The Update Desk: Rev. Graham's Message

In last Saturday's Irony Board entry, I talked about how Rev. Franklin Graham had complained about God being missing from the Democratic Convention.

Regular readers know that I'm not religious, but I certainly didn't see the #DemConvention the same way that Rev. Graham did.

There were numerous references to God, to faith, to love, to empathy and mercy; there were religious organizations represented; there were many references to the deep and abiding faith of Joe Biden, a faith demonstrated in his empathy for others, in how he listened to, ministered to, counseled, helped, and prayed with others, throughout his career.

And, there is, of course, the well-known history of Biden's personal life, losing his wife and daughter in a car accident, losing his son to brain cancer, and how it was his faith that got him through those tragedies. Ignoring all of that smacks of a person who has a specific message he wants to deliver, but won't come right out and say it.

Yet. I'm sure he's saving it for next week.

Well, it seems that I was right. Rev. Graham has been announced as one of the speakers for the Republican Convention. He'll be speaking on Thursday, the night that the president will accept the nomination and lay out whatever plans he has in store for us for his second term.

It will be interesting to see if he makes a connection between the Ten Commandments and his preferred candidate; I'm sure, if he does, it won't be the same way I did in my post.

The Irony Board: Rev. Graham and the Democratic Convention

Rev. Franklin Graham lamented the absence of God at the Democratic Convention, an indication that he couldn't have been paying attention.

There were numerous references to God, to faith, to love, to empathy and mercy; there were religious organizations represented; there were many references to the deep and abiding faith of Joe Biden, a faith demonstrated in his empathy for others, in how he listened to, ministered to, counseled, helped, and prayed with others, throughout his career.

And, there is, of course, the well-known history of Biden's personal life, losing his wife and daughter in a car accident, losing his son to brain cancer, and how it was his faith that got him through those tragedies. Ignoring all of that smacks of a person who has a specific message he wants to deliver, but won't come right out and say it.

Yet. I'm sure he's saving it for next week.

Biden's campaign theme is that we are in a "battle for the soul of our country," something about which he spoke quite eloquently as he accepted the nomination, and something that has been set aside during the current administration in favor of more worldly goals, as we know.

Graham also shared the Ten Commandments as a reminder of the standards to which we are held, as a yardstick against which the Dems were measured, and in Graham's eyes, apparently failed. The irony is rich.

Think of them, the Ten Commandments, as you contemplate the current occupant of the White House, a man upon whom Graham has heaped praise, prayer, and blessings.

• Donald Trump stole from a charity, (one of his children ALSO stole from HIS charity) and was given restrictions should he want to be involved with a charity again. Among the ways he used the stolen money? A portrait of himself, the only image he worships.
• He cheated on his first two wives, each wife with the next, and with others, some of whom he paid for their silence; he bragged about sexually assaulting other women and lamented his failures in that regard; prowled backstage at beauty pageants hoping to see young women in varying states of undress, claiming that as his right; and was at least friendly with a sexual predator or two.
• He assaults his neighbors - all of us, really - with false witness, with patently absurd lies, with hostility, and with a profound lack of empathy; mercy is word not in his vocabulary. He mocks the sick, the frail, the disabled, the dying, and those who do not share his exalted opinion of himself. (The examples are legion; citing one or two would be absurd.)
• He takes the Lord's name in vain every time he mentions it, because he is a man without a shred of religious faith. He mocks the faithful even more than others; calls those who pray for him as the holder of the highest office in the land liars; and accuses those who are steadfast in their own faith of being faithless, or worse, of being like him: a person who uses the concept of faith as a way to advance his own interests, or as a weapon against others.
• He uses the faithful, and accepts their benevolence, their prayers, their laying on of hands, the same way he must have made promises as a child not to steal a favored toy from a neighbor - with one hand behind his back, fingers crossed, negating the promise of the faith placed in him - refusing it, truth be told, as if it's meaningless and beneath him.
• He used someone else's Bible as a prop. He lied about belonging to a church. He said the Bible was his favorite book. We know that is a lie, for it doesn't mention him by name.
• He attacks those who have more than he has - more money, more joy, more love, more purpose, more heart, more empathy. By so attacking, he demonstrates just how much he covets all that the others have, and all that is lacking in his own life.
• He places himself above all, before all, and bows before no one. He worships mere mention of his name, the almighty dollar, the almighty ratings, as if those three things are the measure of a man. Those things? They are the measure only of a megalomaniac. They are out of place in the heart, mind, and words of a person of faith.
• He is the graven image upon which his eyes rest most comfortably: his name on a clothing label; on the side of a building, writ in gold; carved in stone on an embassy wall; emblazoned in countless gaudy hotels, his golden club, his golf carts, and more; his giant signature, held up to the cameras for all to see, to bow to, to venerate, no matter how nonreligious, how faithless, how merciless are the words above it.

Tell me again, where is God missing?

Religious Education

Good morning, congregants and welcome to the church of veritable pastiche, a non-denominational gathering place where all are invited to respectfully speak what's on their mind. Sarcasm is allowed, as are conflicting opinions and, incredible as it may seem, facts are warmly invited.

Today, respecting that the sermon at the open door/non-denominational church down the road is God's Role in Politics, we'll have a little religious education. Regular readers know I'm not a religious person, but I try to learn, so I'm doing this as a service to myself as much as anything else.

Do you remember that time when Franklin Graham, the son of America's Pastor Billy Graham, let us know what he was thinking about the 2016 Election? Back in December, he said

I'm not endorsing any specific candidates in next year's election, but I am strongly endorsing prayer - and I'm strongly urging Christians to get out and vote.  We need to elect candidates at all levels that most closely support biblical values and principles. This may be the most important election in our nation's history. America is headed in the wrong direction and only God can turn it around. 

In an interview with CNN, also from December, he said that he had renounced his Republican faith and doesn't like them or Democrats - both sides are broken, a common refrain regardless of one's religion or lack thereof.  He's an Independent now, but I suspect not a Bernie Sanders type of independent. Bernie focuses on raising up the poor, leveling the playing field, taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves. Graham, still very engaged even though he has disavowed organized political activities, focuses on bad Girl Scouts, insulted Christian bakers, and transgender bathrooms.

He also has an opinion on immigration. In fact, he notes in the interview, we should stop all immigration, but particularly immigration from the Middle East, and had previously noted that we need to do that until "we can vet them properly" (the current process takes 18-24 months) or until the "war against Islam is over." That last part confuses me. With my limited religious education, I think the war will only be over, as are all religious battles, when everyone of one faith is either killed, enslaved or otherwise vanquished by the other faith. I suspect that's going to be a long time where we don't let anyone - anyone at all - in to our great country.

Graham also is OK with building walls; he made that clear in the CNN interview, where his example of confessing sins and being rewarded was of Nehemiah's rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem and rehanging the gates, in a mere 52 days! All "because he had received God's favor" for his confession,

He also made that very clear in response to the time when Pope Francis made comments about walls and Christianity, and how someone who focuses only on building walls, and who says horrible things in the process, is not Christian. Graham noted on his Facebook page in February that

The Pope has suggested that Donald J. Trump is not Christian because he wants to build a wall between the US and Mexico. I agree that as Christians we should try to build bridges with everyone we possibly can, but that doesn't mean we should compromise our national security.

Pointing out that other candidates also favor building a wall, including Marco Rubio, Rafael Cruz, Dr. Ben Caron, and Governor John Kasich, Graham noted

Are they not Christian either? My advice to the Pontiff - reach out and build a bridge to Donald Trump. Who knows where he may be this time next year! 

What you probably don't remember are the comments by Jerry Falwell Jr, Liberty University president and himself the son of another former America's Pastor, Jerry Falwell Sr. The Junior Jerry said

I think the Pope is mistaken. I think John F. Kennedy would be rolling over in his grave right now if he could hear what the Pope is saying.That's a man who fought against lots of prejudice because many Protestants in this country did not want to elect a Catholic president. He broke down those barriers, and here is the Pope trying to say...we have to choose leaders that share his faith, the Christian faith. 

In the middle of an election, to question someone's Christianity, the Pope is bringing up Christianity as a criteria for being president, in my view that is what he said. I think it was wrong for many Christians to refuse to vote for Mitt Romney because he was a Mormon. I don't think that's our job.'

It's not our job to choose the best Sunday School teacher like Jimmy Carter was. Our job is to choose who can best defend and protect our nation, who would be the best president and who would lead us away from $20 trillion in debt and restore  our country's economic viability.

Help me understand. One official faith leader suggests that wall-building is not Christian, in particular when it's accompanied by hateful language. Another faith leader (by inheritance) says we need to get more religion into our politics and our politicians, and yet a third faith leader, also the inherited kind, says we need to get religion out of politics.

Who am I, a mere mortal, to believe?

I think I'll follow the lead of another guy who inherited his opportunities. As I noted in this post from last June, Jeb! Bush (remember him? The Protestant turned Catholic former presidential candidate?) said

I hope I'm not going to get castigated for saying this by my priest back home, but I don't get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinal or my pope. I think religion ought to be about making us better as people and less about things that end up getting in the political realm.

Can I get an Amen on that?