Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, has found himself in hot water over an incident in which his administration made it clear that public prayer was not acceptable.
As the presidential candidates are under close scrutiny, so are past choices of their associations.
A story from 2008 has recently resurfaced in which Governor Tom Kaine oversaw a law that prohibited police chaplains from praying to Jesus during public events.
Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty created the policy which specifically censored Christian prayers.
Individuals were instructed that prayers should be generalized as to not offend.
In 2008, the ChristianNewsWire.com reported that five Virginia State Police Chaplains were “forced to resign because they prayed publicly in Jesus’ name.” Former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt lost his job for choosing to pray.
He spoke out about the incident,
“Governor Kaine campaigned like a Christian to get our votes. But now, instead of governing like a Christian, or respecting his own chaplains’ First Amendment rights, his administration forced the resignation of five police chaplains, simply because they prayed publicly ‘in Jesus’ name.’ These five chaplains lost their jobs for honoring Christ. They’re heroes of the faith, because they refused to deny Jesus when ordered to by the Kaine administration.”
Governor Kaine’s spokesman acted on behalf of Kaine while defending against Flaherty’s fight to overturn the law. He even made it seem as though Kaine was a victim in the matter. He stated, “It is disappointing that Del. Griffith would make such a political attack on Gov. Kaine about his faith.”
Fortunately, since the incident, by 2010, the law prohibiting Christian prayer was successfully repealed.
