninth Circuit Court today upheld a lower court ruling which found Proposition 8, which overturned marriage equality in California, unconstitutional. Religious Right activists immediately denounced the ruling and used the decision to attack gays and lesbians, judges, Hollywood and San Francisco.

The National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown emailed members with a warning that the case will end up with an “all-or-nothing showdown at the United States Supreme Court” and told members that donations are needed to deny “same-sex marriage radicals” a legal victory:

Moments ago, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit handed down a sweeping ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8 and—for the first time ever—finding a "right" to same-sex marriage in the United States Constitution!

This sets up an all-or-nothing showdown at the United States Supreme Court.

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A Supreme Court victory would preserve the marriage laws of 44 states, denying same-sex marriage radicals in their campaign to force gay marriage on the entire nation in one fell swoop. But if we lose at the Supreme Court, marriage will be jeopardized not just in California, but in all 50 states.

NOM also posted additional statements from Brown and board chairman John Eastman, who called it an “absurd ruling”:

“As sweeping and wrong-headed as this decision is, it nonetheless was as predictable as the outcome of a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition game,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “We have anticipated this outcome since the moment San Francisco Judge Vaughn Walker’s first hearing in the case. Now we have the field cleared to take this issue to the US Supreme Court, where we have every confidence we will prevail.”

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“Never before has a federal appeals court – or any federal court for that matter – found a right to gay marriage under the US Constitution,” said constitutional scholar John Eastman, who is chairman of NOM. “The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is the most overturned circuit in the country, and Judge Stephen Reinhardt, the author of today’s absurd ruling is the most overturned federal judge in America. Today’s ruling is a perfect setup for this case to be taken by the US Supreme Court, where I am confident it will be reversed. This issue is the Roe v Wade of the current generation, and I sincerely doubt the Court has the stomach for preempting the policy judgments of the states on such a contentious matter, knowing the lingering harm it caused by that ruling.”

The Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Brian Raum dubbed the ruling a “Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage”:

No court should presume to redefine marriage. No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people. Americans overwhelmingly reject the idea of changing the definition of marriage. Sixty-three million Americans in 31 state elections have voted on marriage, and 63 percent voted to preserve marriage as the timeless, universal, unique union between husband and wife.

We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage–tried in San Francisco–turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court. Every pro-marriage American should be pleased that this case can finally go to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ProtectMarriage.com legal team’s arguments align with every other federal appellate and Supreme Court decision on marriage in American history.

Catholics for the Common Good president William May derided the court for failing to “to protect the centrality and integrity of marriage for children and society”:

"It is outrageous that judges continue to disregard the will of 7 million voters who voted to protect the centrality and integrity of marriage for children and society," May said.

Federal District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker presided over a show trial about marriage in which plaintiff's counsel trotted out witness after witness with emotional arguments in a PR attempt to re-argue Proposition 8.

"Failing to disclose that the judge himself was similarly situated as the plaintiffs (in a long-term committed relationship with a same-sex partner), Walker could find no rational reason for the voters to define marriage between a man and a woman and concluded they were bigoted and discriminatory," said May.

"To reach his judgment about the voters and his decision to strike down Prop 8, he created a new definition of marriage as merely the public recognition of a committed relationship for the benefit of adults. However, the voters of California know that marriage is much more than that. It is the reality that unites a man and a woman with each other and any children born from their union. This is what marriage is; that is what it does. It is a reality that can only be recognized by law and never changed."

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council accused the court of “judicial tyranny” and trying to “impose San Francisco values on the entire country”:

"Today's decision was disappointing but not surprising, coming from the most liberal Circuit Court in the country. This Hollywood-funded lawsuit, which seeks to impose San Francisco values on the entire country, may eventually reach the Supreme Court. This is not about constitutional governance but the insistence of a group of activists to force their will on their fellow citizens.

"This ruling substitute's judicial tyranny for the will of the people, who in the majority of states have amended their constitutions, as California did, to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

"However, we remain confident that in the end, the Supreme Court will reject the absurd argument that the authors of our Constitution created or even implied a 'right' to homosexual 'marriage,' and will instead uphold the right of the people to govern themselves.

"Voters in 31 states have voted to uphold the historic and natural definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Twenty-nine, a majority of American states, have actually inserted such a definition into the text of their state constitutions," concluded Perkins.

Focus on the Family analyst Bruce Hausknecht called the ruling “yet another instance of social engineering”:

“Opponents of Prop 8 insist on changing the definition of marriage for everyone, including children who deserve the opportunity to grow up in a home with their own married mother and father," Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst at Focus on the Family, said in a statement after the ruling.

“But no judge has the right to redefine marriage," he continued. "Doing so redefines parenthood, and offers yet another instance of social engineering based on the desires of adults rather than the interests of children."

Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Young Nance asserted that the judges “undermined the foundations of the family and liberty”:

Once again, the Ninth Circuit lives up to its reputation as the most overturned court in the country. Only this time, they have reached a new low. They not only showed a complete disregard for the Constitution, but also for those principles and values that gave birth to it, and for "we the people" who are supposed to be the ultimate authority.

Californians voted overwhelmingly to support the traditional definition of marriage that has been the foundation of this great nation. Our experiences have shown us, as science proves, that the best environment for children to develop as productive members of our society is in a home where there is a mother and a father who love them and each other unconditionally. Yet with a stroke of the pen these three judges have undermined the foundations of the family and liberty.

Shame on them.

We know this issue will eventually end up at the U.S. Supreme Court and we hope, for the sake of our country's future, that they will show much more respect for the Constitution, our foundations and the people who give them the right to make these rulings in the first place.

UPDATE: The Capitol Resource Institute blasted the ruling as “a stunning assault on democracy”:

"This is a stunning assault on democracy and California's initiative process," explained Karen England, Executive Director of pro-family group Capitol Resource Institute and a key leader in the passage of Proposition 8. "Well over 50% of California voters approved Proposition 8; today their will was overturned by a panel of arrogant judges who want to impose their political agenda on the rest of us."

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling is not the end of the road for Proposition 8.

"The truth will always prevail and we are confident that the traditional-and true-definition of marriage will be upheld by the Supreme Court," stated England. "The voice of the people must be heard and respected. The future of California and American families depends upon the sanctity of traditional marriage. It's time for the courts to recognize marriages' critical role in society and protect it."

Former NOM head Maggie Gallagher, now with the Culture War Victory Fund, writes on National Review Online that the ruling represents a “breathtaking exercise in ill-natured illogic”:

In a breathtaking exercise in ill-natured illogic, a divided Ninth Circuit ruled 2–1 that because Prop 8 does not take away civil-union benefits for same-sex couples, it’s an unconstitutional exercise in irrational animus towards gay people.

Dishonestly, the court claimed it did not require any heightened scrutiny to reach this result.

Gordon Klingenschmitt said that the “Founding Fathers are turning over in their graves” as a result of the ruling:

The liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced today that the Founding Fathers wrote homosexual 'marriage' rights into the U.S. Constitution, and overturned California's Proposition 8 traditional marriage law, which had twice been passed by voters. The Founding Fathers are turning over in their graves, since all of them believed sodomy was a crime, and certainly not a Constitutional right.

Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver claimed the ruling “undermines the legitimacy of the judicial system” and represents the “unraveling of the actual judiciary”:

"This is a travesty of justice and it undermines the legitimacy of the judiciary," Staver tells OneNewsNow. "When judges find that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, it's absolutely absurd. This is, I think, an illustration of why the judiciary has lost the confidence of the American people."

"If you look at ideology ... pushed by this particular panel, obviously that's what this panel did: they looked at their own ideological bias, their radical positions -- not the Constitution itself. And when they did that, it undermined their own legitimacy -- and I think this is the unraveling of the actual judiciary. It is the very seeds, as Thomas Jefferson said, of tyranny."

"They're not only saying that the voters don't have the right to amend their own constitution and define marriage, they're also saying that there is a constitutional, guaranteed right to same-sex marriage in the United States Constitution itself. That's absolutely absurd. It is insane to suggest that there is such a right in the United States Constitution."

The Family Leader dubbed the court a “friend of the radical homosexual agenda” and referred to the ruling as a case of bullying:

Today's decision by the liberal 9th Circut Court, while expected, is sad and outrageous on many levels. Not least of which is "we the people" get bullied again by a few "robed masters." It's also evidence that when executives go wobbly on fighting the left's agenda and not appointing ONLY strict constructionist judges, who take the Constitution and due process seriously, we continue to lose these battles. However, the 9th Circuit's opinon is no surprise; they have been a friend of the radical homosexual agenda for years. As for us; we have only begun to and will continue to be in the fight! Join us!

Gary Bauer of American Values chided the “Circus” Court for attempting to “force its radical agenda down our throats” and “threatening religious liberty”:

The Ninth “Circus” Court of Appeals has struck again. Today, a divided three-judge panel overruled the majority of California voters and struck down Proposition 8 — the state’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

The court’s majority ruled that traditional marriage “fails to advance any rational basis.” So in spite of thousands of years of recorded history, in spite of the values held by every major faith, in spite of basic biology and common sense and in spite of the will of the people, these left-wing judicial ideologues believe that normal marriage is irrational.

Here’s the bottom line: The culture war is real. The left does not intend to allow these issues to be decided by the people in their respective states. It will use the courts to force its radical agenda down our throats.

This is why it is so important for men and women of faith to be informed and active in the public policy debates of our time. These decisions are redefining our cherished values and threatening religious liberty.

Back in January, the American Family Association was close to declaring victory in their long running boycott of Home Depot over the company’s sponsorship of gay pride parades, telling members that “in response to AFA's boycott” Home Depot is “silently dropping public support for the homosexual agenda.” A week later, the AFA was forced to walk back their initially gleeful statement after Home Depot said that exactly nothing has changed, knocking down the AFA’s claims that their boycott has been effective.

In response to the AFA’s recommitment to the boycott, Religious Right activist Gordon Klingenschmitt called on members of his Pray In Jesus’ Name project to “boycott Home Depot” for having employees march “in parades that defile children and promote sodomite sin.” He went on to cite a much misconstrued passage in Romans for indicating that gays and lesbians are “worthy of death”

Klingenschmitt: Almighty God, we pray many more Christians will boycott Home Depot, who wrote a letter this week to the American Family Association saying they will continue sponsoring Homosexual Pride parades, and encouraging employees to dress in Home Depot aprons while marching in parades that defile children and promote sodomite sin. We refuse to buy anything there, because from Romans 1:32, “although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them,” in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Former military chaplain turned Religious Right activist Gordon Klingenschmitt asked members of the Pray in Jesus Name Project on Saturday to prevent Al Franken from “homosexualizing kids” through anti-bullying legislation. He writes that Franken’s anti-bullying efforts are comparable to the totalitarian dictatorship ran by late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Klingenschmitt says the Minnesota senator and other progressives have “deified sin as their god” and, like Kim, are attempting to “re-educate” children and diminish faith in God.

He called the legislation “evil” and told members of his organization, “We must defeat these bills...[and] send them back to where they came from: back to Hell,” because otherwise progressives will  “achieve their dream of a sexual promiscuous country that rivals Sodom and Gomorrah.”

STOP AL FRANKEN FROM HOMOSEXUALIZING KIDS. SIGN PETITION!

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While gay, lesbian, and preverts are pushing this onto elementry school kids in California, there are over 140 Congress men in DC trying to do the same thing in every school across America, both private and public. Senator Al Franken and Homosexual Congressman Jared Polis have introduced S.555 and H.R. 998 the "Homosexual Classrooms Act" aka Student Non-Discrimination.

The Obama Administration would make it legal for homosexuals to recruit your children starting in the first grade, with mandatory classroom lectures that normalize sin. Educators will be required to ask your children if they are straight or gay starting in the 1st grade, and they will be able to help each child find his or her "chosen" sexuality. At an age when most kids don't even know what sex is, they will be forced to endure pro-homosexual propaganda. Schools that decline will lose their funding.

The Liberals are fighting this battle on every front. Assembly Bill 266 in California started out as a common bill about sports education two years ago. Yet by adding an amendment to a two year bill the legislation avoids many of the hearings and public input requirements and much of the expected public opposition this would generate. This is also true in DC, where Homosexuals are trying to push pro-gay bills on elementary children very quietly and without spotlight or attention. Your petitions to Congress expose their evil, and deny them any stealth ability. YOU shine the light on their dark sinful deeds.

What do Kim Jong-Il and Senator Franken have in common? Kindergarten.

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North Koreans are trained from age 6 to worship Kim Jong Il as if he were a god.

When atheists resist the supernatural reality of the One True God, they must deify someone or something else to fill the void. In North Korea they deified the Kim dynasty, his father before him Kim Il-Song, and his son after, Kim Jong-Un.

But here in America, liberals, socialists (and yes, communists) who hate God have done everything possible to kick God out of schools, banning Christmas or any mention of Jesus Christ. This week Americans United for Separation of Church and State threatened to sue a public school in Alabama if they dare allow children to sing "Silent Night." Led by pro-homosexual Senators like Al Franken, liberals have deified sin as their god.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and openly homosexual Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) now have 138 co-sponsors in the House and 38 in the Senate, to do what? To mandate nationwide "re-education" of kindergarten and first-grade children that homosexuality is normal, not a sin. No kidding. The bills are S. 555 and H.R.998, (aka the "Homosexual classrooms act") that bullies kids without permission of Christian parents, in the name of promoting sexual re-orientation in kids they wish to recruit for sinful acts.

We must defeat these bills. Let's send them back to where they came from: back to Hell.

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Bottom line: What do Kim Jong-Il and Al Franken have in common? They re-educate kindergarten children to worship their gods, and reject Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I say we tell them "not my kids," and Merry Christmas too.

SELECT HERE TO SIGN PETITION, and we will instantly fax all 535 Congressmen and Senators (saving you much time!) to stop Sen. Al Franken's "Homosexual Classrooms Act" and OPPOSE AND FILIBUSTER S.555 + H.R. 998 aka Student Non-Discrimination.

Senator Al Franken bullies kids with "Homosexual Classrooms Act." Take action!

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This legislation would make it not only legal for teachers to introduce to alternative and sexually perverse lifestyles, but in fact require them to introduce kids to homosexuality without parental consent. This legislation would protect homosexual propositions and sexual advances as free speech. The legislation will EXEMPT homosexual students from any punishment if they initiate propositioning, harassing, or even sexually assaulting their classmates, as part of their specially-protected right to "freedom of self-expression." Any school that does not teach this pro-homosexual agenda will lose all federal funding.

This radical homosexual agenda indoctrinates an enter generation of American children with their dream of a new America founded on sexual promiscuity, in which Jesus and traditional values are exterminated. "And its dangerously close to passing" according to Eugene Delgaudio of the Public Advocate for the United States.

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Christian educator St. Francis Xavier once said "Give me the child until he is seven and I’ll give you the man." This has now become Al Franken's strategy behind this legislation. If the Homosexuals can bombard our children's mind in school before they are 7, then they will have open season to recruit kids into their perverse lifestyle, and achieve their dream of a sexual promiscuous country that rivals Sodom and Gomorrah.

For the last several years, Ron Paul has regularly won the straw polls at conservative events like CPAC and the Values Voter Summit but Religious Right organizers and activists have always been quick to dismiss these wins as flukes and assert that Paul does not actually represent the views of the movement.

Now that Paul's presidential campaign appears to be picking up steam, Religious Right activists are no longer simply dismissing Paul but are actively attacking him, with people like Bryan Fischer saying Paul is a renegade who should not be allowed to participate in GOP debates and Matt Barber writing columns about how "Ron Paul is dangerous."

But it is a sign that the Religious Right is really getting worried about Paul and his campaign when they start spinning elaborate conspiracy theories about how Paul and his supporters are really Democrats who are out to take over the Republican Party, as Gordon Klingenschmitt did while appearing on City On A Hill Radio yesterday:

Ron Paul is to the left of President Obama on social issues: he wants to legalize marijuana, he wants to support homosexualizing the military and repeal DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, he is all about homosexual marriage. This is a man who claims to be a Republican but he’s a RINO, he’s a Republican In Name Only, because Ron Paul is openly a libertarian. He’s not part of the Republican Party, he’s wrong on all the issues that we care about as the church. So, because he’s so far left of even President Obama, he’s gathering support from Democrats.

In Iowa, the only reason Ron Paul is polling so high is because he’s getting crossover votes from the left-wing.  And there are people who are trying to sabotage the Republican primary, they want to elect a Democrat, at least in his social conservative policies, Ron Paul is a Democrat, or is a libertarian.  He’s anti-church, anti-Christian, anti-Israel, pro-homosexual, pro-marijuana, everything that we don’t believe in, the Democrats do believe in; everything that Ron Paul believes in, the Democrats do believe in.

I think that’s why they’re lining up and they’re trying to make it appear as if in the Republican caucuses in Iowa and in the different places around the country, that Ron Paul actually has some Republican support.  I think he doesn’t. Ron Paul does not have any Republican support. Everyone who is a Ron Paul supporter is not a Republican, they are either a Democrat or a libertarian trying to take over the Republican Party.

Former military chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, who performed an exorcism on a lesbian service member who sought his counseling after she was raped, appeared on The Janet Mefferd Show yesterday, where he declared that “Christians no longer have a sacred place to worship” following the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Klingenschmitt was discussing a decision by the Pentagon that permitted same-sex marriages in bases where they are legal by giving chaplains the right to “participate in or officiate any private ceremony, whether on or off a military installation, provided that the ceremony is not prohibited by applicable state and local law.” The Pentagon also said that “determinations regarding the use of DOD real property and facilities for private functions, including religious and other ceremonies, should be made on a sexual-orientation neutral basis, provided such use is not prohibited by applicable state and local laws.”

But Klingenschmitt falsely claims that this opens the door to same-sex marriages in all fifty states, including states where they are illegal. He warned that chaplains now do “not have the option to keep his sacred space, and keep the chapel, from being desecrated” by same-sex weddings:

Mefferd: What is the condition now, since the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, what is the story now on what is going on for Christian chaplains within the military and the kind of pressure they are facing on the homosexual issue?

Klingenschmitt: Well it’s getting worse, not better. Last month, the Pentagon issued very strict guidelines that mandate, mandatory, all chapels in all fifty states on military bases must be opened up to homosexual weddings now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been repealed. You can get, if you’re a gay couple, you can get a license from Massachusetts and have a wedding in a military chapel in Texas or any of the fifty states and that is supposed to be protected. Well that means that Christians no longer have a sacred place to worship. A Catholic chapel, a Protestant chapel, must be opened up or the chaplain who refuses to do that will be punished for disobeying disorders, or discriminating against homosexual weddings. Of course, the chaplain may have the option to not preside at the wedding ceremony itself but he does not have the option to keep his sacred space, and keep the chapel, from being desecrated.

A few weeks ago Eric Bearse, the spokesperson for Rick Perry's "The Response" prayer rally, explained that people of all faiths were welcome to participate in the event and "seek out the living Christ."

Organizers have made it abundantly clear that this is an exclusively "Christian prayer meeting" ... and according to this email from Allan Parker of The Justice Foundation, who was part of an organizing conference call for the event, it has to be that way because the inclusion of other faiths "would be idolatry of the worst sort":

Recently, I was very privileged and honored to be on a conference call with national religious leaders and Governor Rick Perry. He explained his call for a national solemn assembly to repent and seek the Lord on August 6 in Houston, Texas. I believe the Lord is calling Rick Perry to lead us in a day of national repentance before the Lord. It is a solemn assembly according to Joel 2. As we are approaching the end times, it is even more important than ever for the Body of Christ to pray and seek His face. We must repent and turn from our wicked ways so that God may heal our land.

This is an explicitly Christian event because we are going to be praying to the one true God through His son, Jesus Christ. It would be idolatry of the worst sort for Christians to gather and invite false gods like Allah and Buddha and their false prophets to be with us at that time. Because we have religious liberty in this country, they are free to have events and pray to Buddha and Allah on their own. But this is time of prayer to the One True God through His son, Jesus Christ, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

Parker's email also contained a link to a message [PDF] from Gordon Klingenschmitt who warns that the event "may be interrupted by Muslims who are already demanding to share our stage to pray to Allah."

• Joseph Farah says he "wouldn't vote for Mitt Romney if he were running against Satan himself."
• Gordon Klingenschmitt says the repeal of DADT will result in a "purge" of Christians from the military.
• Focus on the Family is not impressed with Barbara Bush's support for marriage equality.
• FRC 's Robert Morrison says Lila Rose "deserves a Pulitzer Prize."
• Anti-mosque activist Andy Sullivan opposes the "Ground Zero Mosque" because "according to the IRS, they are a religious 501c3 charity, meaning they cannot have access to federal monies. No religious institution has the right to have access to federal monies."
• Next, Bill O'Reilly will be asking "magnets, how do they work?"
• Finally, Bryan Fischer says we need to "start dismantling egregiously wrong precedents such as Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas."

In our last post, we highlighted a clip from David Pakman's recent interview with Gordon Klingenschmitt in which Klingenschmitt related how he had performed an exorcism on a lesbian soldier when he was a chaplain in the Navy.

It turns out that just last month, Klingenschmitt told the same story to Peter LaBarbera, with the added detail that the woman had come to him for counseling because she had been raped:

LaBarbera: Chaps, you alluded to a story about an exorcism with a woman trapped in lesbianism. Tell us about that.

Klingenschmitt: Yes, well as a Navy Chaplain one of my first counseling assignments walked into my office and sat down with me was a young woman who had been raped. And it was tragic, I mean she was the victim of abuse and was going through a trial process where she was the witness against another sailor, they were both sailors, who was on her ship. But she said privately to me, "Chaplain, it was not consensual sex because I don't even like men, I'm a lesbian. So what should I do?"

And I wept with her and I cried with her and I asked her about her background; turns out she had been abused as a child by some men in her family and I said "let me ask you a question: all these men who abused you, where they full of the Devil or where they full of Jesus Christ?"

And she had to answer "well, of course they're full of the devil." I said that is proof right there, perhaps, that Jesus Christ himself can be the first man that you trust and I suggested we have a wedding ceremony and she got married to Jesus Christ as the first man she could ever trust.

She gave her life to Jesus. She welcomed the Holy Spirit. And I looked into her eyes as she began to weep and I said "you foul spirit of lesbianism, this woman has renounced you, come out of her in Jesus' name" and she began to wrestle with that and suddenly her eyes began to bug out and then she began to weep, and weep, and weep as the Holy Spirit forgave her sins.

She was baptized the next day and then she became one of the best evangelists in our church, started carrying around her Bible telling all of her friends about Jesus and she started dating boys. 

Several years ago, Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt got thrown out of the Navy for insubordination and managed to turn it into a career as an anti-gay Religious Right activist.

Yesterday, David Pakman had Klingenschmitt on his program to discuss the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which Klingenschmitt opposes because military chaplains will no longer be able to perform exorcisms of gay soldiers:

The entire interview is amazing and you really ought to watch it: