Franklin Graham’s Latest Diatribe

Franklin Graham stepped in a hornet’s nest when he recently penned a post on Facebook essentially blaming minorities (read ?blacks?) for their rising rate of murder-by-cop. According to Graham, if the guys would just do as the cops say and put their hands up, or behind their backs, or wherever the cops tell them to put them, everything would be fine. He writes:

?Listen up–Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and everybody else. Most police shootings can be avoided. It comes down to respect for authority and obedience. If a police officer tells you to stop, you stop. If a police officer tells you to put your hands in the air, you put your hands in the air. If a police officer tells you to lay down face first with your hands behind your back, you lay down face first with your hands behind your back.?

Photo courtesy of billygraham.org

Graham believes that President Obama should be drumming this message into every minority kid in America. Never mind that several of the recent shooting victims have had their hands up or at least visible, and that they have had no weapons on them; the officers in question ?felt threatened,? and apparently that is enough to justify shooting someone to death, at least if they happen to be a person of color.

I’m not sure why Franklin Graham is even a ?thing,? other than the fact that his father is Billy Graham, the Christian evangelist who rose to fame first as a radio preacher, then as the ?Pastor to Presidents.? Franklin didn’t ?come to Jesus? until he was 22, and it wasn’t his father who led his way there. He embraced his newly found faith with the zeal that only a recovered heathen can muster. But frankly, his idea of Christianity is, to me, heretical. And I’m not the only one.

Graham’s Facebook post caught the eye of, among others, Jim Wallis, a pastor and founder of Sojourners magazine and website, and author of “God’s Politics,” a blog on the site. Mr. Wallis penned a response to Graham’s post, also on Facebook, admonishing Graham for making ?such embarrassing and divisive statements.? Wallis’ post was noticed by a pastor in Oakland, Calif., Dominique Gilliard, who brought it to the attention of several evangelical leaders. They, in turn, crafted a letter — a well-deserved public shaming, really — to Mr. Graham. The letter is nothing short of brilliant, both in its take-down of Graham and in its plea for him to ?join us in the ongoing work of the ministry of reconciliation.?

Graham’s post was shared by 80,000+ and liked by more than 200,000 Facebook followers, and in the words of the ministers ?hurt and influenced thousands.? The leaders point out that he misused scripture by taking it out of context to make his point (which happens to be one of his specialties). They remind him that many times biblical heroes, from Jesus to Moses to Paul, have disobeyed unjust laws and orders. Blind obedience is not a biblical principle.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Graham places the blame for racial profiling on those who are being profiled. He has also railed against Islam, calling it a ?very wicked and evil religion,? The truth is that the type of ?Christianity? Graham embraces is full of bigotry, hatred, and judgment toward anyone different from himself. He just doesn’t seem to have the slightest understanding about what Jesus meant by ?love one another,? and it’s disconcerting that he still has so many disciples who blindly take his word as gospel when it’s anything but.

Beth is a lifelong bleeding heart liberal who has become more intense and adamant (but not dogmatic!) about her politics the older she gets. This is not a popular stance in a red state like Georgia, but it is moderately better than when she lived in Birmingham. She has found like-minded individuals through her Episcopal church and websites like LiberalAmerica.