Graham stands by comments on Islam

While saying he is called to love people regardless of their faith, evangelist Franklin Graham on Sunday wouldn't back away from his recent statement on a national news program that Islam "is a very evil and wicked religion."

In a prepared statement released to The Observer through a spokesman, Graham said his Samaritan's Purse ministry in Boone will continue providing millions of dollars in aid to Muslims in need around the world. But he did not take back the controversial comments aired Friday night on "NBC Nightly News" and repeated on cable stations.

Those pieces were based on an interview Graham gave last month near Wilkesboro, at the dedication of a chapel in his parents' name, when he said: "We're not attacking Islam but Islam has attacked us. The God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It's a different God and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion."

In his prepared statement Sunday, Graham said: "It is not my calling to analyze Islam or any other religions, though I recognize that all religions have differences. In the past, I have expressed my concerns about the teachings of Islam regarding the treatment of women and the killing of non-Muslims or infidels."

Graham, 49, does not plan to comment publicly on the issue, and only will release Sunday's statement in response to questions.

His response comes a day after his ministry's Operation Christmas Child began processing 1 million shoe boxes in Charlotte for needy children overseas - including thousands destined for largely Muslim nations.

His comments were challenged by former Charlottean Ali Akber, who helped organize a meeting between local Jews and Muslims after Sept. 11, before he relocated to Maryland.

"That's spreading hatred," said Akber. "It is the same God. We just don't worship the same way. We all believe in God and charity and worshipping and not doing any evil."

Franklin Graham's views run counter to those expressed on Sept. 17 by President Bush, who called Islam "a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world."

It also stands in contrast to the message delivered by Graham's father at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance service at the National Cathedral in Washington, on Sept. 14. "We come together today to affirm our conviction that God cares for us, whatever our ethnic, religious or political background may be," Billy Graham preached. "The Bible says that he is `the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.'"

What you are stating is correct from the perspective of orthodox Protestant Evangelical Theology. This does not change the fact that Muslims and Jews, and most individuals who study theology, would accept that they and Jews worship that Entity which Christians would consider as God the Father - as the sole object of their veneration.

As a Christian, I cannot accept the fact that an all-knowing, all-just and all merciful God would refuse to grant eternal salvation to ALL good men and women, regardless of their religious belief. If a person is born a Muslim and really has not had the opportunity to view Christianity from any perspective other than being the belief of another culture which is alien and often hostile, would it be just to condemn to him to eternal damnation if that individual lead an otherwise good and decent life. I think not.

But then as a human being, I have a finite mind, and a finite mind can't fathom the workings of an infinite Intelligence. And I think that observation would apply to all other mortals. We can only try to lead the best ife we can, using the Bible as a guide, and hope for the best from God's inifinite mercy, as we do not merit any salavtion from any actions of our own.

Jesus already came and went. You missed it.

Yes! He came and hung from a tree for me as not only substitution but also as an apeasement. He ascended into Heaven after His Resurrection and is waiting until all His enemies are made His footstool. He left so He could send me a Helper to live with me forever:

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

He will come again to take me home! Unless you repent, I will watch as you are utterly destroyed for His glory. Repent and taste the joy inexpressible to be found in Christ.

So I may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

Christ did not come to save each and every single person without exception. Unless they confess the Name of Christ from their heart, they will perish! Some, He is perfectly willing to let remain wallowing in their sins. A proposition perfectly supported by the Bible:

What if God, choosing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction; and this, that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, whom He had prepared before unto glory, even us whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Thanks for the info on Zoroastrians: I knew just enough to be fascinated and pursue this further, so I appreciate your post.

...in eastern Europe in the early Middle Ages, there was no reluctance on the part of Jews to convert the Khazars and these non-Semitic people adopted Judaism as their state religion. But in that situation there was no Christian presence and resultant anti-Semitic feeling. I think this is great point (which you are developing further after giving the example of Zoroastrians). It may indeed be something of a Helsinki syndrome: as you recall, it refers to the hostages developing some identification with and empathy to the abductors. It well may be that after sustained pressure from the outside, the community develops some kind of justification for that situation. I never thought in these terms in this context. Having heard your idea, I think it must be pretty widely applicable indeed.

May I just mention that in the case of Khazars the situation was somewhat different from what I usually visualize as proselytizing. The Hun called for the representatives of the three major religions and requested an explanation of the essence of their faiths. This is different from these representatives initiating the contact and persuading the Hun that their own religion is "best." To me, proselytizing implies these two factors: initiation of contact; and, more importantly, persuasion.

Why shouldn't a religious faith seek to proselytize? As long as they are not COMPELLING anyone or making themselves obnoxious, I view it as a form of free speech.

As you stated this, I would not have a problem with proselytizing either. The problem, unfortunately, is that most of the people doing it will not be like you. The leaders of any movement usually have thought out the pros and cons, the limits, the costs, etc., of what they advocate and do. (I have to admit that many of the original communists, although I disagree with them as a matter of principle, were at least idealist). The problem usually comes with the second echelon, with those who succeed the revolutionaries (witness, for instance, how Jesse Jackson gets away with corporate shakedown under the slogans of civil rights; recall also how Stalin who succeeded Lenin was not even a communist but just a power-grabber much like today’s Saddam Hussein, whatever the ideology). Thus, I doubt I would find it problematic when proselytizing is done by a highly moral person like you, who has thought out the dangers of that process and understands the differences with compelling someone to convert. The problem is that, once you start, you will be succeeded by people who do not have your education, who have not thought things out, and who will go to far --- perhaps, out of goodness of their hearts. The second echelon may even include mere scoundrels.

Is sum, the proselytizing that you envision is not sustainable. It will, as one can see all too clearly from the past, deteriorate into violence. While I am here to answer questions and be of any other help, I would rather prefer my neighbors and friends to decide on their own where their path to salvation lies.

God is no respecter of persons -- anyone can come to Him and He will receive them, if they come to Him through His Son (Acts 10:34; John 14:6). All who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21).

This does not change the fact that Muslims and Jews, and most individuals who study theology, would accept that they and Jews worship that Entity which Christians would consider as God the Father - as the sole object of their veneration.

Israel has waited for her Messiah and to this day believes He will come and is to be worshiped. The sacred Hebrew texts do not give Jews room to worship anyone but God. God's Word leaves no wiggle room on this point. Again from John: "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

If a[nyone] has not had the opportunity to view Christianity from any perspective other than being the belief of another culture which is alien and often hostile, would it be just to condemn to him to eternal damnation if that individual lead an otherwise good and decent life. I think not.

God's Word speaks to this. Isaiah 64:6 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." This theme appears in the New Testament (Romans 3:10), "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"

God is holy and will not accept that which is unholy without it (us) first being cleansed. 1 Peter 1:16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." The remedy for this uncleanness that keeps us out of God's heaven is to believe in His only begotten and sinless Son, Jesus, who offered His life and death to God in our place. 1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin."

God made these rules and He does not change (Malachi 3:6b "For I am the LORD, I change not."). His judgments are true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:9). Who am I to argue with Him on the point of His holiness that must be found in us if we are to enter into His presence?

It is an extremely valid question to ask how a just, righteous, and merciful God would condemn people to burn in hell forever when they had not even had the chance to hear of Christ's saving grace -- not to mention children who die before reaching the age of reason. I have pondered this question while studying the Scripture for over a quarter of a century. I don't have the answers but I have some inklings. What I do know is that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus is 100 percent trustworthy. He is love itself. And I know I can trust Him to execute His righteous judgments when it comes to those souls who departed this life never having heard of His Name or His saving grace.

There is another Scripture that has always stood out to me in this search for truth. Here is a short excerpt from a very interesting passage.

Romans 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 ¶ Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Again, I don't understand all that pertains to this, but I have read well-documented accounts of people groups so isolated that no missionary ever reached their shores, but there was a hunger in them to know God; they cried out to find Him, and He sovereignly revealed Himself. When other societies came upon them (and this has happened more than once), they discovered that these people were practicing their faith, as God sovereignly revealed it to them, in the God of the Jews and specifically, the God of Christians, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride [of Christ] say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

what about these verses from Koran that don't show any violence at all:

forgive Jews who distort the Qur'an, 5:13

So because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard. They change the words from their (right) places and have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them.[] And you will not cease to discover deceit in them, except a few of them. But FORGIVE THEM, AND OVERLOOK (THEIR MISDEEDS). Verily, Allâh loves AlMuhsinûn (gooddoers - see V.2:112).

forgive non-believers, 31:15,

But if they (both) strive with you to make you join in worship with Me others that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not, but BEHAVE WITH THEM IN THE WORLD KINDLY, and follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience. Then to Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.

45:14

Say (O Muhammad SAW) to the believers TO FORGIVE those who (harm them and) hope not for the Days of Allâh (i.e. His Recompense), that He may recompense people according to what they have earned (i.e. to punish these disbelievers, who harm the believers).

treat non-belligerent non-believers with equity, 60:8

Allâh does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allâh loves those who deal with equity.

protect them if they ask you to, 9:6

And if anyone of the Mushrikûn (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh) seeks your protection THEN GRANT HIM PROTECTION, so that he may hear the Word of Allâh (the Qur'ân), and THEN ESCORT HIM TO WHERE HE CAN BE SECURE, THAT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE MEN WHO KNOW NOT

I bet Graham didn't read these or he just did it based on his hatred towards Islam.

Back in the '70's and '80's a lot of liberal preachers fell for the ruse that there really wasn't any significant difference morally between the United States and the Soviet Union.

After all, they said, we had slavery, we have racism, we have poor people, we were "imperialistic," we have greed, etc etc etc.

Therefore, they concluded, the U.S. has no moral standing to condemn the USSR, and so we should just all try to get along.

Naturally they were quite distressed and "concerned" when Ronald Reagan gave witness to the truth and identified the Soviets as an evil empire.

I hope you can reflect and see the parallels to your position of blurring and smoothing over crucial differences in a vain effort either to placate or to avoid the conflict between true and false.

Like Franklin Graham, President Reagan was blamed, rather than those who were exposed by the truth.

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Two Mules for Mullah Franklin Graham