“Christianity is constantly under siege from the halls of government and education, which seek to suppress any public expressions of faith,” Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the renowned Evangelical preacher Billy Graham, writes.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that this rise in the culture of death in our own country coincides with the embrace of an immoral, sinful, godless worldview that rejects Christ,” he adds.
Franklin Graham is no stranger to controversy. He has been openly critical of Islamic practices, questioning whether Islam can claim to be a religion of peace and denouncing its treatment of women.
In 2010, Graham was disinvited from the National Day of Prayer event at the Pentagon because of his remarks about Islam which included criticism of its treatment of women. “When you look at what the religion [Islam] does to women and women alone, it is just horrid,” he said.
In an Oct. 18, 2014 Facebook post, Rev. Graham, who also runs the international aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, asked, “Is Islam really a religion of peace? Islamic State justified kidnapping women as sex slaves in the new issue of their online magazine. They said that it is a ‘firmly established aspect of Shariah’ and anyone who denies this is denying the Koran.”
“These are the militants who are currently terrorizing innocent Iraqis right now and advancing throughout the Middle East,” he said. “Does this sound peaceful to you?” he said.
Graham’s strong words on Islam, along with his suggestion that President Obama has the “Muslim seed” in him, has brought the accusation that he is nothing but a patsy of the Republican Party, and more a politician than a preacher.
But Graham’s recent article, though critical of government hostility to Christianity, is clearly spiritual in its intent. Graham criticizes a growing fascination with death in today’s culture, which ignores the “eternal consequences that death brings.”
“Amazingly,” writes Graham, “as much as the entertainment industry cranks out movies and programs that are preoccupied with death scenes and motifs, death is not a subject often candidly discussed.”
“Death is serious, eternal business,” Graham said.
“Death is not a fictional television series. It is not a popular gaming topic. It is the entryway into either eternal life or eternal death,” he added.
Graham also commented on the decline of Christianity in Europe, where anti-life practices including euthanasia are thriving. “Earlier this year, Belgium became the first country in the world to allow child euthanasia with no age limit,” he observed.
“I’m concerned that America is not far behind,” Graham said, noting that the euthanasia movement is gaining ground in a number of states. “And for every 1,000 live births in the United States, 219 pregnancies end with a murdered child, through abortion,” he said.
“Wherever Christianity flourishes,” Graham wrote, “there is a vibrant culture of life, not death. When the precepts of the Christian faith are faithfully taught and followed, there is an abundance of selfless, sacrificial living and giving.”
“We must never cease to preach, teach and live the truth of the Gospel,” he said.
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome
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