Josh Howerton draws parallels between Lindsay Clancy case, graphic story from Judges: 'What have we become?'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Monday, September 07, 2026

Pastor Josh Howerton discerned parallels between the reaction to the Lindsay Clancy case and the moral depravity of ancient Israel in the book of Judges.

Howerton, who serves as senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas, described Clancy's murder of her three children in 2023 as obviously demonic during a Sept. 4 episode of his podcast. He also discerned the widespread support she has received from many women as a potential turning point in the spiritual trajectory of the United States.

Clancy, whose case ended in a mistrial last Friday after a lone male juror declined to find her not guilty, has prompted support from many female supporters who have suggested that she was either not criminally responsible because of mental illness, or that her ex-husband, Patrick, was somehow to blame.

Howerton cited a brutal episode recounted in Judges 19-21 as an example of what he believes is a similar situation.

"There was a time in Israel's history where Israel wandered so far, so fast, and in open rebellion against God that the Bible says in the book of Judges ... that, quote, 'Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.' And there was a season when moral degradation and just utter depravity just washed over a nation that had previously loved the Lord their God," he said.

Howerton went on to tell the story of the Levite and his concubine from Judges 19. In a scenario that echoes the behavior of those in Sodom on the night it was destroyed in Genesis 19, a mob of "worthless fellows" from the tribe of Benjamin surround a man's home in Gibeah and demand to rape the Levite man he was housing. The host refuses and offers his own virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine instead, which fails to placate the men.

When the Levite abandons his concubine to them, they rape her all night and he finds her dead in the doorway the next morning. The outraged Levite dismembers her body into 12 pieces and sends them abroad throughout Israel as a summons. The incident prompts a civil war among the Israelites that leads to hundreds of thousands being killed and nearly destroys the tribe of Benjamin, as recounted in Judges 20-21.

I have been accused of claiming empathy is a "sin." This is, of course, 100% false.

However, there are very specific instances where empathy can become "toxic." This is one of those cases. Watch out, Christians. pic.twitter.com/R1xbDiPTJb

— Josh Howerton (@howertonjosh) September 4, 2026

Howerton suggested that the story, which graphically depicts the depths of Israel's degeneracy before the monarchy, served as "one flashpoint moment where one specific story of utter degradation circulated throughout the entire nation."

"And God used it to shock the nation into waking up and realizing, 'What have we become?' And it precipitates a moment of repentance in the nation, so that God's judgment doesn't fall in that moment," he said, adding that the outpouring of support for Clancy despite murdering her own children might serve a similar purpose for many Americans.

"I'll shoot you really straight: as I'm watching people respond, because as you are going to see, millions of people are siding with the woman who killed the children, instead of the children who were killed. And that story is circulating throughout our nation, and there's a little bit of me that's watching people hold their hands over their mouths in horror," he said.

"It feels like a Judges 19 moment, where people are going, 'What have we become?' And I pray that God uses moments like this to awaken a nation to repentance to come back to the living God," he added.

After explaining why he believes feminism is the ideological expression of temptations particular to women that God warned against in Genesis 3:16, Howerton went on to show a viral clip of pundits clashing on-air during a GB News segment about the Clancy case. He highlighted when feminist and former Obama adviser Laurie Watkins grew visibly angry toward commentator Thomas Corbett-Dillon for noting that Clancy's claim of postpartum psychosis does not absolve her guilt.

A fiery GB News debate over the Lindsay Clancy case spiraled into chaos as former Obama adviser Laurie Watkins became emotional during a confrontation over postpartum psychosis and criminal responsibility

The case has reignited a deeply divisive question

When severe mental… pic.twitter.com/kQ22dMyc0b

— NewYork-Insight (@NewYork_Insight) August 26, 2026

After Watkins told Corbett-Dillon to "be quiet" and accused him of misogyny, she said, "I can't, I'm done," before storming off the set. Howerton framed Watkins' accusation that Corbett-Dillon was "absolutely disgusting" for calling Clancy a murderer as an example of the inverted morality described in Philippians 3:18-19. He noted the passage describes people who are ruled by their feelings, "glory in their shame" and whose end is destruction.

"[Paul's] saying, when a society gets turned upside down, here's what it ends up doing: they glorify shameful things and they shame glorious things. So a woman who strangled her kids shouldn't be ashamed; she should be defended. And a man who says justice should be done, that's the guy that should be ashamed. That's what you just saw," he said.

Howerton concluded by placing America's progressive moral decline in the context of its half-century of rampant abortion, the suppressed guilt from which he suggested may be driving many of the women who are defending Clancy. He warned the widespread disregard for the most vulnerable lives will inevitably invoke divine judgment on a national scale.

"For 50 years in our nation, we have legally been murdering children and telling people that it's fine. There is no way to see that as anything other than a nation storing up wrath for a coming judgment unless we see repentance," he said.

"And there will come a day — [Watkins] said, 'I'm done,' — there will come a day when God, who is slow to anger and abounding in faithfulness, there will come a day when He will look at a nation that's storing up wrath and He will also say, 'I'm done.' And justice will fall," he said.

Howerton closed his podcast by assuring his listeners of the grace offered in the Gospel even for murderers, among whom he counted himself because of his sins that contributed to the murder of Christ.

"So, in the most important sense, every single one of us who has bent the knee to Jesus Christ and received His grace: do you know what we are? We are forgiven murderers. And we will enter Heaven to the embrace of the one we murdered. The apostle Paul entered Heaven to the applause of Christians he martyred," he said.

"And somebody like Lindsey Clancy or somebody, maybe, like you: if you bend your knee to Jesus Christ and receive His grace, you will enter Heaven to the applause and the embrace of anyone against whom you have sinned," he added.