DOWNLOADS: (212)

PLAYS: (1298)

Embed

As if Franklin Graham's comments on MSNBC Tuesday weren't bad enough, CNN decided to bring him on to "explain" and give him a second bite at the Obama-hating apple. This time he was careful to wrap his statement that the President wasn't really a Christian in the mantle of the anti-abortion wedge.

Here is what he said on MSNBC, among other things:

"Islam sees him as a son of Islam... I can't say categorically that [Obama is not Muslim] because Islam has gotten a free pass under Obama."

Wednesday, Kyra Phillips gave him a chance to clarify his answer. First he said he could not vote for Obama because he supported abortion. Okay. Whatever. But then he went on with it.

PHILLIPS: OK, so Franklin, let me ask you this, Franklin then. As long as the president supports a woman's right to have an abortion, will you continue to believe that he is not a Christian?

GRAHAM: No, I've never said, Kyra, I never one time said I don't believe that he is a Christian. Only God knows a man's heart. Only God knows your heart or my heart.

And all of these other candidates, their claim to faith you have to accept what they say. And you have to also look at how a person lives their life. But as it comes to the president, this issue is a big stumbling block for me.

It's going to be a big stumbling block for many Evangelical Christians. That is the way it is. He's the one who made the issue by supporting abortion and so he has to live with that.

Later, he expanded:

Continue reading »

When last we saw Franklin Graham on the teevee, he was dabbling in birtherism and sowing doubt that the President of the United States is a Christian.

Well, he was at it again on Tuesday's Morning Joe -- playing the same little McCarthyist game with Obama's Christianity as Republicans did with birtherism. "Well, he says he's a Christian, so I accept that, but..."

Graham also refused to say "categorically" that Obama wasn't a Muslim, because, according to Graham, "Sharia Law" says Obama's a Muslim and, also, the President's "seems more concerned about" Muslims than Christians---somehow.

The panel, who let Graham spew way too much garbage over the course of the segment, finally let him have it at the end. The best moment is when Willie Geist asked Graham if he thought Rick Santorum is a Christian. No surprises: Graham didn't equivocate at all -- and exposed himself as the pathetic partisan hack he is.

Another bonus at the end: Graham wouldn't say that Mitt Romney's is Christian because, Graham said, he's a Mormon and "most Christians don't consider Mormons Christians."

Lovely man.

enlarge

Poor, poor Christians! All that scoffing and persecution! Of course, persecution is nothing that Native Americans would understand:

In a speech on Tuesday at John Brown University, a private Christian college in Siloam Springs, Ark., the son of the revered evangelist Billy Graham voiced "dismay" at the way the Tucson memorial service was conducted, arguing that it was not as explicitly religious -- mainly "Christian" -- as those following the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks.

Graham was particularly upset that the Tucson memorial featured a Native American who called upon "father sky and mother earth."

"There was no call for the name of God to put his loving arms around the people who were hurting, the people that were suffering," Graham said. "Why? Why did they take God out of it? Why did they leave him out?

"Because the world scoffs at the name of Jesus Christ," Graham said, his voice rising in anger. "They scoff when you say he's the son of God."

Graham went on to say that the scoffing and persecution against Christians is only going to get worse.

Initial reports of Graham's speech indicated that he may have been including Obama in his critique, though a review of the video shows that Graham says he "felt sorry" for the president "because I knew he was uncomfortable in that situation."

Graham was referring to the pep rally atmosphere and the prayers by the Native American, an associate professor of medicine at the University, Carlos Gonzales, who is a Pascua Yaqui Indian and fifth generation Arizonan. (Graham called him a native of "the Yuppie tribe or something, I didn't quite get it.")

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation just stopped a similar event with Graham in April. Sounds like someone's hoping to force the issue again:

An evangelistic rally jointly sponsored by U.S. military personnel and evangelical Christian churches and ministries violates the U.S. Constitution and must be cancelled, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The “Rock the Fort” event at Fort Bragg this weekend targets both military personnel and adults and children in the surrounding community for conversion to Christianity. This clearly violates the separation of church and state, attorneys with Americans United informed Army officials in in a letter today.

“It’s not the Army’s job to convert Americans to Christianity,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “This event is totally unacceptable and must be canceled.

“It is particularly shocking that the military would join forces with Franklin Graham,” Lynn continued. “Graham has expressed utter contempt for Islam, Hinduism and other faiths. When our military joins hands with him, it sends exactly the wrong message to the world. Our military defends a nation that includes people of many different faiths and some who follow no faith at all.”

“Rock the Fort” is being sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) in conjunction with Fort Bragg chaplains and local churches. The current CEO of the Graham Association is Franklin Graham.

In addition to evangelizing soldiers, officials at Fort Bragg have invited members of the surrounding community to attend the Sept. 25 event, which will feature Christian music and sermonizing. Special emphasis will be placed on evangelizing children.

DOWNLOADS: (334)

PLAYS: (3625)

Embed

Christiane Armanpour should be applauded for providing a much-needed public service this week: A public airing of the many misconceptions and outright lies about Islam, and the opportunity for Muslims to make a spirited defense.

Participants include 9/11 families from both sides of the fence, moderate and radical Muslims and fundamentalist Christian Franklin Graham.

For once, I'm not going to excerpt the transcript because I really do want people to read the whole thing -- and hear the many, many points raised by the participants.

This show will enlighten just about anyone who reads or sees it, and I can only hope the most ill-informed people who really need this information will be open to it.

Transcript follows:

Continue reading »