Category: Franklin Graham

A response to Franklin Graham's December 23 Facebook and Twitter post.

Mr. Graham,
Your comments seem to draw upon the truth of Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The idea is that no one should "boast" of their perfection before God (verse 27). But to use this concept to excuse the flagrant immorality of someone is to break one of the Ten Commandment by using the Lord's name in vain (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11). This misleads people about who God is. God detests immorality.

"There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community" (Proverbs 6:16-19).

And the Judges and Prophets and John the Baptist called out the immorality of kings, that the king might be chastened and that the people of God might not think the wicked prospering was a sign of God's approval.

When running for president, Republican Senators Lindsay Graham, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz all recognized Donald Trump's moral unfitness to wield presidential power. There is a more valid transactional argument that the least of all evils is that a Republican president should be supported because he furthers Republican policy. But it is another thing, as you do here, to throw sand in the eyes of people by saying there is no such thing as disqualifying immorality. "Woe to those who call evil good" (Isaiah 5:20).

This post by you raises the question as to whether your conscience is seared so you cannot see gradations of immorality. Indeed you received a salary of $636,451 in 2018 from Samaritan's Purse (Operation Christmas Child)—an organization supposed to be assisting the poor, while also drawing a full-time salary from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (last disclosed in 2014 as $205,999 according to public 990 tax forms). The BGEA now formally "exists to support and extend the evangelistic calling and ministry of Franklin Graham." All four of your children also receive salaries from either Samaritan's Purse or the BGEA. Franklin Graham's pay is “definitely an outlier for the nonprofit sector,” Sandra Miniutti, Charity Navigator’s chief financial officer, told the Charlotte Observer. Is this what you mean that you too are immoral like Trump? Consider whether Psalm 50 applies to you:

"God says:
When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
You harness your tongue to deceit.
When you did these things and I kept silent,
you thought I was exactly like you.
But I now arraign you
and to the blameless I will show my salvation"
– Psalm 50:16,18,19,21,23.

Here is my response to Franklin Graham's latest Facebook post: 

https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/posts/2888977351158427?comment_id=541666359715224

Mr. Graham,
The impeachment proceedings are not unbelievable. The witnesses who appeared before the intelligence committee testified to what they observed in their professional capacities with regard to Ukraine. Other witnesses have not been allowed to testify by the President. Today, four experts in constitutional law testified about the legal and historic reasons to impeach a president.
You are the first I have heard calling any of this "lying—and spinning the lies." I do not hear other supporters of President Trump characterizing what is going on that way.
It is indeed appropriate to ask questions about Hunter Biden and Joe Biden and Ukraine. It is also appropriate to investigate them. But President Trump did not just "ask questions" about them publicly or through official appropriate channels such as the State Department or Department of Defense or Senate Intelligence Committee but rather demanded through his personal lawyer Rudy Gulliani and through EU ambassador Gordon Sondland that Ukraine announce an investigation into Joe Biden in exchange for a White House meeting and also military aid approved by Congress. Two people in the Office of Management and Budget quit because of this improper order. Multiple people reported the situation to National Security Council and White House lawyers because they understood Trump's actions to be illegal. There have been no witnesses from the White House who have come forward to give an innocuous explanation for what occurred. All have said that they recognized it was improper to secretly pressure Ukraine for political favors and morally wrong to deprive an ally of support in the midst of a war.
Recall that as Trump began as president in January 2017, he only reluctantly fired Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor even after he had been warned that Flynn was lying publicly that he had not talked with the Russians when wiretaps of Russians made clear he had. In May 2017, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey who had refused to pledge his loyalty to Trump saying to both Lester Holt and Russians in the Oval Office that he had done so to stop investigations into his involvement with Russia. So, yes, there have been those who have been concerned with Trump's behavior since his first days in office.
It is hard to understand what you mean by what "they're doing to our country." Trump could have avoided criticism by acting with integrity. It likely does seem to you that he is being attacked from many sides. But it is not for his protection of religious freedom or even for his appointment of conservative judges (except for the ones that are very controversial because of their lack of qualifications) or even for his tax cut. Today too he cut access to food stamps. These are normal political controversies that Mike Pence also would face. I understand you think President Trump was a good businessman but in fact his history is that of receiving an inheritance from his father, cheating on taxes, bankruptcies, a fictional reality show, branding, and almost certainly, money laundering (though we are unsure because he has hidden his financial information). He has also been a serial adulterer. This immoral greediness has been the way he has continued to operate in the White House. This is why it seems like he is being attacked so often. He surrounded himself with others who were willing to operate without scruples. Many supporters have now been indicted for their crimes. As president, impeachment is the only way to hold a president accountable because the Department of Justice policy against indicting a sitting president.
You are right that it is unlikely that 67 senators will vote to remove the president in the Senate impeachment trial. Still, this process is the legal, constitutional way to make a president feel some pressure to operate ethically out of fear that it is possible 67 Senators might remove him in office and elevate Mike Pence to the presidency.
As far as I know, Democrats do not have a clear idea of the "calendar." Some want this to be over quickly so that the Democratic primary candidates can campaign and they worry that a long drawn-out process hurts them. Others, do think that the impeachment process should go slower in case the Supreme Court rules that Don McGahn and others in the White House must testify and that Trump's financial records must be turned over to Congress. So, it is not true that everyone "knows" this is just a ploy to damage Trump politically before the next election. Again, this is the Constitutional means to give a president some sense of accountability.
I agree that our hope is in God. May God give us wisdom and bring truth and light.