The tragic elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut is a symptom of the general moral decline of the United States, according to James Dobson, the founder of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family.

On his radio program Monday morning, Dobson said the country was facing judgment after turning its back on God.

“I mean millions of people have decided that God doesn’t exist, or he’s irrelevant to me and we have killed fifty-four million babies and the institution of marriage is right on the verge of a complete redefinition,” the influential conservative explained. “Believe me, that is going to have consequences too.”

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“And a lot of these things are happening around us, and somebody is going to get mad at me for saying what I am about to say right now, but I am going to give you my honest opinion: I think we have turned our back on the Scripture and on God Almighty and I think he has allowed judgment to fall upon us. I think that’s what’s going on.”

Dobson, who also founded the Family Research Council, stepped down as the chairman of Focus on the Family in 2009. He continues to host the radio broadcast Family Talk.

Dobson is not the first to link the horrific massacre of 20 children in Newtown to social conservative issues. A pastor in Tennessee blamed public schools for teaching “junk about evolution” and “how to be a homo.” Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association said God did not protect the children in Newtown because prayer was not sponsored by public schools. Fox News host Mike Huckabee said the shooting resulted from God being removed from American culture.