You’re Not Helping, Franklin Graham

Last updated on: February 20, 2017 at 7:00 pm by Libby Anne

You’re Not Helping, Franklin Graham 2017-02-20T19:00:23-04:00 Libby Anne

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Earlier this month, Franklin Graham posted this to Facebook:

GrahamVetting

Text of Facebook post by Franklin Graham:

I’m on my way to Puerto Rico—to warn people that God uses extreme vetting. What do I mean by that? I want the people of Puerto Rico to know that God loves them and that there is only one way to enter the gates of heaven—and that is through faith in Jesus Christ, and Him alone. Good works can’t get you into heaven. Religion can’t either—being a Baptist, a Catholic, or a Methodist, can’t save you. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Thousands of Christians have been praying across the island for this weekend. I’ll be preaching the Good News that God loves sinners and sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for their sins. My purpose for going is to help Puerto Ricans “immigrate” from earth to heaven one day. I want Puerto Ricans by the thousands—and people everywhere—to have their immigration status in Heaven stamped and sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ for all eternity.

There are at least two problems with this post.

First, I grew up in an evangelical household that followed the teachings of men like Franklin Graham. I was most definitely taught that those who had not accepted Christ as savior, and by name, were going to hell. That included individuals who had never heard the gospel, and thus did not know Jesus’ name. It included those who lived good lives and spent their lives helping others, but did not admit that they were undeserving sinners and accept Jesus as their savior. This exclusivity no longer seems like a positive thing. It feels more like rejecting well-meaning people on a technicality of language—especially when you consider that men like Graham really do believe that hell is literal eternal torture.

In other words, for me, Graham’s statement does the opposite of what he intends. It doesn’t make me respond with: “Oh you’re right, extreme vetting for immigrants makes sense because it’s what God does.” Instead, it garners this response: “Oh that’s right, your version of God is an egotistical dictator that leaves people to suffer eternal torture because they won’t say his magic words.” Someone should tell Graham that for those who find extreme vetting a bigoted justification for keeping those fleeing violence out of the country, his statement will make his god sound like an asshole.

But there’s a second problem with Graham’s post, as evidenced in this comment:

Screen Shot 2017-02-20 at 5.19.14 AM

Text of Facebook comment by Valerie Hernandez de Ortiz:

Clearly Mr. Graham is confused. God has not banned anyone. On the contrary He extended an invitation to all which we ought to accept or deny. That is not vetting. Mr. Graham is allowing his prejudices and fears to dictaminate his speeches. This is beyond God’s word. God’s Word is reassuring, not fear mongering. God’s has called us to love and show mercy unconditionally, and Mr. Graham wants to teach us that is ok to have our defenses up and for fear to lead us. That said, being a puertorrican I am beyond offended by the rest of this ill-intencioned message. At least try to take the colonist cap off your mind and try to actually care for the countries you are visiting, and show respect for their history by at least pretending to be interested in knowing just a little bit of background so you can choose your analogies wisely.

Yes, that’s right—the basic idea behind the gospel as taught by evangelicals is that everyone is invited, and that individual people then choose whether or not to accept God’s gift of salvation. There is some conflict between this and the problem of those who have never heard the gospel, but then that is frequently the motivation behind evangelical missionary activities—to ensure that everyone has the chance to hear the Good News, because everyone is invited. That’s about as opposite of extreme vetting as you can possibly get.

If there’s anything Franklin Graham made clear with his status update, then, it’s that allegiance to his political party comes before his allegiance to his religious faith.

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