FRANKLIN GRAHAM IS NOT AFRAID OF MUSLIMS
Why Was Graham Disinvited From Pentagon Prayer Event?
Written by Jack Kenny
New American
Tuesday, 04 May 2010
Evangelist Franklin Graham said the Obama White House was behind the decision to bar him from speaking at a National Day of Prayer event at the Pentagon because of his comments about the Muslim religion. After the 9/11 attacks, Graham called Islam a "very evil and wicked religion." More recently, the Associated Press reported, he has said he finds Islam offensive and wants Muslims to know that Jesus Christ died for their sins. U.S. Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins said on April 22 that Graham's remarks were "not appropriate."
"We're an all-inclusive military," Collins said. "We honor all faiths.... Our
message to our service and civilian work force is about the need for diversity
and appreciation of all faiths." In an interview with Newsmax.TV, Graham said he
discussed the matter with President Obama last week when the President paid a
visit to the North Carolina home of his father, the renowned evangelist Billy
Graham.
"He said he didn't know anything about it until two days prior to that meeting,"
Franklin Graham told Newsmax. "And I would certainly believe him. I don't think
that he would say something that wasn't true, so I believe what he said." But,
Graham added, "I certainly believe that it was people in his administration that
said no.... I don't think the Pentagon would say no on an invitation like this
without consulting the White House."
The invitation to Graham did not come from the Pentagon but from the
Colorado-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, which works with the Pentagon
chaplain's office on the annual prayer event, Collins said. The Task Force had
chosen Graham as honorary co-chairman and main speaker for the event. Since the
Army announced Graham would not be welcome, the task force decided it would not
participate. Its leader, Shirley Dobson, wife of radio preacher Dr. James
Dobson, denounced the Pentagon decision, saying it reeked of "political
correctness."
"Enough is enough," said Dobson. "We at the National Day of Prayer Task Force
ask the American people to defend the right to pray in the Pentagon."
Graham participated in a Good Friday prayer service at the Pentagon in 2003,
despite the objections of some Muslim groups. But the Military Religious Freedom
Foundation, which raised the objection this year, said Graham should never have
been invited.
"I want to say this is a victory," the foundation's Mikey Weinstein told the
Associated Press when the Army announced its decision, "but in a way it's a
Pyrrhic victory because it shows how far this got. We're not exactly doing
cartwheels."
Nihad Awad, national executive director of Washington-based Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said having Graham at the Prayer Day event would
send "entirely the wrong message" at a time when American troops are stationed
in Muslim nations. "Promoting one's own religious beliefs is something to be
defended and encouraged, but other faiths should not be attacked or
misrepresented in the process," Awad said.
Graham told Newsmax his view of the Muslim religion is based on his decades of
travel and ministry in the Middle East, where he has seen evidence of religious
violence and the mistreatment of women among Muslim peoples. He said the Obama
administration has been excusing or overlooking human rights abuses in Islamic
nations.
"It seems as though Muslims are getting a pass." Graham told Newsmax. "And you
look at the violence that they have portrayed against women. It's just horrific.
If you just take women alone.... And I just don't understand why the president
would be giving Islam a pass."
In an interview on the Cable News Network last December, Graham said: "True
Islam cannot be practiced in this country.... You can't beat your wife. You
cannot murder your children if you think they've committed adultery or something
like that, which they do practice in these other countries." He told Newsmax he
considered revocation of his invitation to the Pentagon event "a slap at all
evangelical Christians" and warned of a growing hostility in government toward
conservative Christianity.
"And I don't know if it's exactly from President Obama," Graham said in the
interview. "But I'm certain that some of the men around him are very much
opposed to what we stand for and what we believe."
Newsmax noted that earlier this year an invitation to Family Research Council
leader Tony Perkins to speak at a prayer luncheon at Andrews Air Force Base was
rescinded after he criticized Obama's call to allow avowed homosexuals to serve
in the Armed Forces. A year ago Georgetown University, a Jesuit institution,
covered over a crucifix above the podium where Obama was to speak, reportedly at
the request of the White House. Graham predicted that religious speech will soon
be restricted in the United States as in England, where a British street
preacher was arrested for publicly stating that homosexuality is a sin.
"Oh, no question. It's coming," Graham said. "I think when you preach that Jesus
Christ is the way the truth and the life, I think we're going to see one day
that people will say, 'This is hate speech, because you're being so narrow and
you're excluding other people.'"
President Obama will sign a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer, but is
not scheduled to participate in any of its activities. The Justice Department
has said it will appeal U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb's ruling that a
government-proclaimed National Day of Prayer violates the First Amendment ban on
an "establishment of religion."
Muslim
Group Wants Christian Leader Barred from Canada
By Alison Espach
CNSNews.com Correspondent
July 17, 2006
(CNSNews.com) - An Islamic advocacy group wants Rev. Franklin Graham
barred from entering Canada because of allegedly hateful statements made towards
Islam. Graham's spokesman says the Evangelical minister's comments have been
"misconstrued" by some Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations of Canada (CAIR-CAN) claims allowing
Graham into Canada would be evidence of a "double standard." British Muslim
Riyad ul-Haq was denied entry into Canada in June after being accused of
inciting hatred towards Jews, Christians, and other non-Muslims - a violation of
Canada's so-called "hate
propaganda laws."
"We do not welcome hate-mongers," said Leslie Harmer, spokesperson for
Immigration Minister Monte Solberg, the official who ordered that Canadian
authorities block ul-Haq from entering the country.
CAIR-CAN noted that shortly after the 9/11 attacks Graham called Islam "a very
evil and a very wicked religion." The group argues that, like ul-Haq, Graham
should be forbidden to come to Canada for a scheduled visit later this year.
"The comments they have made are very widely available, and there isn't a great
deal of difference between the two individuals," CAIR-CAN Communications
Director Halima Mautbur told Cybercast News Service.
The group is further dismayed with the government's decision, because ul-Haq
promised he would not speak about anything controversial while he was in Canada.
CAIR-CAN Executive Director Karl Nickner said in a news release Thursday that
"some Canadian Muslims are wondering whether a double standard is being
applied."
"As Muslims and as Canadians," Nickner added, "we stand firmly against any
hateful religious speech by representatives of all faiths."
But Graham, who is president of his father's Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association (BGEA), previously explained that he does not hate Muslim people and
only wants to speak out about crimes committed in the name of Islam.
Jeremy Blume, a spokesman for the association, said Graham would not comment
further on the matter because he already responded in an opinion-editorial piece
for the Wall Street Journal, clarifying statements he said the Muslim community
misconstrued.
"It is not what he is about. He is about relief work, about spreading hope of
Jesus Christ," Blume said. "People misconstrue when he talks about it. They
think he is against Islam and people of Islam. That is why he wrote this, so
people could refer to it and just be done with it so he can get back to relief
work.""
In his essay, Graham said that he does not believe Muslims are evil people
because of their faith, adding that he has many Muslim friends.
"While as Christians we disagree with Islamic teachings, if we obey the
teachings of Jesus, we will love all Muslims," Graham wrote.
"But I decry the evil that has been done in the name of Islam, or any other
faith - including Christianity," Graham continued. "I believe it is my
responsibility to speak out against the terrible deeds that are committed as a
result of Islamic teaching."
Despite Graham's explanation, CAIR-CAN is demanding that the Canadian government
clarify its position on freedom of speech.
"We have sort of entered into an area which is creating a lot of confusion for
our community given the differential treatment of these two clerics," said
Mautbur. "It is incumbent on the government to provide some information to
Canadians about how exactly this sort of policy of censorship is going to be
used, and when it is going to be used."
Canadian officials have not responded to CAIR-CAN's complaints. Graham is still
scheduled to visit Winnipeg in October.