Rev. Franklin Graham "At Odds"
With White House Over Islam
Exodus 20:3 - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
------
NOTE: Please use the ACTION ITEM at the end of this article to express concern to President George Bush and appreciation to Rev. Franklin Graham.
----
Evangelist Graham in Presidential Hot Water Over Comments
White House Hosts Ramadan Gathering
November 20, 2001
(AgapePress) - In what is believed to be a first in American history, there were prayers to Allah Monday night at the White House where President Bush hosted a formal Ramadan celebration with dozens of Muslim leaders.
The Ramadan event was another effort by the Bush Administration to prove its war on terrorism is not a war against Islam. However, conservative voices like Gary Bauer have been sharply critical of that effort. He says he has heard from a number of people within the U.S. intelligence community who are shocked and demoralized that some of the Muslim leaders who have been spending time with the President have been known to speak out in favor of terrorism.
Bauer notes that while these people are getting the red carpet treatment at the White House, reports indicate the President is distancing himself from one of the country's best-known evangelicals. According to reports, Franklin Graham upset the Bush Administration when he recently referred to Islam as being "wicked, violent, and not of the same God."
Shortly after the attacks of September 11, Graham had commented, "I don't believe [Islam] is a wonderful, peaceful religion." Asked by NBC News on Friday to clarify his statement, he repeated his charge that Islam, as a whole, was evil.
"It wasn't Methodists flying into those buildings, it wasn't Lutherans," he told NBC News. "It was an attack on this country by people of the Islamic faith."
In a follow-up statement Monday, Graham said he is deeply concerned with "the teachings of Islam regarding the treatment of women, and the killing of non-Muslims or infidels."
The son of Rev. Billy Graham and the designated successor of his father's extensive evangelical ministry, Graham delivered the benediction at Bush's inauguration in January. As NBC News observed, "A presidential friend and supporter now finds himself at odds with both the Muslim world and the message from the White House." But conservative columnist Chuck Baldwin calls Graham "a breath of fresh air" for standing firm and not apologizing for his statements.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reports a Muslim advocacy organization has sent a letter to Graham inviting him to meet with them to discuss his remarks. In the letter, Nihad Awad of the Council on America-Islamic Relations says, "Negative impressions of Islam are most often based on a lack of accurate and objective information."
AgapePress writers Fred Jackson, Jim Duke, and Jody Brown contributed to this report.
© 2001 AgapePress - All rights reserved.
ACTION ITEM:
Contact President Bush and politely express your opposition to Islamic prayer services at the White House. Also, be sure to thank Franklin Graham for his faithfulness to Christ in the face of criticism.
Contact President Bush:
1-202-456-1414 or 1-202-456-1111
Email the President at:
mailto:president@whitehouse.gov
Contact Franklin Graham:
1-612-338-0500 (after hours use extension 8)