In a column for WorldNetDaily this week, entertainer and conservative activist Pat Boone declared that “America is abandoning God” and that, as a result, God is lifting “His hand of protection” from the nation, leading us to a presidential election “between two candidates no current majority wants.”

“He knows we’re headed toward financial ruin, escalating internal violence, loss of world leadership, moral corruption and eventual collapse of our government—unless we collectively call Him back into our national life!” Boone wrote.

Boone elaborated on his point in an interview with Newsmax’s Steve Malzberg yesterday, saying that developments such as the “War on Christmas” and rulings against government-sponsored school prayer are causing God to “step aside.”

“First of all, we have to acknowledge that God has not abandoned us, we have abandoned Him,” Boone said. “We’ve allowed those in charge in various ways to take God’s name off of our buildings, to prevent even Christmas displays, even saying—they tried to prevent saying ‘Merry Christmas,’ as if that was an offense to somebody. And they won’t let school kids say prayer before the beginning of a school day, even a voluntary silent prayer, because that’s a recognition of religion or supposedly an establishment of religion. It is not!” (In reality, public school students are allowed to engage in voluntary individual prayer.)

“So we, if we allow this to happen, we shove God aside, He is a gentleman, He will step aside as he did with Israel,” Boone said.

He added that God is “waiting for us to call Him back in and if we do, then we can have an America again.”