Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

GetReligion

Home
Religion News
Billy Graham’s 95th birthday bash: Happy or harpy?

Billy Graham’s 95th birthday bash: Happy or harpy?

Last updated on: November 14, 2013 at 12:00 pm by Tamie Ross

Billy Graham’s 95th birthday bash: Happy or harpy? 2013-11-14T10:51:02-05:00 Tamie Ross

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN3OxKAxAFg

In the 1984 hit movie “Sixteen Candles,” Molly Ringwald’s character, Samantha Baker, awakens on what should be the biggest birthday of her life. Only, her family has forgotten the occasion.

Overshadowed by her older sister’s impending nuptials, Samantha spends the day hoping one of her family members will remember. Hilarity ensues. Eventually everyone wishes her a happy birthday — including her hunky, sportscar-driving, secret crush Jake. He shows up. And he brings cake! They kiss. Yippee!

I couldn’t help but think of this classic coming-of-age movie (the late Roger Ebert once quipped, “Molly Ringwald was the Molly Ringwald of the ’80s”) as I read USA Today’s rehash of last week’s celebration marking Billy Graham’s 95th birthday in Asheville, N.C.

Not that the Graham family didn’t remember their patriarch’s big day. Not that there wasn’t cake. It was that on this particular occasion, the MSM Graham storyline, like Samantha Baker’s, was just so very, very wrong. Friends and neighbors, was this really a political celebrity story?

At 95 and in frail health, Billy Graham often resists family entreaties to make excursions from his mountaintop home. But the nation’s most famous evangelist attended a birthday celebration Thursday night that featured hundreds of well-wishers and what is being characterized as his final sermon.

Given the lead player, his impact on the world religion stage and the role he has played in the lives of millions of believers in the 185 countries he has visited, you’d expect some retrospective in this story. Some context. At least allusion to the cultural changes that surrounded his ministry and the decades in which he preached. Words that attempt to capture the poignancy of Billy Graham choosing his 95th birthday to present his final sermon.

Instead we get a Fox News infomercial.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for instance:

“His message transformed my mom’s life,” Palin, one of the dinner’s speakers, said in an interview with USA TODAY.

“In the 70s, she would tune into the Billy Graham crusades, televised. My mom was raised Catholic, and she … was yearning for something more,” she said. “His invitation for people to know that they could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ — my mom understood that from the way that he could articulate it. She became a Christian, led the rest of the family to Christ, and that I believe transformed our family.”

This juxtaposed well with the story’s earlier mention of his visit with Pope John Paul II and a photo of the two men taken in November 1982, not to mention his congenial relationship with the Catholic Church over many decades. (Yeah, not so much).

Those Fox paw prints were all over this story. We learn that Rupert Murdoch attended, Greta Van Susteren emceed and that at one point during dinner, son Franklin Graham proclaimed Fox “The greatest news channel in America.”

Mention of Donald and Malania Trump? Check. Various other politicos and entertainers? Check?

Yet unless you were in the audience or searched online for “The Cross” you would have no sense of the deep spiritual message this fading preacher desperately hoped to convey that night. Perhaps more content about the content of the Graham video that was rolled out during this event, the on-screen sermon called “The Cross”? Yes, it was premiered on Fox. But what about the content?

Indeed, this story would have been better served in the paper’s entertainment section than the news hole it filled. I suppose “Ninety-five candles” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, though.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this story.

Previous Post

November 14, 2013

The Boys from Buenos Aires?

Next Post

November 14, 2013 Got news? Bishops stand on HHS mandate (updated)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 5Q+1 Academia Anglicanism Announcements Atheists & Agnostics Baptists Books Business & Economy Catholicism Creeping Fundamentalism Education Ethics Evangelicals Film First Person gays Godbeat Got news? Humor Interviews Islam Journalism Judaism Lutherans Mainline Marriage & family Middle East Mormons Music Nones Orthodoxy Pagans Pentecostalism People Podcasts Politics Pop Culture Race Radio & TV Religion religious liberty Same-sex marriage Science Sex Social Issues Sports Uncategorized Vatican Web/Tech What is this? World World Religions Worship

Select a Month August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 May 2010 July 2009 February 2009 October 2008 July 2008 January 2007 August 2006 July 2006 October 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Where was Jesus transfigured?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mount Hermon Mount Carmel Mount Tabor Mount Sinai