New voices, including an ex-Muslim, have come to the defense of Franklin Graham recently, after the Pentagon disinvited him from appearing on the National Day of Prayer.

Franklin Graham at the podium and on the big screen at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash. in 2007. Credit:Flikr-publicjill

According to the Christian Post Sabatina James, the granddaughter of a Mullah and a well-known Pakistani convert to Christianity, said there is a difference between criticizing Islam and Muslims.

“Don’t say that every Muslim is a terrorist and every Muslim is bad because that is just not true. But there are definitely things that need to be changed in Islam or else you can’t live in a democracy,” James said.

James is living under police protection and is constantly on the move because of death threats against her.  She said, “…they are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘beat your wife if she is not obedient.’ They are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘the Christians and Jewish people are evil.’”

James added, “It is written in the Surah Al-Maidah… ‘don’t take Jewish and Christian people as your friend.’  That is what you are taught in the Quran schools.”  James said in the Christian Post story.

Meanwhile, Republican congressman from Georgia Jack Kingston called for a congressional investigation into possible “clerical censorship” involving Graham’s being disinvited to speak at the Pentagon, the Huffington Post reported.

Another publication, The Dallas News, took a poll.  Among the comments they garnered was that of Darrell Bock, research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.  Bock said, “The way to respond to Graham’s claims is not to wall off who can pray or be asked to do so, but to engage in a discussion of the issues he raises to show whether or not he is correct.”

Another respondent, Lillian Pinkus, executive committee member of the Anti-Defamation League of Dallas said, “…what bothers me is that while members of the Islamic faith are quick to take offense at perceived slights against Islam, in countries where Islam is the law of the land, there is not that same sensibility for others.  How is it that they demand fair treatment and practice of their faith, while in Islamic countries where the Koran is their constitution, there is no freedom of worship for people of other faiths?  You might say that it’s different in America, but I don’t believe there is a Koran for America and one for Islamic countries.”

Franklin Graham was disinvited by the Pentagon last week because after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Graham called Islam a “very evil and wicked religion.”

In a CNN interview 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.”

Graham said he has Muslim friends and the humanitarian group he heads, Samaritan’s Purse, works in several predominantly Muslim countries.  But he told CNN, “…I certainly disagree with their teaching.”

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After recent successive issues that have reached the courts over Christian symbols such as the cross and an army emblem, some are asking, “Are Christian symbols under attack?”

The most recent issue, as reported by the Associated Press (AP) involves an army emblem of a Colorado hospital.  The emblem contains a cross and the motto, “Pro deo et humanitate” or “For God and humanity.”

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has asked the Army to change the emblem of Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson, Colorado noting it could violate the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state, the AP reported.

The AP said the MRFF is the same group that persuaded the Pentagon to rescind their invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham to speak on the May 6 National Day of Prayer, because in 2001 Graham had said that “Islam is evil.”

In a separate incident, a judge had ruled recently that the National Day of Prayer, which is an annual event that has been held since 1952 is unconstitutional.  The Obama administration expressed plans to appeal the ruling and the Justice department filed a formal notice of its plans for appeal, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

With regard to the hospital emblem, Lt. Col Steve Wollman said Fort Carson commanders will review the MRFF complaint.   However he noted that the motto on the emblem, approved in 1969 by the Army Institute of Heraldry, dates back to pre-Christian, Hippocratic times.  Hippocrates is renowned as the father of medicine, the AP said.

Wollman also said the cross with the spiked base was used by pilgrims to mark the ground of their campsite.  Mikey Weinstein, president of the MRFF said he filed his complaint on behalf of 43 people in Fort Carson.  However, Weinstein said the 43 did not want to be identified, according to the AP report.

In another incident, the Supreme Court (SC) overturned a federal court ruling which sought to remove a 75-year-old, seven foot tall cross from the Mojave National Park in California, the AP said.

The SC, through a slim 5-4 vote said the cross honored military veterans from WWI and furthermore, the land on which the cross stood on had already been transferred to private ownership.

Two similar cases are currently filed in the Federal courts.  One involves a 29-foot cross on Mt. Soledad, San Diego.  The other involves the state of Utah, which uses 12-foot high crosses that are placed along the roadside as memorials to honor deceased highway patrol officers, according to the AP.

The Supreme Court decision that overruled a lower court regarding the cross in the Mojave National Park noted that separation of church and state “does not require eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm,’’ the Boston Globe reported.

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President Barack Obama made a pilgrimage to pray with Billy Graham, the American preacher who harnessed the media and made Christian evangelism a global phenomenon, recently.

Evangelist Billy Graham in 1966. Graham has met with every U.S. president since Harry Truman.

Obama rode in his motorcade to Graham’s mountainside log cabin in Montreat, which is near Asheville, N.C., upon the conclusion of his North Carolina vacation with his wife, Michele, and friends.

It was Obama’s first meeting with the ailing evangelist who has counseled commanders in chief since Dwight Eisenhower.

This makes Obama, 48, the 12th president of the United States to meet with the 91-year-old Graham.

He is also the first head of state to call on the famed evangelist, who is ailing, at the latter’s mountaintop home.

The visit lasted about 30 minutes and included aides and advisers to both men.  Obama had a private prayer and conversation with Billy Graham.

Graham gave Obama two Bibles, one for him and one for the first lady, according to the Associated Press.

The AP report said the older Graham and Obama did most of the talking. They reminisced about their roots in Chicago, where Graham attended college  and began some of his ministry in the region.

Obama moved to Chicago after college and began his political career there.  They also talked about golf.

When the president got ready to leave, the two ended in prayer, according to the AP. The elder Graham prayed for the nation and asked God to give Obama wisdom in his decisions.

The president prayerfully thanked God for Billy Graham’s life, Franklin Graham told the AP.

Obama confided, like other presidents before him, how lonely, demanding and humbling the presidency can be, according to Larry Ross, presidential spokesman.

“That is a discussion that Mr. Graham has had with previous presidents who realize not only the demands but the loneliness of the job. And they’re humbled by that,” Ross said.

“The only way one can do [the job] properly is to draw on spiritual resources,” the AP reported.

The president also spoke to Graham’s son Franklin, also an evangelist.  The Army cancelled an appearance of the younger Graham to pray at the Pentagon for National Prayer Day a few days before.

Billy Graham has met with every president since Harry Truman.  Eisenhower once mused about recruiting Graham as a speechwriter, and the two often read the Bible together.  John F. Kennedy played golf with Graham in Palm Beach.

Graham ministered many times to Lyndon Johnson.  With Nixon, Graham conducted regular worship in the White House.

Gerald Ford played golf with him, Graham visited the Carters in the White House, and with Reagan they had a relationship that spanned 50 years.

George H. Bush vacationed with Graham half a dozen times, and Graham counseled Bill and Hillary in the White House. George W. Bush credits Graham for his spiritual rebirth.

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The Military Religious Freedom Foundation recently objected to an invitation that was sent to Reverend Franklin Graham to address the Pentagon on National Prayer Day.

The MRFF said they were objecting on behalf of members of the Pentagon’s Muslim community who wrote to the organization and objected to Graham’s invitation.

After the 2003 attacks of 9/11 Graham described Islam as “evil” and “wicked.”  In a forthcoming letter to the Wall Street Journal Graham wrote, “As a minister … I believe it is my responsibility to speak out against the terrible deeds that are committed as a result of Islamic teaching.”

President of the MRFF, Mikey Weinstein said in a letter that inviting evangelist Franklin Graham to speak at the National Day of Prayer on May 6 “would be like bringing someone in on national prayer day madly denigrating Christianity” or other religious groups.  It would also endanger American troops by “stirring up Muslim extremists.”

The MRFF’s Web site is headed by a quote by Weinstein which says, “When one proudly dons a U.S. military uniform, there is only one religious symbol: The American flag.  There is only one religious scripture:  The American constitution.  Finally there is only one religious faith: American patriotism.”

Weinstein also objected to the Pentagon’s “noxious” affiliation with the National Day of Prayer Task Force which is headed by Shirley Dobson, although he stressed he does not object to the Pentagon Chaplain’s Office hosting an NDP event.

Graham is the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham and president and CEO of both Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian international relief organization in Boone, N.C., and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, in Charlotte, N.C.

Franklin Graham at the podium and on the big screen at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash. in 2007. Credit:Flikr-publicjill

Graham, through a spokesman said, “As the father of a son serving in his fourth combat tour, I’d be glad to know someone was leading a prayer service at the National Day of Prayer, or any other day.”

The spokesman also said Graham will be a guest of the Pentagon and will speak only if he’s still invited.  A military spokeswoman said she was locating officials to respond to the criticism.

A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled last week that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional because it amounts to a call for religious action. The judge did not bar any observances until all appeals are exhausted.

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At ibelieve.com, Franklin Graham (in association with Christianity.com) asks “Can We Find 1,000,000 to Proclaim ‘I am a Christian’?”

How does he want you to do it? By signing a petition.

A personal message from Graham on the site says, “At a time when God’s truth is being attacked on all sides, now more than ever, Christians need to take a stand and declare their faith in Jesus Christ. I’m Franklin Graham and I want to encourage you to join the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Christianity.com in declaring your faith.”

Sounds good, right? Are you ready to join the 110,000 or so who have signed the petition?

I’m not.

Even though Graham does a good job of selling this petition, I’m not sure why anybody would want to sign this.

Let me explain. I’m a Christian. I have been a Christian for the past decade, and I don’t have anything against Franklin Graham or the Billy Graham Evangelical Association.

I just don’t understand the difference signing this petition makes.  It just seems like something else to do…another box to tick in a numbers game.

And then, since there’s the confusion about what goes for Christianity these days, could you really trust the signatures you got?

Although 76 percent of Americans claim to be Christian, recent studies show that they pick and choose their beliefs like they are at a spiritual buffet.

Nearly one-quarter dabble in astrology and believe in reincarnation even though astrology is forbidden in the Bible (See Deut. 18:9-12), and one of the distinguishing features of historical Christianity is the denial of reincarnation.

As much as I hear and see Franklin Graham proclaiming Jesus on television and when he comes to town with a crusade, I know he wouldn’t want people who are looking for cool points with Jesus or those who actually need to be converted signing his petition.

And therein lies the problem.

When you have a petition that will accept anybody calling himself a Christian, the chaff is bound to slip in with the wheat.

Christianity and Christ deserve more than statistical Christianity.

If the petition urged Christians to take action by becoming Biblically literate, so that they would know what offends God and what doesn’t or if it called American Christians to live holy lives, I would be all for it because then it would mean something.

It wouldn’t seem like an “I’ve got more people on my side than you’ve got on your side” sort of thing.

It would be a rallying cry for Christians to consecrate themselves before the God they profess to serve.

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