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When celebrity conservatives drift into conspiracy and hatred, Christians must choose truth over tribal loyalty, heed biblical warnings, and recover discernment in an age of cultish followings.

The Scandal That Shattered Conservative Discernment

When popular voices abandon truth for obsession and conspiracy, Christians face a sobering test of discernment, courage, and fidelity to Christ over celebrity.

Let me start by saying this: Like millions of other conservatives and Christians, I once quite liked what both Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson were saying and doing. But over the past year or two, both have gone off the deep end, big time – not least of which, their virulent and irrational Jew-hatred.

So now I can no longer support them. Instead, all I can do is pray for them. And that is exactly what I do every single day. I hope they come back to their senses and leave off their psychotic hatred and lying. I hope you are praying for them as well.

Here, I will mostly focus on Candace, who may be the worst of the pair. It is impossible to keep up with all the bizarre, unhinged and demented claims that she is making of late.

It seems every day, a new zinger is unleashed by her. And regrettably, her hordes of undiscerning fans lap it all up. Worse yet, that includes so many Christians who appear to have abandoned discernment and simply imbibe whatever she happens to say.

We now almost need book-length assessments just to cover all the baseless, completely false claims she makes. One of the most recent – and one just as nuts as the others – is the claim that Calvary Chapel has actually been just a CIA plot! I kid you not. See a calm, gracious pastoral response dismantling this conspiracy here:

Candace Owens and Charlie and Erika Kirk

It has gotten so bad – especially with all the horrific and despicable things Candace has said about Charlie and Erika Kirk, and about Turning Point USA – that Erika finally came out and told her haters and conspiracy theorists in a quite firm manner to just stop. See her impassioned plea here.

The line between reality and satire is now impossible to draw when it comes to this purveyor of lies, outlandish theories, and just plain absurd claims. I recently posted the following online, and one person actually asked if it was real – that tells you how far down the rabbit hole Candace is going (for the sake of clarity, this list is deliberate satire — yet tellingly plausible to some):

And today’s latest Candace claims:

• The apostle Paul was a lesbian
• Trump is a Jewish secret agent
• Jesus once worked for the CIA
• Taylor Swift is really Obama in drag
• Oprah is actually a Martian
• Bing Crosby was a Satanist
• Charlie Kirk is a reincarnation of Attila the Hun
• The earth is just 5 years old
• The moon is made of Swiss cheese and French onion dip
• America’s founding was a Communist plot
• The Bible was written by intelligent gerbils
• All churches (except mine) are covers for Mossad
• I am your long-awaited Messiah
• You will live to be 200 if you send me money – now

And all her brainless groupies say: ‘Yes Queen Candace, keep speaking truth and keep asking questions! We love, worship and adore you! You are so brave, so wise, and so perfect!’

Indeed, let’s just cut to the quick: Candace killed Charlie Kirk so she could marry Erika and take over TPUSA. If you believe any of the other nonsense she espouses, you might as well believe this. Sadly, Candace is now serving deception rather than truth.

Thankfully, Frank Turek is one of many who have openly spoken out against the many things Owens has been saying.

The only thing worse than cult leader Candace is the legion of her dedicated and deluded cult followers – including all the ‘Christians’ and ‘conservatives’ who cannot get enough of her and her unhinged bilge.

This brings us to the deeper issue beneath the outrage: Scripture has long warned us about precisely this pattern.

Biblical Warnings Against Deception

Scripture does speak to all this. When you read the Pastoral Epistles especially, you see certain passages jumping out at you, especially in light of these recent events. This pair (who more or less claim to somehow be Christians) has stirred up more hatred, division and confusion in the Body of Christ and in the conservative movement than anyone else I know of.

The original biblical writers like Paul may not have had Candace and Tucker in mind when they wrote these things, but they certainly seem to apply. Consider just five relevant passages – and there would be many more that could be mentioned.

Here is one: When folks like Candace and Tucker and their legions of committed devotees keep saying, “We are just asking questions”, you can only shake your head and say, “Yeah, right”. I am reminded of 2 Timothy 3:7: “Always learning and listening to anybody who will teach them, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Paul’s warning is not about curiosity, but about a posture that resists truth while pretending humility.

And given all the disunity, division and turmoil this pair is causing, the many other warnings Paul gives about these things must be taken seriously as well. Here are four more such passages:

Bear in mind that the key signs of a cult are deception, lies, and divisiveness. An arrogant and narcissistic leader who must always be seen as being right is another hallmark of a cult. The shocking thing is how many people who claim to be Christians seem to belong to the biggest cult in America right now – the Candace and Tucker cults.

As I have already said, I pray every single day for these two. I pray that they repent, get saved, and have a thorough spiritual transformation. And to be honest, those believers who are their dedicated devotees and zealous groupies also need to repent. They bring shame and scandal on the name of Christ and the cause of the kingdom.

Instead of supporting these cult figures and their delusional claims, they should be rebuking their nonsense and praying that they return to reason – and return to Christ.

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Read the original article at CultureWatch. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.