Evangelical Activist Questions Katy Perry's Sincerity in 'Praying Gay Away,' Publicly Prays for Singer (Watch)
Katy Perry may not have been sincere when she tried to "pray the gay away" at "Jesus camps," according to evangelical activist Gordon Klingenschmitt.
"If you had been sincere in your prayers at the Jesus camps, you would have prayed against sin and the devil," the host of "Pray In Jesus Name" said of pop star Perry on his program this week. "You would have repented of your sin and invited Jesus to rule your heart. But apparently that's not what you prayed."
Klingenschmitt, the former American Navy military chaplain who served as a Republican legislator in the Colorado House of Representatives 15th district from 2015-2017, made statements directed at Perry on his NRB TV show, "Pray In Jesus' Name."
"If you went to a Jesus camp maybe you remember, and your parents are pastors, they taught you God made them male and female. For this cause, a man shall leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh," Klingenschmitt said. "So Jesus affirmed the definition of marriage between one man and one woman and now if you had been sincere in your prayers at the Jesus camps, you would have prayed against sin and the devil. You would have repented of your sin and invited Jesus to rule your heart."
He went on to add, "Apparently that's not what you prayed."
The comments come after Perry recalled the she tried to pray the gay away when accepting the National Equality Award at last month's Human Rights Campaign Gala in Los Angeles, Californa.
"Most of my unconscious adolescence, I prayed the gay away at my Jesus camps," she said before defending gay people. "These people were nothing like I had been taught to fear. They were the most free, strong, kind and inclusive people I have ever met. They stimulated my mind and they filled my heart with joy, and they freaking danced all the while doing it. These people are actually magic, and they are magic because they are living their truth. Oh, my goodness, what a revelation! — and not the last chapter of the Bible."
However, Klingenschmitt said the singer's remarks are promoting sin to young people. After pointing out Bible verses like John 3 that speak against sin, he decided to lead a prayer for the pop star.
"Father in heaven, we pray for Katy Perry by name. We pray that you would remove for her her sins as far as the east is from the west," he said. "... Father, we pray that she will be saved, that she will be born again, that she will repent of her sin and stop promoting sin to young people."
He concluded the prayer by saying, "Father, we pray that You will forgive her and cleanse her from all unrighteousness. In Jesus' name, amen."
Keith and Mary Hudson are Perry's preacher parents who expressed their disagreement with her 2008 hit song "I Kissed A Girl" in the past. Still, they have expressed love for their daughter and asked people to pray for her instead of pass judgment.
"I want you to pray for my daughter," Keith said at the Church of Grace in Yorba Linda, California, last year, according to Radar Online reports. "Don't judge her, pray for her."