Gays Blamed For Newtown, Other 2012 Tragedies

When Adam Lanza killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week, people were quick to point fingers at guns, the lack of mental health resources, violence in movies and video games -- and the gays.

Mike Huckabee suggested that children in a "natural family of a father and mother" would not grow up to be murderers and several other Christian conservative leaders and pastors, including Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, positioned the tragedy as God's revenge for a growing acceptance of gay rights.

Gays have been getting blamed for terrible events for years and in 2012 they were given exceptional powers -- causing extreme weather, death and destruction around the world. Here are some of the year's worst accusations:

• Aurora Shooting, July 20

  After a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater in July, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/aurora-shooting-movie-theater-batman_n_1688547.html">killing 12 people and wounding 71</a>, American Family Association news director Fred Jackson declared the massacre God's reaction to increasing acceptance of gays. He <a href="http://blogs.phillymag.com/gphilly/2012/07/23/gays-blamed-colorado-shooting/">said on his radio show</a>: <blockquote>?I think the sources of this is multifaceted but you can put it all I think under the heading of rebellion to God, a rejection of the God of the Bible. ? We?ve been dealing Teddy and I know the AFA Journal has been dealing with denominations that no longer believe in the God of the Bible, they no longer believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation, they teach that God is okay with homosexuality, this is just increasing more and more. It is mankind shaking its fist at the authority of God.?</blockquote>

• Marikana Massacre, August 16

  South African police <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/south-africa-mine-shooting_n_1790021.html">opened fire on striking workers </a>at a platinum mine, killing 34 and wounding at least 78. Conservative pastor Errol Naidoo <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-22-blame-the-gays-for-marikana-says-trending-preacher">linked the massacre to a "homosexual agenda,"</a> among other sins plaguing the country. He wrote in a newsletter: <blockquote>"Abortion-on-demand, driven by radical feminist activists and the homosexual agenda, lie at the heart of the culture of death. These anti-family groups are responsible for population decline."</blockquote>

• Hurricane Isaac, late August

  Seven years after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana was devastated again by Hurricane Issac -- and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/hurricane-isaac-southern-decadence-gay-festival-new-orleans_n_1843636.html">several Christian extremists spoke out</a> about the connection between extreme weather and New Orleans' annual LGBT festival. Conservative pastor John McTernan <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/hurricane-isaac-southern-decadence-gay-festival-new-orleans_n_1843636.html">wrote in a blog post</a>: <blockquote>"The hurricane is scheduled to hit the New Orleans area on Wednesday, Aug. 29 which is the beginning of an annual homosexual event in New Orleans called 'Southern Decadence.' Isaac, of course, is a biblical name meaning laughter. The church, city and nation have not repented and the homosexual agenda is far worse than it was in 2005. 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."</blockquote> The American Family Association's Buster Wilson <a href="http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2012/08/31/gays-get-blame-hurricane-isaac">echoed his remarks</a>, and a local <a href="http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/eerie-bible-coincidence-for-hurricane-isaac/">told WND</a>, "A hurricane hitting a celebration of decadence?twice in seven years. What are the odds??

• Benghazi Attack, September 11

  A new report <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/19/state-benghazi-report_n_2330034.html">determined this week</a> that "systemic failures" of the State Department contributed to the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. But Town Hall's Ben Shapiro <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2012/10/18/why_libya_matters/page/2">had it all figured out in October</a>: <blockquote>They thought it was far more important to make nice with the native population than to keep our ambassador safe. They thought that the Arab Spring was a nice, happy little uprising, complete with gay bodyguards to apply to protect the ambassador. Really. An ad placed in Libya -- Libya! -- for the ambassador's security team made it clear that members of a same-sex marriage would be accepted.</blockquote> Shapiro goes on to acknowledge that "no gay men applied."

• Hurricane Sandy, late October

  Conservative preacher John McTernan once again made the connection between gays and hurricanes when Sandy devastated the East Coast, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/hurricane-sandy-gays-same-sex-marriage-obama-romney_n_2038781.html">writing in a blog post </a>that the storm was caused by Obama's and then-presidential candidate Romney's tolerance of gay people: <blockquote>"Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda. America is under political judgment and the church does not know it!"</blockquote> Another right-wing pastor, Luke Robinson, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/hurricane-sandy-michael-bloomberg-gay-marriage_n_2077531.html">told a crowd in Maryland </a>that Sandy hit New York after Mayor Bloomberg made a donation to a Maryland campaign for marriage equality: <blockquote>"So here was the mayor of New York giving a quarter of a million dollars, coming down to Maryland discussing the matter. While he?s here somebody whispers in the ear, 'You better go back home and protect your stock because God is sending judgment.' The thing came through the area. You have to understand the season and the time. It?s almost the end of hurricane season, but God sent one of the biggest hurricanes ever.?</blockquote>

• Newtown Shooting, December 14

  Just after the shooting, Mike Huckabee attributed school violence to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/mike-huckabee-school-shooting_n_2303792.html">our having "systematically removed God from our schools"</a> -- and over the weekend <a href="http://mikehuckabee.com/mike-huckabee-news?ID=70415326-e438-41e4-9972-467097d2029f">on his Fox show</a> he made clear he wasn't just talking about school prayer: <blockquote>"We dismiss the notion of natural law and the notion that there are moral absolutes and seemed amazed when some kids make it their own morality to kill innocent children. We diminish and even hold in contempt the natural family of a father and mother creating and then responsibly raising the next generation and then express dismay that kids feel no real connection to their families or even the concept of a family."</blockquote> Focus on the Family founder James Dobson <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/james-dobson-connecticut-shooting-gay-marriage_n_2318015.html">described the tragedy as the result of American turning its back on God</a>: <blockquote>I mean millions of people have decided that God doesn't exist, or he's irrelevant to me and we have killed 54 million babies and the institution of marriage is right on the verge of a complete redefinition. Believe me, that is going to have consequences, too.</blockquote> Another conservative Christian leader, the Rev. Sam Morris, <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/17/tennessee-pastor-mass-shootings-because-schools-teach-evolution-and-how-to-be-a-homo/">gave his Tennessee congregation a Newton-themed sermon</a> that linked the shooting to schools teaching children about evolution, sex and "how to be a homo."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/23/newtown-gays-natural-disasters-2012_n_2347078.html

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