Religious bigotry runs in the Graham family, it seems.
Franklin Graham, who inherited the successful and lucrative pulpit of his famed preacher father Billy Graham, is in trouble for publically calling Islam a “very evil and wicked religion” and claimed Muslims are “enslaved by Islam.”
The nation, it seems, will be engaged in prayer on May 1. Doing something right, the Pentagon has dis-invited Reverend Graham junior from their part of the celebration, but he’s still on for the Congressionally organized “National Day of Prayer” events.
They should dis-invite him too. As Janet Haag, Executive Director of “Fellowship in Prayer” wrote in the Huffington Post, “For a day of prayer to be authentically deemed national, it should reflect the pluralism that now defines us.” And, in fact, when the National Day of Prayer was authorized by Congress in 1988, the law stipulated that it would be a day when adherents of all great religions could unite in prayer.
I guess the NDP organizers didn’t get the memo. According to Ms. Haag and other sources, only people willing to sign an application that basically states that they are evangelical Christians are welcome. (See Note 1)
In the same way that Bush was “a uniter, not a divider”, Jews and Moslems are united in their opposition to this hijack of a national holiday by the Christian Right. “Jews on First” says this on their site. “What began as President Truman’s declaration of a National Prayer Day for all Americans is now excluding and dividing us on religious lines.”
As Reverend Graham senior might say, “Ah … whadda they know. They’re just a buncha Jews.” Although there’s no record that he said that, he did say this about the Jews, in a recorded conversation with Nixon in the White House released by the National Archives, “This stranglehold has got to be broken or this country’s going down the drain.” But he’s evidently a little smarter than his son because he was a lot more careful in public, telling Nixon that, “They don’t know how I really feel …”
Perhaps the Reverend Graham, junior and senior, ought to pay more attention to what Christ said as recorded in the Bible and get out of the public prayer business:
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6 – New American Standard Bible
(I’d like to see the Christian Right find something explicit and unmistakable, direct from Christ in the New Testament, supporting their positions against, say, gays or abortions. They’re great at carefully picking and choosing which verse to follow.)
I could do without the whole thing. A federal judge in Wisconsin has ruled that it’s unconstitutional. The ruling makes a point similar to the one made by Christ: “It is because the nature of prayer is so personal and can have such a powerful effect on a community that the government may not use its authority to try to influence an individual’s decision whether and when to pray.”
But the festivities are still on. The judge also said that the ruling shouldn’t be applied until appeals are exhausted. Darn!
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Note 1 – According to USA Today, “Applicants to be official coordinators are asked to indicate if they believe in a statement that includes: ‘I believe that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of The Living God. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation and have an ongoing relationship with God.’”
Technically, this isn’t a requirement of the “National Day of Prayer”. It’s only a requirement of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. In practice, they’re one and the same, however. This issue is covered exhaustively by the web site: http://www.religioustolerance.org/day_pray8.htm.
Billy Graham has always bothered me. I am no fundamentalist anything and I guess for years it was always those eyes of his. Glitterry is the only word for them. But the eyes are the mirrors of the soul and this man was not my sort at all.
He has a family I do not know much about. The son not atll. But what is there to know when they have a National Day of Prayer and start off by excluding people. Bet this son has the old guy’s glittery eyes. It’s sort of like having a Yankees Nation Day of Derek Jeter Bobble Head Dolls.
The White House and Congress should immediately divorce themselves from any official endorsement or participation in the National Day of Prayer. The event has been taken over by Focus on the Family and has become marked more by exclusiveness than inclusiveness. Several years ago members of the LDS were excluded from offering prayers or leading any other events because the LDS church was considered to be insufficiently Christian,
It has always been a puzzle for me as to how Billy Graham came to prominence as minister to presidents. I guess it is a case of being worthy because a lot of famous and influential people say you are worthy
Dan,
Your Matthew 6 quote is right on! Why don’t these fools (take note this is an atheist commenting) follow their own scripture? Why must they wear their religious beliefs so brightly on their sleeves?
I’ll tell you why: most of them (exclude Jews and Buddhists here) cannot stand it that there are “other” believers with other ways of believing. If only all those misguided people would come into their “true” fold, then all would be well . . . it’s called proselytizing!
Oooooo!! And I thought I had a lot of anger.
Well … I agree with you. Ummmm … mostly.
Y’know. That’s something I’ve always admired about the Dali Lama. I remember listening to him speaking on NPR once. He finished up with something similar to, “If something I have said makes sense to you, then that is good. If not, then just ignore what I said.”
He’s just about the only religious figure I actually admire.
About the only point of disagreement is that I have known devoutly religious people who weren’t fools. My dad had a phrase that I liked. He would call them, “Otherwise intelligent people.”
Dan,
Yes, a lot of anger. So much so that I came across as painting with a broad brush . . . too broad.
Of course not all these “people” are true believers in the negative sense, just too many for my fancy.
“most of them (exclude Jews and Buddhists here) cannot stand it that there are “other” believers with other ways of believing”
Steven, you apparently don’t know much about Islam. We recognize and venerate all messengers before the last one :Mohamed