But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. - Galatians 1:8-9 (ESV)
A few years back, it came to light that Franklin Graham was "earning" over $800,000 between the two charities he is the CEO for (Samaritan's Purse and Billy Graham Association). Graham refused to respond to the expected criticism and instead lobbied the IRS to change his "charities" to the designation of "Association of Churches." Did his charities suddenly become associations of churches? Of course not. Why the change? Because the new classification means Graham would no longer have to publicly disclose his salaries. I guess he was guided by WSWJH - what salaries would Jesus hide." This was the point that it should have become clear to everyone that Graham was a mere shill but that became even clearer when after candidate Trump conveniently donated to both of Graham's organizations, that Franklin then paved the way for Trump to have insider access to the key evangelical vote he so desperately needed to win in 2016. Even these things were not new, just more in the open. In 2014 Franklin sold his soul by removing Mormonism from the list of cults maintained by the Billy Graham Association. What was the deciding factor? That the Republican Party had nominated a Mormon, Mitt Romney, for president. Never mind that Mormonism was founded in the 1800's by a pedophile bigamist with over 30 wives that claimed an angel gave him golden tablets upon which was written a new gospel. So much for today's key verses outlining what should happen if even an angel was to give us a new gospel. Can't let a little thing like wildly heretical doctrine stand in the way of your carnal politics. So, for close to ten years those who wish to discern have known that Franklin Graham is bought and sold by the Republican Party in this country. If you needed more proof, just click the above link from Charisma News today and reason once more with me.
'The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, warned this week that America is a "nation addicted to violence" and that culture's abandonment of God is leading to "more problems." Graham issued his comments as President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats pitch increased gun control measures after a gunman killed 19 kids and two teachers May 24 at the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. "President Biden and his administration want to ban certain caliber handguns," Graham wrote in a Facebook post. "That won't help the problem."' - Charisma News
Really. Banning high capacity magazines and weapons of war will not even help the problem? That's odd Franklin because it has worked in every other country in the world. America is the only country that has this problem. Now, I do not wish to create a society where the only people with the guns are the government, but we ought to be able to agree to common sense changes. Like maybe an 18-year-old does not need an AR-15? We cannot even have the discussion in this country because of shills like Franklin Graham, however. His position is that of the NAR. It is not his own. He was given marching orders to go and publicly support guns and that is just what he did. Even if the diagnosis of a nation addicted to violence is accurate, is it also a good idea then to arm that nation to the teeth? Biden is calling for a reinstatement of the assault weapons ban which did work! Go check the statistics and you will see a decline in the deaths from gun violence during the time of the ban. There are 19 small bodies that had to be buried last week and Franklin Graham digs them up and shoots them all over again with this irresponsible and uncaring rhetoric. The AR-15 so destroyed the bodies of these children that they had to use DNA to identify some of them. Think about that. It is bad enough to be on this side politically, but Franklin Graham is supposed to represent Christians. That is who he is trying to convince here. It is sad and disgusting, as are the canned NAR dominionist talking points. American culture has not abandoned God Franklin, you have. The culture was never with God in order to abandon Him. The church once was though but now shills like you wrap it up in the America flag, put a gun in the pulpit and now stand for the slaughter of innocent children. Where are the pro-lifers now? Read the gospel accounts and see how much Jesus hated hypocrisy. The Charisma article continues:
'The evangelist said American culture is replete with violent imagery; he proposed society curb such themes in entertainment if we want to "make a difference." Graham also predicted the U.S. will continue to struggle until such action is taken. "What would make a difference is a ban on all of the movies, television shows and video games graphically depicting gun violence, bloody gore and death," he wrote. "We are a nation addicted to violence"and they call it entertainment."' - Charisma News
We must recognize this tactic for what it is. The gun lobby, NAR and the Republican Party want to be talking about anything OTHER than guns. So, they dispatch many lackeys to discuss mental health and how if we could just provide better services than less people would snap and go on killing sprees. Do they believe this? Of course, not because when it comes time to fund such initiatives, they are the first ones to vote no. Other minions are sent to discuss arming teachers. Do they honestly think that Ms. Magilicuddy packing a machine gun while she teaches verb conjugation is the panacea? Of course not but it sure does distract well. They will even send senators out to tell you that the real problem with gun violence is doors. If they could just control the doors better than no one would get hurt. Right. Amidst these emissaries, they send out Franklin Graham to make sure the evangelicals stay where they are in lock step support of every candidate with a little "r" next to their name. His cause du jour? Violence in entertainment. He literally is claiming here that in order to change gun violence in this country we have to START by banning all movies, TV shows, and video games that are violent. This is what is known as an absurdity. Graham knows it but remember he is not really trying to limit the entertainment industry. He is just trying to switch the conversation away from guns.
