#868: Jennifer LeClaire

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor of Charisma Magazine, and a stock fundie moronic wingnut who reacts exactly the way you’d predict to reality, truth and evidence. So, for instance, California’s relatively recent law preventing pseudo-scientific sexual orientation conversion therapy from being used on minors did not gone over well with her (or the other usual suspects for that matter, as shown here, here, here, here, or here). LeClaire even believes that California may decide to “outlaw the Bible” as the next step, mostly because she has some pretty fundamental problems perceiving relevant distinctions and connections. LeClaire, of course, believes that homosexuality is caused by demonic “spirit of immorality” that “enters in through some sort of abuse and the lies of the enemy,” Satan. Accordingly, “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.” Indeed.

LeClaire has also warned us about books that feature openly gay superheroes, since “the rise of gay superheroes [is] just another example of the spirit of immorality waging war on young souls.” That is, “the industry is planting seeds in young minds” of “the spirit of sexual immorality,” and she 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.” A gay Spiderman, for instance, could potentially deceive a whole generation. Indeed, she emphasizes, there really is a gay agenda out there, and “it’s working overtime to send millions to Hell”. That is, she really thinks that gay marriage is Satan’s ploy to ban straight marriage, and accordingly that this is what gay activists are really after.

Her reaction to criticism is the usual one. After trying to argue that gay football players are an attempt to turn kids gay (she later modified it by saying there might be a “saving grace” to coming out as gay: it gives you the opportunity to become ex-gay), she received some criticism. LeClaire, however, pathologically unable to draw relevant distinctions as she is, reacted by howling “persecution” (yes, the response is always attempts to poison the well – you didn’t expect her to try to give an argument, did you?) “The gay agenda swarmed around me like a shark that smelled blood,” said LeClaire, claiming that she was bullied (they disagreed with her; clearly that’s religious persecution) and complaining about “the evil that the gay agenda unleashed against me,” just for “[t]elling the truth. God’s truth is love,” but can apparently look a lot like bigoted hatred. Oh, but the gays aren’t even the worst – there are also atheists, who are actively trying to “tear down all things Christian in the public square,” and “woo born-again Bible believers to the dark side.” Pure Satanism, in other words.

And to emphasize, LeClaire is not just your standard bigot. LeClaire is incoherently insane, in the manner of Cindy Jacobs, and appears to believe that she actually physically engages with demons and their black witchcraft out to get her for her faith, just like in the documentary The Exorcist.

Charisma Magazine is a monthly magazine aimed at Pentecostals and other fundies, and based on the Word-Faith movement, charismatic revivalism, and other contemporary streams of charismatic Christianity such as the Toronto Blessing, International House of Prayer, and the Apostolic-Prophetic movement. It is run by one Stephen Strang, its current editor-in-chief is Marcus Yoars, and it regularly features columns by Joyce Meyer and Don Colbert. Here is a discussion of Charisma magazine’s article on how demon rape makes you gay (they don’t say whether their investigations are properly randomized and double-blinded).

Diagnosis: Yet another unhinged fundie addlehead, and there’s plenty more where she comes from. Doesn’t make her less objectionable, however, and her influence – while probably limited – is certainly not beneficial to anything.