Praying Away the Oil, BP’s Oil-Spewing Disaster: It's God’s Message to America, Conservative Christian Evangelicals Say

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH

The oil spill is ‘partly the result of greed, debauchery on the beaches, poor environmental stewardship and a lack of U.S. support for Israel,’ says traveling "prophet" Cindy Jones.    

People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch recently pointed out that amongst some conservative evangelical Christians the notion that “the BP oil spill is God's punishment for our failure to properly support Israel is becoming an increasingly accepted explanation.”* Others claim that “debauchery on the beaches,” is one possible cause of the oil spill. And many think of it as a warning from on high. As unhinged as any of this might sound – especially the logical extension that God is working his grace through the boardroom at BP – in these times it is not an uncommon religious thread. After all, we are not that far removed from the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s post-911 diatribe blaming all things liberal for the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and Pastor John Hagee’s claim that Hurricane Katrina was God’s retribution for the Big Easy’s easiness.

For some, the only way out of this mess and the only thing that will stop BP’s oil from continuing to gush into the Gulf of Mexico is prayer. That’s why on Sunday, June 27, people in the Gulf States came together for “a day of prayer for the regions affected by the oil spill that has sent millions of gallons of crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico,” Charismamag.com reported during the run-up to Sunday’s events.

Last week, the governors of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and the Lt. Governor of Florida “Issued proclamations … calling their citizens to pray for a solution that stops the leak and for the recovery of the coastline and the fish and wildlife industries devastated by the April 20 BP oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers.”

"Throughout our history, Alabamians have humbly turned to God to ask for His blessings and to hold us steady during times of struggle," Alabama Gov. Bob Riley stated in a proclamation issued Wednesday. "This is certainly one of those times."

While Sunday’s day of prayer was not a full-blown national effort, the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), and the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council urged their supporters to participate.

FFPC’s president John Stemberger said that he wanted to “encourage the church to not knee-jerk and think about this as some kind of environmental issue that they should not have any interest in." He then maintained that the oil spill, the most massive in American history, “is clearly a stewardship issue. All Christians need to be concerned about this. We need to be praying for the families of the men who were killed in the explosion, be praying for the government and the private sector initiatives trying to stop this [leak]."

Cindy Jacobs, co-founder of the U.S. Reformation Prayer Network, told Charismamag.com that her network has been praying since the spill occurred in April: "Our prayer network all along the Gulf is fervently praying.”

In an earlier online message Jacobs wrote that she believed only God could stop the leak. "There is no help for this nation apart from God," Jones wrote on June 3. "We must cry out for God to plug the oil well in the Gulf for He's the only one that can do it! And He'll only do it when the church cries out."

According to Jacobs’ Generals International (originally founded as Generals of Intercession) website – “Achieving Social Transformation Through Intercession and the Prophetic” – she “is a respected prophet who travels the world ministering not only to crowds of people, but to heads of nations.” Jacobs is the author of a number of books including Deliver Us From Evil, her 2001 book that “explores how Occult influences march freely across the American landscape today. From Pokemon cards and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to Marilyn Manson and psychic hotlines, this nation is under siege.”

Right Wing Watch recently pointed out that Jacobs’ group, Generals International, “is not some fringe group, but is actually a member of the Freedom Federation, the right-wing super-coalition that includes the Family Research Council, American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Eagle Forum, Liberty Counsel, Traditional Values Coalition, Wallbuilders and dozens of others.” 

In the money graph of Charismamag.com’s piece -- quite reminiscent of Jerry Falwell’s blaming the gays, the pro-choice community, ACLU and a host of other liberal entities for the 911 attack – the evangelical magazine reported that “Jacobs believes the oil spill is more than a natural disaster [my italics] but partly the result of greed, debauchery on the beaches, poor environmental stewardship and a lack of U.S. support for Israel [my italics] — all issues her network has been repenting of since the leak began.”

"Whenever there's violent weather or some things like this, you have to ask if it's just a natural disaster or if you're reaping something that's been sown," she said. "We feel this is a cumulative thing."

As many Jacobs watchers have pointed out, she is no stranger to both conservative political stands – she opposes the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court – and personal wackiness.  According to the Herescope blog, “On June 16, 2010 Cindy Jacobs … issued a political statement, an ‘Urgent Call to Prayer Concerning California's Proposition 8 and Defense Of Marriage Act.’ Written on the letterhead of her ‘United States Reformation Prayer Network’ it has all of the hallmarks of a political action alert. This is a major first for the woman who has been associated with all sorts of strange doctrines and wacky practices. By taking a political position on these high-profile issues Jacobs is obviously attempting to enter the Christian Right mainstream as an ally.”

Charismamag.com also reported that in a recent conference call, prophetic minister Chuck Pierce of Glory of Zion Ministries agreed with Jacobs’ assessment. "I really cannot see how we're going to move in and contain what's happening right now. Something's got to come deeper and stir the waters to cleanse the waters," he continued. "And I think God is saying that same word to us: You're going to have to have a deeper move in you as My people to cleanse in places that you have allowed an unclean spirit to come in and overtake you."

According to Charismamag.com, “Jacobs points particularly to President Obama's treatment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited the White House in March. Netanyahu reportedly was scolded for proceeding with plans to build in disputed areas of east Jerusalem and denied a photo op, press conference and other trappings of visits from heads of state.”

"We can't say that's all the reason why, but certainly I believe we need to come into some repentance," she said. Jacobs notes that the last point of Second Chronicles 7:14 is that if God's people pray, He will heal the land. "This is the same God that caused all the plagues of Egypt to go in a night," Jacobs said. "He's no different today. He can do what we cannot do in miraculous ways."

When did the BP oil catastrophe – a monumental oil spill that apparently came about because BP, and by extension federal regulatory agencies, did not pay enough attention to putting thorough safety procedures in place before they started deep-water drilling – go from a man-made disaster to a natural disaster? When did the horrifically short-sighted decision-making by BP executives – mostly very wealthy men concerned about the “small people” – became as natural a disaster as hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes? And when did President Obama go from someone, who, while perhaps not taking the correct trajectory to dealing with this crisis, to someone who caused the crisis by supposedly chillying the relationship with Netanyahu and Israel?

What do conservative evangelical Christians mean by stewardship over the earth? And why do they oh so often side with big corporations over the “small people?”

And what, in heaven’s name does Cindy Jacobs mean by “debauchery on the beaches?” Thanks to BP there will be a lot less “debauchery on the beaches” – not to mention kids playing and folks just plain hanging out – on Gulf beaches for quite some time to come.

Evidently, according to Charismamag.com, it was WallBuilders’ founder David Barton “who drafted the prayer day proclamations for the governors to adapt,” Charismamag.com reported. 

* For more on this, see “Is oil catastrophe fulfillment of Genesis prophecy?: Video suggests biblical tie with U.S. treatment of Israel, rig explosion at WorldNetDaily.”