A Facebook page about Jesus has ranked No. 1 for the last 18 weeks for the highest number of interactions and traffic, a survey said.

The Facebook page, Jesus Daily, ranked No. 1 in a survey by All Facebook, with 3,419,397 interactions as of this writing, outscoring by far Justin Bieber at 630,789 interactions, Lil Wayne at 466,210 and Lady Gaga at 345,254.

Although Jesus Daily didn’t have the most number of fans, at 8,284,774, it scored the highest number of comments, likes, posts and responses.

A sample post said,

LUST … will leave you loveless

POWER … will leave you heartless

DRUGS … will leave you senseless

MONEY … will leave you comfortless

JESUS … WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU REGARDLESS

It received 88,652 “likes” and 4,292 comments.

It’s most recent post, as of this writing, is, “Like if you are proud to call JESUS YOUR FRIEND,” and includes a music video. Although it was only posted 20 minutes ago, it has as of this writing already generated 12,430 “likes” and 359 comments.

Under the “information” section, the page is described saying, “Our mission is to help 50,000 people accept Christ this year. Help us spread the Gospel of Christ around the world … “

Just a hobby

Jesus Daily was set up as just a hobby by Aaron Tabor, 41, a diet doctor from North Carolina, in April 2009. The page was made shortly after Tabor set up his own Facebook page to market his book and products, including protein bars, supplements and soy shakes.

Tabor is the son of a preacher who served in churches in North Carolina and Alabama. He told NYT, “I wanted to provide people with encouragement. And I thought I would give it a news spin by calling it daily.”

Facebook is one among a number of social media tools that have transformed shared communications, work styles and ways of falling in love. Faith discussions also prevail in Facebook, usually fostered by church leaders, religious institutions and synagogues who are also utilizing YouTube and Twitter.

Five of the top 20 interactive sites are Christian. Aside from Jesus Daily ranking No. 1, there is also The Bible (No. 3 with 1,044,350 interactions), Dios es Bueno (No. 4 with 748,217 interactions), Jesus Christ (No. 10 with 513,040 interactions) and Joyce Meyer Ministries (No. 15 with 435,050 interactions).

Used for serious things

“At first people think Facebook is just a place where people go to play games or look at photos or snoop on their friends,” Tabor said to ABC News. “But if you look at Jesus Daily and elsewhere, people are using it for very serious things.”

So far, Tabor has been managing Jesus Daily personally to guard against degrading posts, pornography and the like. However, at times he spends up to 13 hours in a day on the page, and he is considering establishing a nonprofit, so that he can hire a staff to oversee traffic.

Generally, however, he has enjoyed running the page. Tabor told ABC News, “Ministering to others has been the biggest blessing of my life.”

Pope Benedict XVI accepted recently the resignation of an Archbishop in Philadelphia who had been accused of covering up a clergy sex abuse scandal that had been ongoing in his diocese for decades.

The pope accepted the resignation of Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, because of his age, the Vatican said in a statement. Rigali, 76, submitted his resignation in April, 2010, when he turned 75.

Church law requires all archbishops to submit their resignations to the pope when they turn 75. However, it is up to the pope to decide whether or not he will act immediately on it.

Rigali faced stiff pressure for some time because of the way he handled complaints of sex abuse by priests. In 2005, a grand jury determined that Rigali had been covering up complaints by parishioners.

“We need to get better”

In a statement, the Vatican has appointed Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver to succeed Rigali. Chaput, a best-selling author, said on Vatican Radio, “The Church has done a very poor job of passing on the authentic Apostolic faith to its people. We need to get better.”

Chaput, 66, is with the Capuchin order of Franciscan Priests. He has led the Archdiocese of Denver since 1997, where he was tasked with overseeing some 550,000 parishioners.

It is expected that Chaput will run things in his new post with a firm hand. Last year in April, as Archbishop of Denver, a man told Chaput of alleged sexual abuse by a priest in the 1970s. Within a week, the priest was suspended and the act was reported to the police.

Rocco Palmo, who writes the Catholic blog “Whispers in the Loggia” told Philadelphia Daily News that Chaput is “principled” and “fearless,” adding, “It’s going to be a completely different way of doing business here. It’s essentially going to be Philadelphia Catholicism Version 3.0.”

Some 21 priests suspected of pedophilia were suspended by Rigali in March. Rigali expressed “sorrow for the sexual abuse of minors committed by members of the Church, and above all, the clergy,” the AFP reported.

A grand jury report in 2005 determined that Rigali covered up abuse complaints that were raised against dozens of priests in Philadelphia. The accused priests also remained in active duty.

Hands on leader

“From what I’ve read and been told, Chaput is a very hands-on leader,” Susam Matthews, writer and publisher of Catholics4change.com told Philadelphia Daily News. “He’s an administrator who takes complete responsibility, and it’s not going to be, ‘Oh, the people under me handled that.’ That’s been Rigali’s style.”

An atheist organization in New York became upset and threatened recently to go to court because a new street sign honoring firemen from 9/11 has the word “heaven” in it.

The group, New York City Atheists, plans to go to court if the road sign, Seven in Heaven Way, is not taken down because they say it violates the principle of separation of church and state.

“We’re supposed to be a secular nation,” Kenneth Bronstein, president of the atheist group said. “There really should not be any religious symbolism or signage in public places.”

The name, which was selected to honor seven fallen firefighters from Ladder Co. 101/EngineCo.202, was approved by the City Council and Community Board 6.

The road was formerly called Richards St. and is located in Brooklyn. The name was changed on behalf of the seven firemen who lost their lives in the line of duty during 9/11.

Bronstein told The Daily Mail, “We feel that any and all people who died in 9/11 should be remembered and honored.”

However, he said using the term “heaven” clearly refers to Christianity.

“It’s improper for the city to endorse the view that heaven exists. It links Christianity and heroism,” David Silverman of American Atheists told The Daily Mail.

Instead, they recommended the name, “We Remember the 7-911” in place of Seven in Heaven Way.”

Some question why the atheist organization is only complaining now. “There was a public process, and they had ample opportunity to make their feelings known,” Craig Hammerman of Community Board 6 told the New York Daily News.

Others believe that the bereaved are the ones who should determine how they want to honor their loved ones.

“That’s nonsense. The families should honor their loved ones any way they want,” Ambriena Insausti, a resident of Manhattan, told The Daily Mail.

MTV pulled out recently a pro-life media campaign advertisement, allegedly due to a partnership that the network has forged with Planned Parenthood.

Heroic Media, a faith-based nonprofit group, created the pro-life campaign. The ad, called We Can Help, is about the unplanned pregnancy of a young woman. It then provides a link for women to pro-life centers, according to Heroic Media’s website.

The ad was slated to be aired on May this year. However, MTV announced to media on May 5 that it will pull out the ad–one day before it officially notified Heroic Media, its website said.

Heroic Media said on its website that a sales representative from MTV told them the decision was made by the network’s president, Stephen Friedman. Last month MTV, in partnership with Planned Parenthood, featured the promotion “Get Yourself Tested,” which came out on the websites of both companies.

MTV “was in the works with doing a partnership with Planned Parenthood and different opportunities with PSA’s when [Friedman] decided that he did not want to run Heroic Media on MTV,” according to the website.

Controversial billboard

An MTV spokesman told Daily Mail that the ads were pulled out because of Heroic Media’s ties with a controversial billboard that was run by the group, Life Always.

The billboard says, “The Most Dangerous Place for an African-American is in the Womb.” It was placed in Times Square in New York City, but was taken down last February due to a wave of protests of racism, Daily Mail said

Bill Eisner, president of Nonbox which represents both Life Always and Heroic Media told the Daily Mail that there were no racist intentions behind the billboard, and that it was based on statistics from New York City’s Health Department.

Eisner also told Daily Mail, regarding Heroic Media, “’We were told that it was a conflict with some of the promotions that were in the works with Planned Parenthood and MTV.”

Recent tactics

MTV’s Jeannie Kedas said, “Upon further review, it was hard for us to separate some of the recent tactics of the organization [Heroic Media] behind the ads themselves, so we have opted to not accept them for air at this time,” Daily Mail reported.

Heroic Media said on its website that the pro-life ad had been run by MTV since May 2010.

Planned Parenthood, the leading provider of abortions in the U.S., reportedly performed performing over 332,000 abortions in 2009 (including affiliates).

Heroic Media, according to its website, aspires to reach women who are unexpectedly pregnant through media, including billboards, the internet and television.

The website says, “They don’t judge her. They let her know there are countless hopeful solutions.”

It states that on places where its ads have been placed, abortion has gone down by 20 percent.

In the past, there had been complaints raised against MTV for ‘glamorizing’ pregnancy when it aired the reality program, 16 And Pregnant.

A BBC survey revealed recently that viewers believe the BBC has an anti-Christian bias, but officials are dismissing the findings of their own survey.

According to the survey, respondents believe that Christians are portrayed as “derogatory stereotypes” and are often shown to be “dogmatic,” “unsympathetic,” “weak” and “bigoted” in BBC’s programs, the Daily Mail said.

The survey also revealed that viewers and staff (who comprised a part of the survey’s respondents) believe that BBC has a “liberal bias,” and other religions are better represented than Christianity, The Telegraph said.

The BBC survey, which was taken as a component of the company’s diversity strategy, said, “In terms of religion, there were many who perceived the BBC to be anti-Christian and as such misrepresenting Christianity,” The Christian Institute reported.

The BBC report added, “Christians are specifically mentioned as being badly treated, with a suggestion that more minority religions are better represented despite Christianity being the most widely observed religion within Britain,” according to The Christian Institute.

A survey respondent is quoted in the study saying, “As a Christian I find that the BBC’s representation of Christianity is mainly inaccurate, portraying incorrect, often derogatory stereotypes,” The Christian Institute reported.

Another respondent said Christians are shown to be “dogmatic and unsympathetic or as weak and washy and woolly, or as old,” according to The Christian Institute.

Box ticking

BBC nonetheless dismissed the findings of its own report. A spokesman said, “We have strict editorial guidelines on impartiality,
including religious perspectives, and Christian programming forms the majority and the cornerstone of our religion and ethical output,” The Telegraph reported.

However, the BBC survey noted concerns about a tendency towards ‘box-ticking’ and ‘tokenism’ as a means to portray diversity, according to The Telegraph.

BBC retains a number of religious programs, including Songs of Praise which has 2.5 million viewers weekly, but this program is scheduled in the afternoon. On Radio 4, there is a Thought for the Day slot, but usually the thoughts are secular socialist in nature rather than Christian, Daily Mail said.

There is also a 15-minute Daily Service slot which is basically a sermon, but there is no use of the Book of Common Prayer and Daily Mail questioned whether using it is prohibited in BBC.

Prime time

The larger issue however is primetime and the tendency to portray Christians in a negative manner on these slots. For example, the series EastEnders has this story line, the Daily Mail said: “Christian preacher Lucas Johnson leaves his ex-wife to die, murders his wife’s ex-husband, drowns his son’s dog, and strangles his wife and locks her in a basement, kills another woman who looks like his new wife.”

Another BBC TV show, Spooks, depicts evangelical Christians as terrorists who are out to kill Muslims. And then there is atheist comedians and soap opera script writers who like to insult Christianity, Daily Mail said.

The BBC has cautioned against seeing things such as the above in isolation. However, the Daily Mail asked, “Where are the equivalent pro-Christian story lines in their soaps?” and “Where are the equivalents presenting Muslim characters in such a negative way?”

BBC executives told Daily Mail that while they would show a scene where a bible is thrown into the dustbin, they would not show a similar scene with a Qur’an, the Daily Mail said.

Peter Sissons, a former BBC news anchor whose memoirs are being serialized in Daily Mail, said, “Islam must not be offended at any price, although Christians are fair game because they do nothing about it if they are offended.”

The BBC survey polled some 4,500 people, including a number of BBC employees. The survey revealed that many viewers think BBC has either a leftwing or laissez-faire partiality in its programming, The Christian Institute said.

A doctor in the U.K. might lose his job and his medical license because he talked about his Christian faith with a patient.

Dr. Richard Scott is one of six partners at Bethesda Medical Center, Margate. All the partners are Christian, and they have been open about this. Scott received a formal complaint from the General Medical Council because he told a 24-year-old patient that praying to Jesus could help him out of a difficult condition that he is in, NY Daily News said.

The complaint was filed by the patient’s mother, who has accused Scott of taking advantage of her son’s vulnerability by trying to push his religion on him, the NY Daily News said. The GMC is charged with regulating all British doctors.

Scott, 50, is a former missionary. His record as a doctor has been unblemished—until now. He said the conversation about Jesus only came as the consultation was coming to a close, and he did so with the permission of the patient.

Scott told NY Daily News, “I only discussed mutual faith after obtaining the patient’s permission. In our conversation I said that, personally, I had found having faith in Jesus helped me and could help the patient. At no time did the patient indicate that they were offended, or that they wanted to stop the discussion.”

Scott told NY Daily News that if the patient complained at the time, “I would have immediately ended the conversation.” He has decided to fight the GMC censure. In doing so he may lose his medical license, and this would spell the end of a 28-year profession, according to The New American.

In recalling the conversation Scott said the patient was “in a rut and in need of help.” Scott said the medical consultation was lengthy, during which he discussed various possible interventions, all of which the patient had already tried, The New American said.

The patient had requested consultation with other medical professionals, and Scott promised he would follow up those requests, The New American said.

The GMC complaint said Scott “harassed a vulnerable patient.” Scott said, “Absolutely not.  I’ve offered a needy patient a way out of his situation,” according to The New American.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of GMC said doctors must not proselytize or talk about religion with their patients, “unless those beliefs are directly relevant to the patient’s care. They also must not impose their beliefs on patients, or cause distress by the inappropriate or insensitive expression of religious, political or other beliefs or views,” the NY Daily News reported.

Scott decided not to accept the complaint as it would remain on his record for any future employer to see. “What’s happened to me is an injustice and I want to stand up for Christians who have been getting hammered in the workplace.” The Christian Legal Center is taking charge of his case, The New American said.

Andrea Williams of CLC said Scott, “acted within their own guidelines, and his unblemished record should not be tarnished — even by a letter [in] his file,” The New American reported.

Laura Sandys, MP for South Thanet told BBC News, “[M]onitoring and then sanctioning doctors on conversations with patients, that do not relate to their medical condition, must be a matter between the individuals and dealt with locally. The GMC has over-reacted and needs to put an end to misplaced activism that is putting a respected doctor’s profession on the line.”

Other Christian doctors have also rallied behind Scott. Dr. Peter Saunders of Christian Medical Fellowship told NY Daily News, “All good doctors try to treat their patients as whole persons, not just biochemical machines. That does sometimes include spiritual matters, dealing with questions of meaning and purpose.”

A U.K. study indicated recently that humans are naturally and instinctively inclined to have religious thinking.

The Oxford University study, entitled Cognition, Religion and Theology Project, was co-headed by Roger Trigg, a professor at Oxford University.

The study was three years in the making and incorporated over 40 other different researches that were conducted in various countries including China, Micronesia, Poland and the United States, CNN said.

Trigg told CNN, “We tend to see purpose in the world. We see agency. We think that something is there even if you can’t see it. All this tends to build up to a religious way of thinking.”

The study showed that similar findings regarding religion prevail in different countries and cultures all around the globe. For example, humans tend to believe in an afterlife, CNN said.

The study points to research from The Queen’s University in Belfast, and compares the findings to that from a study in Tsinghua University in China, which suggest that cultural differences do not interfere with the shared belief that mankind has a soul or spirit within him that lives even after death.

The study indicated, too, that adults tend to believe that life has a purpose, that natural phenomena occur for a reason, and that an unseen hand is at work in this world, the Daily Mail reported.

Of note, this tendency toward religious belief comes naturally to children. This was shown in one test, where children were given a closed box and were asked if their mother would know what was inside, Daily Mail said.

Results showed that three-year-old children believed their mother and God would always know what’s inside the box. However, four-year-old children understood that their mothers do not know everything.

The study implies that children under five have a concept of what is ‘superhuman,’ Daily Mail said. Trigg told CNN, “Children in particular found it very easy to think in religious ways.”

No intention to prove existence of God

The study did not seek to prove whether or not God, or an afterlife, exists. Justin Barrett, another co-director of the project told CNN, “This project does not set out to prove God or gods exist. Just because we find it easier to think in a particular way does not mean that it is true in fact.”

However, it can be useful in other ways. Trigg told CNN, “If you’ve got something so deep-rooted in human nature, thwarting it is in some sense not enabling humans to fulfill their basic interests. There is quite a drive to think that religion is private. It isn’t just a quirky interest of a few, it’s basic human nature.”

The study carries a strong implication that religious belief will not simply fade from society. Trigg told CNN, “This shows that it’s much more universal, prevalent, and deep-rooted. It’s got to be reckoned with. You can’t just pretend it isn’t there. The secularization thesis of the 1960s – I think that was hopeless.”

Calvary Bible Church in Milpitas, Calif. has expressed concern about the followers of Harold Camping, 89, owner of Family Radio Network, which is based in Oakland, Calif.  according to PR Newswire.

The Network is heard in over 150 stations globally and Camping has used this to voice his beliefs, which incorporate some numerology with the bible to justify his strange predictions.

Calvary Bible Church is asking followers who may sincerely believe in Camping not to respond rashly to the prediction, noting that the bible says that no one knows the day when Jesus will return, PR Newswire said.

Calvary is concerned about followers who may act rashly, cashing out retirement funds, selling possessions or emptying bank accounts to fund Camping’s message, according to PR Newswire.

The idea is not far-fetched. The Daily Mail told of a retired MTA employee in New York who used his life savings of $140,000 to fund an ad campaign for the prophecy.

Robert Fitzpatrick shelled out all of his money to put placards on 1,000 subway cars and at bus stops in the city that say, “Global Earthquake! The Greatest Ever – Judgment Day: May 21,” over a photo of the Jerusalem skyline and the image of a ticking clock, Daily Mail said.

Fitzpatrick, 60, said, “I’m trying to warn people about what’s coming. People who have an understanding [of end times] have an obligation to warn everyone,” the Daily Mail reported.

Fitzpatrick said he would like to bring as many people as he can with him during the rapture (when Christians are to meet with Jesus), and this is why he funded the New York ad campaign with his money, Daily Mail said.

The followers of “Project Caravan,” as the campaign is called, have actually left their families and given up everything they own and left their jobs for this purpose, according to Daily Mail.

However, Calvary Bible Church is concerned that devotees may become depressed when they realize that they were deceived, more so if they have let go of a large amount of their finances. The prospect of financial ruin could lead to reckless action, including suicide, PR Newswire said.

Pastor Jacob Denys of Calvary Bible Church told PR Newswire that he would like to tell Camping’s followers, “Do not despair. You are not alone. We offer you help and biblical counsel.”

Calvary is leaving its doors open for followers of Camping and inviting them to hear Sunday service on May 22, the day after the “predicted” return of Jesus. Service will be held at 10 a.m., according to PR Newswire.

Denys told PR Newswire, “We realize our offer of assistance may not be well-received right now, but we hope on May 22nd they will see it is an offer made in Christian love. We know that you will be hurting when you realize that you have been deceived, and we will be here for you.”

Lawmakers in California are supporting a bill that will legalize an allegedly more eco-friendly alternative to cremation, but some Catholic bishops oppose it.

California lawmakers are supporting alkaline hydrolysis, a liquefaction procedure, as an alternative to cremation. This involves placing the corpse in a steel tube, which some sellers of the process have called a “coffin spa,” according to Daily Camera.

Once the body is in the steel tube, a mixture of acid and water will be poured over it. The fluid will then be heated up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, converting the corpse to a brown liquid within six to eight hours, with just a small pile of bones left behind, Daily Camera said.

Popular Science magazine, however, described the procedure as a “method [that] uses a steel cylinder that dissolves the body in lye with 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch. The result is a sterile, coffee-colored liquid with the consistency of motor oil that can be safely poured down the drain. A small amount of the bone residue that can be scattered like cementation ashes is the only solid byproduct,” Catholic California Daily reported.

The bill supporting this is being sponsored by California Assemblyman Jeff Miller, who is touting liquefaction through alkaline hydrolysis as a more ecologically sound alternative compared to burial and cremation, AOL News said.

A statement from Miller’s office said, “Alkaline hydrolysis, also referred to as resomation, water resolution and bio-cremation, is a ‘green,’ eco-friendly alternative to traditional cremation by incineration. It … accelerates the natural decomposition process … [to] reduce human remains to a presentable, contaminant-free ash,” Catholic California Daily reported.

Miller’s statement adds, “Unlike cremation by incineration, alkaline hydrolysis does not pollute the air, nor does it emit any greenhouse gas, and its CO2 emissions are twenty times less than its traditional alternative. Alkaline hydrolysis also neutralizes embalming fluids and toxins to protect soil and underground water from pollutants,” according to Catholic California Daily.

Johannes Escudero, Miller’s legislative director told AOL News, “California is famous for going green, not only just as a way of life but as a way of taking care of loved ones in end of life.”

If the law is passed, funeral homes and mortuaries in California will be able to legally use the procedure. Last year, liquefaction was legalized in Florida, but so far no business has been licensed to do the procedure, AOL News said.

In Columbus, Ohio Edwards Funeral Service, sold “coffin spas” to clients for two months, until local state officials ordered a stop to it. Jeff Edwards, owner of the company, sued the state saying that customers were given a choice between cremation and the “coffin spas,” and they chose the latter, Daily Camera reported.

Disposal of animals

Alkaline hydrolysis has been used for many years, but only for disposal of animals and corpses that had been donated for lab research. It is only recently that the procedure is being considered as an alternative for cremation, Catholic California Daily said.

A letter from the California Catholic Conference opposes the legislation for this and says, “It was not designed to dispose of dead human bodies. As Catholics we believe that the human body, once alive and animated by an immortal soul, possesses a moral dignity which must be honored.”

The letter also questioned the quality of the bone residue after the process saying, “The bone residue… amounts to a chemical digestion and results in a radically different substance than cremated ashes, thereby creating a human and emotional distance from the remains rather than a reverence for them,” Catholic California Daily reported.

Patrick McGee, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, N.H. said, “We believe this process, which enables a portion of human remains to be flushed down a drain, to be undignified,” AOL News reported.

Escudero, however, noted that no greenhouse gases are released into the air with the process and suggested that one should not
consider just the operation’s logistics, AOL News said.

Escudero told AOL News, “The idea of dumping someone down the drain is a misnomer. It creates the idea that you are dumping Grandma down the drain, and that’s not the case at all. There is nothing more inhumane than burning a body, which is the case with cremation.”

So far, alkaline hydrolysis is being used legally by the University of Southern California, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and the University of Florida. However, the process is only applied to dispose of corpses that were donated for scientific research, AOL News said.

The White House said recently that it was regrettable that an Evangelical leader would make absurd claims on Easter Sunday about issues that had long been belied.

Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said remarks by Evangelical leader Franklin Graham suggesting that President Barack Obama may have been born in a country other than the U.S. are unbelievable and sad, the New York Daily News said.

Carney said, “I think it’s unfortunate that a religious leader would choose Easter Sunday to make preposterous charges,” according to the New York Daily News.

Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, was responding to a question from Christiane Amanpour, who asked the son of Billy Graham if he was bothered by questions that have been raised by “Birthers,” Christianity Today said.

Graham replied, “Well, the president, I know, has some issues to deal with here. He can solve this whole birth certificate issue pretty quickly. I don’t—I was born in a hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, and I know that my records are there. You can probably even go and find out what room my mother was in when I was born. I don’t know why he can’t produce that. So, I’m not—I don’t know, but it’s an issue that looks like he could answer pretty quickly,” Christianity Today reported.

Graham told Christianity Today that the ABC program where he questioned Obama’s birth had actually been taped one week before Easter, and that his statements were merely in response to questions he had been asked.

Graham told Christianity Today, “I’m not going out making speeches about where the President was born. I could care less. I’ll continue to answer reporters’ questions.”

His statements however reflected that of Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn) who also suggested that Obama should produce a birth certificate. A few days afterwards, George Stephanopoulos of ABC presented Obama’s birth certificate to Bachmann. She replied, “Well, then, that should settle it,” Christianity Today reported.

Obama had actually released his birth certificate as early as 2008 when he was campaigning for the presidency, the New York Daily News said.

Despite this, rumors of Obama’s birth continue to float with some saying he was born in Kenya, and others saying he was born in Indonesia or the U.K. According to the president’s birth certificate, he was born in Hawaii, New York Daily News reported.

The “issue” of Obama’s birth has been noisily banded about of late by Donald Trump, who is posturing to run for the presidency as a Republican candidate. Graham told Christianity Today that he sees Trump as a viable candidate.

Graham told Christianity Today, “Donald Trump, when I first saw that he was getting in, I thought, well, this has got to be a joke. But the more you listen to him, the more you say to yourself, ‘You know? Maybe the guy’s right.’”

Other candidates that get Graham’s nod are Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin. Graham told Christianity Today,
“We’ve got to have some new leadership, new Republicans, more Tea Party people.”