Franklin Graham on Abortion, Homosexuality, and Cowardice
The Rev Franklin Graham had a firm message for pastors at the 2014 Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing: “God hates cowards.”
“God hates cowards. And the cowards that the Lord is referring to are the men and women who know the truth but refuse to speak it…”
“We have a responsibility to speak on the moral issues. Abortion, homosexuality, these are moral issues. This is a free country, you can do what you want to do but I want you to know it’s a sin against God. This is a sin,” said Graham.
In an interesting comparison, the Christian Post noted Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty was recently harangued for…quoting the Bible during a sermon. Quoting a portion of his remarks [emphasis added]:
The news media didn’t even know it was a verse. They thought I was just mouthing off. Is homosexual behavior a sin? the guy asked me. I said, ‘Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor the idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.’
I gave you the rest of the story. I gave you the bad news then I gave you the good news. I said the apostle Paul then said and that’s what some of you were. I was in that camp. I’ve been in that camp…We’ve all been there. The reason we’re here today is to remind you of the gospel that was preached.”
Another Op-Ed at the Christian Post noted
If people have a problem with these comments, they have a problem with the Bible for all Robertson is doing is reiterating Paul’s message.
Of course, some people do have a problem with the Bible, and they’ll stop at nothing to stigmatize it and push it from the public square — including, if possible, using the powers of the US government to aid their effort.
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So it is fortunate for our gay Military men and women, that by the powers of the US government, they no longer have to hide and they are now free to be who they are or who they want to be with. I have issues with anyone calling a person in the Military immoral just because they are gay…that to me is a coward!
Franklin is free to preach what he believes to be immoral or a sin, just like we are free to say he is WRONG; no ones has to listen and no one has to submit to his or anyones authority on what morality is is isn’t.
Interesting that you chose to call the creator of the heavens and the earth a Coward. All sinners are immoral, what makes the sin of homosexuality so special to you Mr. Watchtower? Franklin doesn’t simply preach what he believes, he preaches what God told us is the truth. You are right about one thing, we don’t have to submit to Mr. Graham’s authority, but we all must submit to God’s authority.
Well Douglas, first, thank you for our service — I find it interesting that you believe a god would consider our gay service members cowards then; so many of them worship and love the same god I think that you do. I’ll hazard a guess that they don’t interpret the “rules” the same as Franklin here. I do not believe in biblical sin, but I believe humans are genuinely good; but sometimes they can make mistakes, fail as parents and in some case are just outright mean. As Sen Hatch said yesterday …”he believes nobody should suffer discrimination, and said religious people should try to understand other people’s beliefs”. He also said …”he may not agree with it but …he does accept whatever the courts have to say”. Hatch shocked me for sure, but I’m also delighted he can see it both ways and appears to accept the US Governments “Courts” decision and our personal decisions as well. Best Regards.
watchtower- You may think that the gays you refer love God but the truth is that if they really did they would not practice homosexuality. See John 14:23-24. “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” Whether or not they interpret the “rules” differently does not negate them; my choosing to not believe in or misinterpret the laws of physics will never change them or cause the to cease to exist and it is the same here.
“I do not believe in biblical sin, but I believe humans are genuinely good…” Unfortunately the Bible disagrees with you and as I mentioned before- ignorance or willful rejection of the truth does no change the truth. I respect your right to believe what you want but that does not mean I have to accept your opinions as valid.
Post Scriptum- Nowhere do I see where homosexuals were called cowards- it was preachers who are afraid to preach the truth were branded as such. You seem to be pulling that assumption from your own interpretation. Also, if one may quibble over semantics, your use of the word coward to refer to those who call gays immoral is wrong. The definition of coward is (according to Merriam-Webster): “someone who is too afraid to do what is right or expected; someone who is not at all brave or courageous; one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity.” Branding someone as immoral is not an act of cowardice.
I also apologize for my typos- I obviously did not proofread my writing well enough and I see no way to further edit my work. :-)