Franklin Graham

Franklin Graham (1952–) is the son of the famous evangelical pastor Billy Graham.

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Islamophobia

Franklin Graham called Islam "a very wicked and evil religion".[1][2][3] He also stated on ABC's television show This Week that, “They want to build as many mosques and cultural centers as they possibly can so they can convert as many Americans as they can to Islam".[4]

He has combined his islamophobia with Barack Obama conspiracy theories, by saying that Obama was born a Muslim and is infected with "the seed of Islam".[5] He claimed that with Obama's help the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrated the highest levels of the US government.[6]

Progressives

Graham assumes without evidence that progressives are mostly atheists.[7]

Gay agenda

Franklin Graham believes that the American government is pushing a "gay agenda" and that homosexuals are actively involved in "recruiting" and "exploiting" children. [8] He supports Putin's anti-gay laws [9] and was on board for North Carolina's Amendment 1. [10]

Graham accused the cartoon Arthur of "promoting the LGBTQ agenda" by depicting a same-sex wedding between two minor characters in 2019. He feels that "behavior the Bible says is sinful" should be removed from TV by government action.[11] So he supports censorship against gays, but loves free speech for himself.[12]

A Charlotte Observer analysis of his Facebook posts on January 30, 2020 concluded that abortion and homosexuality are really the only sins Graham cares about. [13]

His focus on anti-homosexuality certainly did not please the United Kingdom when Graham planned a tour in 2020 -- all seven venues that planned to host him eventually dropped Graham after learning about his bigoted views. [14] (Graham's response to the cancellations, naturally, was that it was himself that was being discriminated against for his "Christian" beliefs.)[15]

Trump and neo-nazis

Following the Unite the Right demo in Charlottesville, VA, at which a white supremacist killed an anti-racism protestor, Graham rushed to defend Donald Trump and the continuing presence of Confederate statues, saying that the removal of these monuments to racists and traitors was responsible for Heather Heyer's death. While many people had condemned Trump for stoking racial tensions and refusing to condemn American neonazis, Franklin issued a Facebook post saying "Shame on the politicians who are trying to push blame on President Trump for what happened in #Charlottesville, VA. That’s absurd. What about the politicians such as the city council who voted to remove a memorial that had been in place since 1924, regardless of the possible repercussions?"[16]

Looking for God (in all the wrong places)

In June 2016, Graham said that he had no hope for the Democrats and the Republicans and that he's "running a campaign to put God back in the political process."[17]. He later spoke at Donald Trump's inaguration.[18] Putting these two fact together, it would seem that Graham thinks Trump is chosen by God, cause, you know, he's such a Godly person.

Graham also spoke in defense of accused sexual predator Roy Moore during Moore's campaign for the US Senate, saying:[19]

“”So many denouncing Roy Moore when they are guilty of doing much worse than what he has been accused of supposedly doing. Shame on those hypocrites.

Franklin Graham versus Ephesians 4:29

When confronted with the news that Donald Trump made a remark in which he referred to some nations as "shithole countries", Graham's response was to deny it happened and attempted to change the subject by claiming Trump "stood strong for religious freedoms."[20]

Franklin Graham versus the Seventh Commandment

When faced with the news that Donald Trump paid hush money to Stormy DanielsFile:Wikipedia's W.svg in order to cover up an affair (a clear violation of the Seventh Commandment of the Bible, which forbids adultery), Franklin Graham hem-hawed around the subject. First he stated that "I don’t think (he) has admitted to having an affair with this person", then followed this up by attacking the accuracy of the source. He then followed this up by bizarrely declaring Trump to have "a concern for Christian values", in spite of the above evidence. Finally, he attempted some whataboutism by saying that "our country's got a sin problem", which for some reason does not appear to include Trump's sin problems.[21]

Even a commentator at the National Review called Graham out on this one, pointing out that hypocritically, Graham wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal complaining about Bill Clinton's morality during the Clinton / Lewinsky scandalFile:Wikipedia's W.svg in 1998.[22]

Franklin Graham versus Christianity Today

On December 19, 2019, Christianity Today,File:Wikipedia's W.svg an evangelical Christian magazine founded by his father Billy Graham, penned an article that Donald Trump should be removed from office for being a "grossly immoral character" with a "blackened moral record", and warned that evangelical support of Trump would mean that nobody would "take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come". [23] Franklin Graham, in a way more overtly political rant, responded by complaining that Christianity Today sided with the Democratic party (the Christianity Today article actually was critical that the Democratics "have had it out for (Trump) from day one") and claimed that Christianity Today represents "the elitist liberal wing of evangelicalism". [24]

Franklin Graham versus Good Samaritans

Contrary to the general Biblical message to welcome strangers, Franklin Graham has for the most part been a strong supporter of Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies, which do anything but. [25] However, in a stopped clock moment, he blasted Trump and Jeff Sessions' "zero tolerance" immigration policies rolled out on May 2018, that would happen to separate immigrant parents from their children, calling the policy "disgraceful". [26]

gollark: Of course you could.
gollark: My website *appears* to exist, but I don't have visitors.
gollark: I'm visiting Russia this octobermonth.
gollark: I don't actually live in or near iceland, but you knoqw.
gollark: Fun fact: Iceland gets `.is` domains!

References
  1. http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/1010/Rev_Franklin_Graham_Islam_evil.html
  2. http://www.religioustolerance.org/reac_ter18b.htm
  3. http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/franklin_graham_tells_cnns_campbell_brown_islam_is_evil_surprise_surprise/
  4. http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/1010/Rev_Franklin_Graham_Islam_evil.html
  5. The Rev. Franklin Graham Says President Obama was 'Born a Muslim', ABC News, 20 Aug 2010
  6. Franklin Graham: World’s Christians in Grave Danger, NewsMax, 18 Mar 2011
  7. Franklin Graham: "Progressive" is Just a Code Word for "Godlessness"
  8. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/franklin-graham-every-turn-gay-and-lesbian-agenda-being-pushed%20
  9. https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/march-2014/putins-olympic-controversy/
  10. http://www.wxii12.com/news/local-news/north-carolina/Franklin-Graham-backing-N-C-marriage-amendment/-/10622650/12179220/-/yxjytm/-/index.html
  11. https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article230464929.html
  12. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2018/12/30/evangelist-franklin-graham-claims-facebook-is-censoring-free-speech-after-being-blocked/
  13. "Franklin Graham’s deceptive defense of bigotry" by the Charlotte Observer Editorial Board, Charlotte Observer, 2020 January 30
  14. "Evangelist preacher Franklin Graham planned a seven-city UK tour. All seven venues have dropped him" by Rob Picheta, CNN, 2020 February 6
  15. "Trump Ally Franklin Graham Condemns British Venues for Barring Talks Over Anti-LGBT Views, Says He's Being 'Discriminated Against'" By Chantal Da Silva, Newsweek, 2020 January 28
  16. , FranklinGraham, Facebook, 13 August 2017
  17. http://www.startribune.com/evangelist-franklin-graham-urges-voting-even-in-disgust/383311471/
  18. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article127687134.html
  19. Franklin Graham blasted Roy Moore’s critics. That didn’t go over well on Twitter. by LaVendrick Smith (November 18, 2017 06:04 PM) The Charlotte Observer.
  20. "Franklin Graham: Trump 'beaten up' for something 'he says he didn’t say'" by Julia Manchester, The Hill, 2018 January 17
  21. "Evangelist Franklin Graham defends Trump against Stormy Daniels reports" by Asher Stocker, NBC News, 2018 Jan 20
  22. "Franklin Graham and the High Cost of the Lost Evangelical Witness" by David French, 2019 April 25, National Review
  23. "Trump Should Be Removed from Office" by Mark Galli, Christianity Today, 2019 December 19
  24. ""My father voted for Trump:" Franklin Graham responds to anti-Trump op-ed", WVLT, 2019 December 20
  25. "On immigration, Franklin Graham is dead wrong" by Mark Wingfield, Baptist News Global, 2017 January 28
  26. "Franklin Graham Blasts Trump’s Immigrant Family Separations At Border" by Willa Frej, Huffington Post, 2018 June 14
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