In the name of God. An American evangelical pastor at war against LGBT people

Article by Kimberly Johnson published on Aljazeera America on April 25, 2014, freely translated by Daniela Tespio

Franklin Graham, son of internationally renowned evangelist Billy Graham and president of his father's eponymous ministry, praised Russia's recently passed tough anti-gay laws, which oppose gay propaganda and associate homosexuality with pedophilia .

“Isn't it sad that America's own morality has not given due importance to this matter - protecting children from any kind of homosexual agenda or propaganda - so much so that Russia's standard is higher than ours?” Graham wrote in a column in the March edition of the ministry's magazine, Decision. “In my opinion, Putin is right about this. Of course he may be wrong about many other things but he has taken a stand to protect his nation's children from the harmful effects of gay and lesbian programs.

It's no secret that the young Graham thinks there is a gay and lesbian agenda in America and believes that children are the first to be in danger.

His unyielding stance against homosexuality and Barack Obama's administration, which he believes promotes it, is a far cry from his father's apolitical legacy. The harsh criticism highlights a generational divide among evangelicals and somewhat curbs the tendency to be more tolerant towards homosexuals, a trend that is increasingly gaining ground among younger generations.
As most people increasingly support things like gay marriage, evangelical hardliners—Franklin first and foremost—are turning up the rhetoric again.

Christian gay rights lawyer Justin Lee, who was raised as a moderate Southern Baptist before discovering his homosexuality, said he understands the reasons for Graham's beliefs.

“Growing up in that environment, I believed that gay people chose to be gay and that theirs was a choice that could destroy their future and their relationship with God,” said Lee, executive director of the Gay Christian Network, based in Raleigh, NC “which meant that it was my duty, if I really cared about them, to speak out about the pro-gay messages, just as one would do whatever it took to curb the spread of a dangerous drug and addictive like crystal meth.”

A tolerant church

Critics argue that evangelical rigidity and rhetoric about homosexuality in the United States has enough weight to affect human rights elsewhere in the world.

“We have seen that evangelical statements that were misguided by American evangelicals have had serious repercussions in some countries that have ended up supporting really drastic policies,” Lee said. A new law instituted this year in Uganda that makes being homosexual a crime and punishes it with life in prison is said, for example, to have been influenced by American evangelicals.

Graham's outspoken criticism of the Obama administration and homosexuality contrasts with his father's line. Billy Graham, now 95, has counseled every president of the United States since World War II and is credited with having preached to more than 215 million people in more than 185 countries, as reported by his evangelical association.
The cornerstone of his ministry, according to historians, was compassion.

More than 25% of Americans identify as evangelical Christians and believe that every individual needs a sin conversion experience. According to the Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of evangelical churches, 64 percent, believe homosexuality should be discouraged throughout society.

Overall, however, Americans are becoming increasingly accustomed to homosexuality — quite a U-turn if you think back to 10 years ago. In 2001, only about 35 percent of Americans supported gay marriage compared to 54 percent today, the Pew Research Center reported last month.

Lee argues that only one person changes their attitude at a time, adding that with all of their friends and family members coming out, evangelicals are being forced to reconsider their beliefs about what it means to be gay.

“Every time an evangelical leader makes a statement that focuses on LGBT people rather than just people, he ends up alienating those who, despite their thousand-year-old evangelical beliefs, have LGBT friends, and those who, whatever their theological convictions, would like a church that is more tolerant of LGBT people,” he said. “I think this reaction will have harmful consequences for the evangelical and Christian communities.”

While many young evangelical pastors contacted by Al Jazeera do not comment on the generation gap regarding homosexuality in the church, a young pastor in Charlotte, N.C., who did not want to be identified, downplayed this divide, saying the young people he works with give more importance to the need to be part of something.

“Young people today are growing up in an increasingly multicultural world and society, and their greatest fear is being left out,” he said. “In my experience, many young people are confused about what they think or believe when discussing sexuality. Many of them don't feel comfortable talking about it.”

This pastor also says that some of the young people he works with — those who, for example, consider sex outside of marriage to be sinful — don't feel comfortable saying what they really think because they fear it will undermine belonging and acceptance. each other.”

'Never forced'

Franklin Graham, who began his ministry focusing on humanitarian aid through the organization Samaritan's Purse, said he felt called by God and not by his father. This month Graham told an El Paso, Texas television channel: "My father never pushed me to do it, I was almost afraid to pursue this career because I didn't want people to compare myself to my father."

But as he began to lead the global empire of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, the comparisons were inevitable. Although Billy Graham was always involved in politics, he hated offending anyone, said Michael Hamilton, a history professor at Seattle Pacific University who specializes in American religion, fundamentalism and evangelicalism.

Hamilton further stated: “He hated doing it for one fundamental reason: he knew that sparking controversy would damage his ministry and he didn't want that.”

A characteristic that certainly did not belong to his son.

Franklin wanted to adopt the philosophy of religious right, which his father never did,” Hamilton argued. “I think because the religious right constitutes a faction within the Republican Party, it has made the Democratic Party more absolutist, less dangerous because evangelicals believe their moral values ​​are absolutely true.”

Unlike his son, Billy Graham didn't want people to be crazy about him, he added. “He always tried to maintain good personal relationships and say nice things about people, one of the secrets of his long-lasting popularity is that he tried to build bonds with those who were different from him” so as to be able to reach the Christian church and even those theologically more liberal churches. And even when he caused controversy he still tried to reconsider his comments.

“Franklin Graham has always been more likely to say positive things about tyrannical governments, which has in some ways forced him to place limits on his ministry and his influence unlike his father,” Hamilton added.

Hamilton's students at Seattle Pacific, a liberal Christian university, range in age from 18 to 24, and most profess to be evangelical.

“It's more than clear that their generation doesn't worry about homosexuality the way the baby boomers and Billy Graham's generation did,” he said. “There is no doubt that when the baby boomers are dead, evangelical churches will have fewer and fewer anti-homosexual followers. The paradigm is destined to die.”

Original text: Evangelist Franklin Graham's anti-gay stance fans culture war's flames
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/25/graham-gay-rights.html