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:
GRAHAM: Kyra, I don't question the president's faith. If you had that banner up on your show, I questioned the president's faith. I'm not questioning whether he's a Christian or not. I disagree with his position on abortion.
This is a big issue and I believe it goes against God's word. It goes against God's standards. So this is a problem for me and a lot of Evangelicals. Again, he's a nice guy. I like him as a person, but he's absolutely 100 percent dead wrong on this issue.
He will have to stand before God one day and give an account to God on this issue. I'm not going to have to answer it because I believe that life is safe. I believe its sacred and every life should be protected from the womb to the grave.
Subtle, but effective. What Graham said, in effect, was that anyone claiming to be Christian who does not oppose abortion is not really a Christian. And as the interview went on, he made that position abundantly clear, despite admitting later in the interview that his mother would probably kick him in the shins for being political instead of sticking to preaching. Well, consider this post a verbal kick in the shins from a mother who thinks you're being ridiculous, dogmatic, and sticking your nose into people's business where it does not belong.
Here's a fact: Abortion is a legal procedure which the Supreme Court has said women may seek and receive without being treated like a criminal. Here's another fact: The President of the United States took an oath which he swore on the Bible to uphold and protect the Constitution. Since abortion is has been ruled to be legal by the arbiters and interpreters of the Constitution (the Supreme Court), the President is duty-bound to honor that, regardless of his personal beliefs. Period. And that is what he'll be accountable for, here and hereafter.
I'd like to give a special thanks a hell of a lot to CNN for giving Franklin that platform to walk back his nonsense Muslim comments while taking the opportunity to amplify our time-machine trip back a few decades to those times where abortions were done with coat hangers and the Pope had locked up the Pill. Because you know, those were the good old days. Right?
Oh, and Franklin? I'm pretty sure you're right about your phone not ringing. I doubt there's much you could have to say to the President after these past two days.
