Jennifer LeClaire

Religious Right Reacts to Sandy Hook Shooting by Blaming Lack of Government-Dictated School Prayer

Bryan Fischer, Mike Huckabee and James Dobson’s claims that the school shooting in Connecticut represents God’s judgment on the U.S. are no anomalies. Indeed, many other Religious Right commentators have also claimed that the Sandy Hook shooting is part of divine punishment.

David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network defended Fischer and Huckabee’s statements that the prohibition on state-mandated school prayer was responsible for the shootings:

Guess what folks? Huckabee and Fischer are not alone. There are millions of evangelicals who believe the same thing. This is not heartless. It’s based on the biblical principle of reaping and sowing. Not that these little children sowed anything but are our schools left unprotected because of the past actions of our nation when it comes to removing God from our public schools?

The conversation is now all about banning guns but should the conversation really be about allowing God back into public schools? Food for thought. It's a discussion worth having.

Connecticut Pastor Clive Calver in Charisma similarly argued that the shooting is a “wake-up call” from God to secular New Englanders:

Our prayer is that this evil, this unspeakable horror, would be the turning point for what God is doing in New England. We’ve spent the last nearly eight years here, breaking up the land and laying seed for a harvest—or revival in New England.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the wake-up call. Maybe, just maybe, this is when the church springs into action, being the hands and feet of Jesus and shining His light in this darkness. People here need Jesus and it’s our job to introduce Him to them.

Charisma’s news editor Jennifer LeClaire maintained that state-sponsored prayers in public schools “could have prevented” the shooting:

But if God is for us, who can be against us? I believe God has been waiting for His people to rise up with a unified voice of righteousness against the immorality in this nation. I believe God has been patient through our prayerlessness. And I believe if we set our hearts toward reinstituting Christian prayer in schools it could help fuel the prophesied Great Awakening in this generation.

Some experts are reporting that nothing could have prevented the Newtown school shooting. Again, I beg to differ. I think prayer could have prevented it. And I think reinstating prayer in public schools can prevent the next mass murdering from stepping foot on campus and prematurily ending more innocent lives.

So, in the wake of yet another tragedy, can we please put prayer back in schools now?

William Murray of Government Is Not God PAC also said the lack of government-dictated prayer in public schools is to blame:

In the vast majority of America’s public schools, the authority of God has been replaced with the authority of the iron fist of government. Morals? Without the authority of God, there are no morals, and none are taught in the public schools today. The ethics that are taught are situational, perhaps the same situational ethics that led to the logic that caused the tragic shootings in Newtown.

WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah claimed the shooting was God’s judgment over America’s “abandonment of God and His righteous laws” and for apparently following the path of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union:

But, of course, that’s just a Band-Aid on a culture mortally wounded by its abandonment of God and His righteous laws.

And that’s why we all need to expect more Sandy Hooks, not fewer.

What should we expect when we not only prohibit weapons of self-defense in our schools, but when we banish the Creator from them?

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decisions that removed prayer from the public schools of America. Just look what has happened since. It’s not that God is exacting punishment on America as a result. He is giving America over to the desires of its wicked heart.

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Think of the societies and governments that have chosen this path before us – Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union, Mao’s China. Were those societies better off as a result? Or were their judgments quickened? Did the bloodshed cease? Or did it increase beyond the imagination of anyone except the tyrants who imposed it?

I don’t fear guns. But I do fear the wrath of a God who turns His back on a nation like America has turned its back on Him.

How many more Sandy Hooks do we need to see before we realize something has gone very wrong in America?
Brian Tashman's blog

Charisma Says Satan is Behind Law Limiting Ex-Gay Therapy, May Lead to Bible Ban

California’s new law preventing pseudo-scientific sexual orientation conversion therapy from being used on minors has not gone over well with anti-gay activists. Charisma magazine news editor Jennifer LeClaire even believes that California may soon decide to “outlaw the Bible” as a next step. LeClaire claimed that homosexuality is caused by demonic “spirit of immorality” that “enters in through some sort of abuse and the lies of the enemy,” Satan. “Sexual orientation change efforts can help set the captives free,” LeClaire said. “That’s why the enemy saw to it that California, a state with a high gay population rate, bans such therapy.”

When he signed the bill on Saturday, the liberal governor said change therapy would “now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery.”

Really? Since when is helping a confused teenager under assault by powers of this dark world a dustbin of quackery?

I don’t believe kids are born gay. I don’t have all the answers, but I believe there’s a spirit of immorality involved at the root level. I believe it often enters in through some sort of abuse and the lies of the enemy that follow. I believe it involves emotional and spiritual brokenness. I believe deliverance is available to those oppressed by this spirit. And I believe sexual orientation change efforts can help set the captives free. That’s why the enemy saw to it that California, a state with a high gay population rate, bans such therapy.

…

What’s next for California lawmakers? Banning the gospel—or any practice that aims to reduce or eliminate people going to hell? Will Brown relegate the good news of Christ to the dustbin of quackery, too? Will California outlaw any ministry that does not affirm or encourage experimentation with or acceptance of homosexuality? Will churches lose their tax-exempt status if they preach the gospel?

Don’t think it can’t happen. It’s illegal to carry a Bible in some countries. Missionaries are barred from evangelizing in some countries. It’s officially against the rules to pray in the public square in some countries. Many countries are closed the gospel altogether and if you preach you could end up in prison or heaven.

California leads the nation in many trends. After trampling parental rights with this new bill, could it be possible that California will be the first to outlaw the Bible, prayer, missionaries or even the gospel itself, too?
Brian Tashman's blog

Charisma Editor Warns that 'The Rise of Gay Super Heroes' is an 'Example of the Spirit of Immorality Waging War on Young Souls'

Jennifer LeClaire, the news editor of Charisma Magazine, is warning against new comic books that feature openly gay superheroes, explaining that she views “the rise of gay superheroes as just another example of the spirit of immorality waging war on young souls.” She writes that the “the industry is planting seeds in young minds” of “the spirit of sexual immorality” and asks readers to “pray for the people behind the industries that are pumping out anti-Christ content laced with immorality and idolatry of all kinds”:

Some have said the recent same-sex moves in the comic book industry are about driving more revenue to the bottom line. Others claim it’s political correctness. I can’t judge the motives of man’s heart. No matter the motive, I see the rise of gay superheroes as just another example of the spirit of immorality waging war on young souls. Although gay comic book heroes are far from the only example of how the spirit of immorality is targeting kids, it’s one of the most blatant I’ve seen in some time.

By printing comic book covers showing gay marriage and men kissing within the publication's pages, the industry is planting seeds in young minds that this is a cultural norm. Sadly, it may be a cultural norm—54 percent of American adults consider gay or lesbian relations morally acceptable, according to a recent Gallup poll. Nevertheless, gay marriage is not a biblical norm. People can twist Scriptures to show God smiling on the spirit of immorality in any form it takes—and homosexuality is merely one manifestation looking for the Christian nod in today’s society. But that doesn’t make it true.

The word the Holy Spirit brought to my mind is “insidious,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “awaiting a chance to entrap (treacherous); harmful but enticing (seductive); having a gradual and cumulative effect (subtle); and of a disease—developing so gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent.” Insidious is the absolute right word to describe the spirit of immorality’s work in the earth. The injection of gay superheroes into our children’s worldview is just one of the most shocking recent examples.

One Million Moms may have said it best: “Children desire to be just like superheroes. Children mimic superhero actions and even dress up in costumes to resemble these characters as much as possible. Can you imagine little boys saying, ‘I want a boyfriend or husband like X-Men’? Why do adult gay men need comic superheroes as role models? They want to indoctrinate impressionable young minds by placing these gay characters on pedestals in a positive light.”

We’re in an all-out war for the next generation—a generation too young to understand the battle. The spirit of immorality is working overtime to seduce our children—and the spirit of immorality doesn’t fight fair. We need to bind the spirit of sexual immorality. But we also need to pray for the people behind the industries that are pumping out anti-Christ content laced with immorality and idolatry of all kinds. We need to pray because I believe people who are leading our children into sin will pay a price if they don’t repent.
Brian Tashman's blog
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