Franklin Graham is meaner than a junkyard dog!
I knew his father, the legendary Billy Graham, and worked with him on the island of Mau’i in Hawai’i in 1965. Billy was a well-respected leader throughout the world.
We were worlds apart theologically, but this evangelist was truly inspiring. We Episcopalians can be stuffy and aloof. But I am delighted that I swallowed my Episcopalianism to be part of his crusades for Christ.
What happened to his kid, Franklin, the pastor of hate? I wrote this blog post in response to Franklin’s recent attack on Pete Buttigieg, a popular presidential hopeful.
I too am a Preacher’s Kid (PK), and I knew how to humble my father with bad behavior. Fortunately, my tour as a Marine Corps officer in the Korean War forced me to outgrow PK syndrome.
I’m not sure Franklin ever did. He was the fourth of five children. To prove he was a true PK, he acted out badly enough to get expelled from high school and college.
He claims he had a conversion experience in 1974 at the age of twenty-two, but I’m not sure what exactly he converted to.
Franklin’s god apparently supports war, especially the one in Iraq.
In the name of his god, Franklin called the Muslims and their religion evil and wicked. Has he ever read the gory history of Christianity?
He claimed President Obama was a Muslim who was born in Kenya.
He once asked why anyone would worship an elephant with one hundred arms, which is obviously a nasty dig at Hindus.
He praised Vladimir Putin as a fine leader rather than a wannabe dictator. He defends Trump’s many sexual affairs but attacks Bill Clinton and Lyndon B. Johnson’s infidelity. I thought an affair was an affair, no matter who committed it.
Franklin claims his god played a part in Trump’s election. Yikes!
He took over Samaritan’s Purse, a nonprofit outreach organization that my wife and I supported—until we found that out Franklin is using it to pay himself over $600,000 a year. That’s obscene!
Franklin has an aversion to gay people. He supports conversion therapy which is a hoax and illegal in many states. He wants Pete Buttigieg to “repent,” presumably for being gay. Pete served in our military (Franklin never did) and is now the elected mayor of a small city.
Franklin wants our public schools to stop teaching about homosexuality, which he views as an affront to his god and his god’s plan for the human race. Huh?
When anyone is as vehemently opposed to the LGBTQUI community as Franklin is, I always have to ask: “Is this guy gay?” I have seen people use hatred of gay folks as a defense mechanism against admitting their own true sexuality.
Here’s my question: Is Franklin a Christian? If he is, I can’t be!
I wonder what Billy Graham would think of his son, the pastor of hate. What do you think?
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