No good deed goes unpunished. After evangelist Franklin Graham announced a series of meetings to bring a message of hope to the U.S.-Mexican border, a liberal Christian group has started a petition calling on venue organizers to withdraw their invitations.
The petition, drafted by Faithful America, so far has garnered nearly 21,000 signatures.
The social justice ministry has gone after Graham with several previous petitions, mostly calling out Graham’s LGBTQ views and his support for former President Donald Trump, who is running for reelection.
“The upcoming ‘frontera’ iteration of Graham’s tour feels especially distasteful and hypocritical given that, in an effort to dismiss criticisms of Donald Trump’s immigration policies, Graham once falsely claimed that immigration is ‘not a Bible issue’ — yet there are few topics the Bible addresses more,” the petition reads, according to Religion News Service.
The group, however, failed to mention Graham’s scathing criticism of Trump in 2018. “It’s disgraceful, and it’s terrible to see families ripped apart and I don’t support that one bit,” Graham, Graham told the Christian Broadcasting Network at the time.
“Frontera,” which means “border” in Spanish, is the latest of Graham’s “God Loves You” tours. The tour features Christian musicians, prayers from local pastors and a short sermon from Graham. The 10-city tour begins on February 24 in Brownsville, Texas, and then heads to McAllen, Laredo, Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Presidio and El Paso, before going to Arizona and concluding March 9 in Chula Vista, Calif.
“We are taking the God Loves You Tour to the southern border this year, because it is one of the neediest areas of our country at this time and people need to hear a message of hope from God’s word,” Graham said in a statement.
“I blame politicians for the last 20, 30 years that have allowed this to escalate to the point where it is today,” Graham said at the time. “We are a country of a laws, laws need to be obeyed, no question about that, but the situation we have today as a result of our lawmakers in Washington over generations ignoring this.”
For the evangelist, nothing has changed much in the ensuing years.
Graham typically doesn’t speak about political or social issues during his preaching tours, a fact Faithful America acknowledged. In a statement, he denied he was going to the border because 2024 is an election year.
“I’m not going to welcome people to the U.S. or to tell them to go back,” he said. “I’m not going there to speak against our policies at the border. The politicians know these policies are broken. There are a lot of hungry hearts and hurting people, so I’m going to the border to tell them about God’s Son Jesus Christ and how he can make a difference in our lives if we put our faith and our trust in him.”
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is sponsoring the tour and partnering with 1,000 churches in Texas, Arizona and California.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
