Conservative Christians Blame the Gays for Hurricane Sandy

A conservative Christian pastor is blaming Hurricane Sandy, which was expected to impact the Eastern seaboard Monday evening and Tuesday morning, on the LGBT community.

John McTernan, author, pastor and founder of Defend and Proclaim the Faith ministries, fired off a blog post on the Defend and Proclaim website that suggested the LGBT community and President Barack Obama's support for marriage equality are to blame for Hurricane Sandy. He alo took aim at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The pastor wrote that Sandy is "the most powerful hurricane on record" that "could do catastrophic damage to the entire Northeast." McTernan also said "Obama is 100 percent behind the Muslim Brotherhood which has vowed to destroy Israel and take Jerusalem. Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda. America is under political judgment and the church does not know it!"

"The church in America is now EXACTLY like ancient Israel before the Babylonians destroyed them. Both ancient Israel and the modern American church completely lost the fear of God," he added.

In another blog post, titled "Hurricane Sandy and the Election," McTernan singles out Romney and writes, "Yes, he is a big time pro-homosexual supporter to the point he will keep open homosexuality in the military; he wants homosexuals in the Boy Scouts; and he wants more open homosexuals in the Republican Party."

This isn't the first time the pastor has pointed the finger at gay men and women for the cause of a hurricane.

EDGE reported in August that McTernan said New Orleans' Southern Decadence gay pride party was to blame for the arrival of Hurricane Isaac and pointed out that Isaac occurred seven years after the devastating Hurricane Katrina.

"The church, city and nation have not repented and the homosexual agenda is far worse than it was in 2005," he wrote. "New Orleans is still hosting Southern Decadence with open homosexuality manifesting in the streets of the city. It could be that God is putting an end to this city and its wickedness. The timing of Hurricane Isaac with Southern Decadence is a sign that God's patience with America's sin is coming to an end."

But Isaac missed New Orleans and only impacted surrounding parishes with down power lines, scattered tree limbs and minor flooding.

McTernan isn't alone in his views, however. Ex-gay activist Linda Wall, who manages the Facebook account for the Lisa Miller story, the Vermont woman who says she is no longer a lesbian, kidnapped her daughter and brought her to Central America to keep her away from her ex-partner, posted a status that many followers were upset over, Right Wing Watch reports.

"Let's See How Vermont Does During The Hurricane," she wrote. She then defended her comments and said "God's judgment is upon this country."

"I didn't expect most of you to agree with my statement. But I tell you this the tragedy here is that a little six year old Christian girl and her born again Mother had to flee America in order to obey God's Word," she wrote. "And now a Minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ is facing imprisonment for helping protect a little child from being removed from her biological Christian Mother and turned over to a stranger. Christians who loved and nurtured Lisa and Isabella through the six plus years are also being sued for obeying God's Word. So look in the mirror and decide where your commitment is. Vengeance is God's and He does repay."

The Christian conservative website World Net Daily blamed Hurricane Sandy on God's wrath as well. In a recent article WND says Sandy hit the East Coast because of the "God-defying attempts" the U.S. has made "to divide the land of Israel."

"When we put pressure on Israel to divide their land, we have enormous, record-setting events, often within 24 hours," William Koening, a (self-proclaimed) journalist and White House correspondent, told WND. "Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 - we have experienced over 90 record-setting, all-time events as we have acted against Israel. And the greater the pressure on Israel to 'cooperate,' the greater the catastrophe. Hurricane Sandy is expected to come ashore in the Northeast on the 21st anniversary of the 'Perfect Storm,'" Koenig added. "That record-setting storm devastated the New England coast as President George H.W. Bush co-sponsored the Madrid Conference from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, 1991."

Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, two conservative and anti-gay television evangelists, made similar comments regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, EDGE reported. Shorty after the attacks occurred, the two men said on "The 700 Club" that God was responding to the gay community and to feminists along with other "immoral" individuals.

"The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this," Falwell said during the Sept. 13, 2001, broadcast of "The 700 Club." He added, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.' "

Robertson agreed with Falwell.

"Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government," he said. "And so we're responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, are the court system."