An Evangelical minister who spoke at Donald Trump’s inauguration has slammed Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg for being gay.
Franklin Graham, son of televangelist Billy Graham, told Buttigieg in a Facebook post that he must repent or face “eternal damnation.”
“God’s Word defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised, or politicized,” Graham said in the post. “The Bible defines marriage as between a man and a woman—not two men, not two women. The core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world—to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation.”
The comments drew immediate criticism from both sides of the political aisle. Talk show host Joe Scarborough hit back at Graham–a staunch defender of Donald Trump–for referring to Trump as a righteous man while attacking Buttigieg for his sexuality. “Just shut up Franklin Graham,” he said on his show Morning Joe. “You are a disgrace! You are a disgrace for normalizing Donald Trump’s behavior.”
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Similarly, George H. W. Bush biographer and conservative writer John Mecham lashed out at Graham for his homophobic comments. “They are extreme at this point,” he said, “given where the country is on these issues, this is no longer a mainstream view, and thankfully so. If you’re a religious believer, one of the points of God’s universe is it does reveal itself, and you are able to change and grow and react to shifting data. Reverend Graham is actually disproving that, he’s going the other way.”
Graham has attracted a number of controversies for bigotry over the years. He labeled Islam a “religion of war” and “evil” following the attacks of September 11, 2001. He also helped spread the debunked conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim and had allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate the United States. Graham characterized the 2011 Japanese tsunami as a harbinger of Armageddon, and has a long history of attacking LGBTQ people and their rights, and has praised Russian President Vladamir Putin for brutalizing queer people.
Chrisk
I say let him talk. Most normal thinking people can see the hypocrisy of this Trump licking fraud.
fur_hunter
Chrisk……I get your point but do you realize the number of MORONS, who can’t think for themselves, believe Graham speaks for God and believe that everything he says is the truth. It is just sad. So many do not understand that RELIGION = Control of People and their MONEY.
JanDivine
The operative phrase is “most normal thinking people.” Scary but we really have a lot of people, ie President Trump supporters, that truly believe exactly what they are told to believe without the ability to think for themselves. Most don’t even know it. That’s how we got Pres Trump.
LorenzoJones
Graham Cracker should crawl back under the rock from which he escaped.
TomG
As far as I know Jesus NEVER said one damn thing about being gay in ANY context. He preached about love, including “Love thy neighbor as thyself”, and Let thee who is without sin cast the first stone.” So it seems to me that this preacher is the one who will be damned.
AgainNagain
I think Graham has just done Mayor Pete a big favor. It will backfire. Granted, the ultra right zealots will still follow him and their dogma but mainline religious groups and the progressive faith people will come out and defend Pete. In the end, it won’t change many people’s mind about homosexuality but it will make his sexuality less of an issue six months from now.
fur_hunter
I hope you are correct. I do agree that many young people are not BUYing the $H!T in the BuyBull or from the mouths of the ‘holier than thou’s in pulpits. There is too much information available now, more so than at any other time. Many have asked questions and have found the LIES of religions. It took me several years to wade through all the lies and discover that virtually ALL religions are set up to control people and their money. None of the stories in the BuyBull are supported by ANY unbiased and legitimate historical writings. NONE! And this CR@P that the universe and earth were created in 6 days. What a crock of $H!T. I even wrote a Commentary that is out to the public on two writing websites called: ‘And What Of Religion’. It is NOT kind. There will always be IMBECILEs who can’t think for themselves and believe anything they are told but I believe those numbers are getting smaller and smaller.
patricklee5150
I agree 100%.
DCguy
So Jesus never said a word about homosexuality but EXPLICITLY spoke out against divorce and adultery, but evangelicals ignore Christ’s words and do a deep dive in the Bible to find anything to excuse their bigotry.
They aren’t Christians practicing their faith, they’re bigots using a religious text to defend their bigotry. If the religion meant anything to them, they would care more about Christ’s words.
Kieran
Good point. I can’t remember the last time I heard one of these televangelist hypocrites denounce divorce or fornication publicly. Gays are the target. Gays are the sinners. How very convenient and comforting for the heterosexuals in the pews.
Chrisk
They’ll always need a Target. Someone to demonize. I’m sure Jew Jewish people are breathing a sigh of relief for now.
fur_hunter
Jesus was over 30, not married, lived and slept with 12 men, kissed Judas and said He loved Big Peter. By any fundamentalist’s definition, Jesus was GAY. The guy who wrote Leviticus and Paul, who wrote Romans, were latent and closeted homosexuals who hated themselves. That’s why they wrote the $H!T they did. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” And isn’t it interesting how these evangelicals can pick and choose verses to suit their agenda and ignore the verses that apply to themselves? And the Ten Commandments said NOTHING about homosexuality but it sure did about divorce and coveting. Yes. They use a book written over 1500 years ago by MEN as a reference. How many of them would go to a doctor who uses a medical book, written 1500 years ago, to treat his patients? Yeah. think about it. They are F*cking HYPOCRITES.
Toofie
Exactly. Jesus never talked homosexuality but was against divorce. Funny how that gets overlooked…
Atomicrob
Graham panders to a shrinking base of homophobic fanatics for cash. He is nothing more than the CEO of a political interest group, struggling to maintain whatever power remains. 60% of Americans believe gay and lesbian relationships are legitimate and valid. The numbers dont work for him and his dwindling cash cow.
fur_hunter
He continues to prove the fact that: RELIGION = Control of People and their MONEY.
surfpenis
Who is Franklin Graham? Who is she? Who was she? Who does she hope to be?
tommyboy5023
He is Billy Grahams son. Billy was a close friend to Nixon. So, cozying up to felons doesnt bother them. The more outspoken homophobic the critic, the more you wonder if they are battling their own inner gay battle.
dmi210
Ah! I do remember Boys in the band quite well.
fur_hunter
Don’t you just love these people who use a book written over 1500 years ago by MEN…NOT God….as a reference to propagate HATE and discrimination against others they don’t like or disagree with? Yeah. They use and believe that 1500-year-old book but REFUSE to accept the modern unbiased and legitimate FACTS about homosexuality. I want to know how many would go to a doctor who uses a 1500-year-old medical book to treat his patients. HYPOCRITES!!!! ALL OF THEM. And don’t you just love how they pick and choose verses from that book to condemn and propagate HATE….YET…..they totally IGNORE the verses that apply to themselves. TOTAL F*CKTARD HYPOCRITES!!!!
AgainNagain
Keep in mind that Mayor Pete is a true Episcopalian and last time I check, Episcopalians are Christians who read the Bible on their Sunday mass. My point is, not every Christian is the same and just because someone reads the Bible doesn’t make him a good or bad person. It’s not what they say, but what they do, that matters to the Creator.
fur_hunter
To AgainNagain: If you read my postings, I speak of the fundamentalists who use that book as a weapon, picking and choosing verses to suit their agenda. Yes. There are some wonderful things in that book. But too many people do not take it as a whole. They pick and choose from it. There is a verse: It will be easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven. Yeah. I love hor Graham and many others like Tony Perkins, Robert Jeffress, Jerry Falwell, Jr., Pat Robertson and others seem to just ignore that verse. Yeah. NONE of the stories in that book are supported by ANY legitimate and unbiased historical writings. NONE. It is total hearsay. God had NOTHING to do with it. Those that say it is the word of God are full of $H!T. Show me one word…ONE WORD….proven to be written by God. There are NONE. And who told you it is the word of God? Your minister, someone in the church? MEN LIE!!!! Sorry, Cute Man, but do the research like so many others have done and you will see I am correct. I, too, once believed…..until I started doing research and asking questions and got NO answers….only LIES.
dinard38
@fur_hunter I don’t understand how ANYONE can believe that the bible is the ACTUAL words that came out of God’s mouth. I mean…..really??!!! We have the words that God said verbatim, written down? It’s funny, because when you make that argument to christians, they know you’re right. So they’ll counter with the “it may not be the word of God word for word, and man may have written it, but they were inspired by God.” What the hell does inspired by God mean? That God guided the hands of men as they were writing the word? Just plain old semantics.
fur_hunter
To dinard38……It is called making excuses….LAME @$$ EXCUSES. There is NO PROOF ANYWHERE that God had ANYTHING to do with the writing or dictating of that book. NONE!!! They are trying to justify their own insecurity, knowing that the book is total BULL $H!T. There are so many mistakes in it that if God had anything to do with it, God is a MORON. That’s why I call it the BuyBull. Because it is full of BULL and so many ignorant people who can’t think for themselves BUY into it. The book was organized by the Catholic Church. And why are there no writings by women? You would think that the writings of Mary Magdalene would have been included since she was supposedly so close to Christ. But NOOOOOOOOO. And why? Because it was a MAN’S WORLD. Women were second class people. They were NOT about to include ANY writings done by a woman. And who chose all the writings to go in the original book?….MEN. So, the first organized BuyBull ended up being the Latin Vulgate which was the ONLY BuyBull for centuries. Then King James came along and didn’t like some of the books in the Latin Vulgate. Sooooo…..He wrote his own version…..now called the King James Version. Then more Protestants didn’t like that version so they did the Revised Standard Edition. And so on and so on. Get it? Now…..Which one is really the TRUE WORD OF GOD?????? If they all are supposed to be, they should all be the same. WRONG!!!!!! They are ALL different. Are you getting my point? It is all total BULL $H!T. Hearsay stories collected by men and written by MEN. God had NOTHING to do with it. Got it?
fur_hunter
Graham just doesn’t realize that the guy who wrote Leviticus and Paul, who wrote Romans, were closeted and latent homosexuals who hated themselves. That’s why they wrote the $H!T they did. They are perfect examples of the Shakespearean line from ‘Hamlet’…….”The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Chrisk
Latent homosexuals. Ha Funny how some things just never change.
dwes09
Don’t know anything about Romans at all, but except for the ultra orthodox, Jews do not consider the Torah to have been written by “one guy”. It was compiled from preexisting oral tradition: just as many ancient epics and poems were.
And overwhelmingly Jews do not see homosexuality to have been the sin that caused destruction in the story of Sodom.
Christians (especially evangelicals) do not really understand Jewish scripture.
Talltom@45
I have a friend who’s an erotic masseur in Charlotte, swears this closet case is one of his best clients.
Bytemenow
He looks like he role plays where he’s a naughty altar boy being dominated by his Baptist minister.
GregoryH
I wonder why Graham hasn’t advised his good buddy tRump that he needs to be stoned to death for being an adulterer? Ironically, the “Sin of Sodom” was inhospitality, NOT homosexuality. The men that wanted to “know” the messengers (angels) weren’t looking for hot man on man sex, they wanted to rape to humiliate and dominate. Someone needs to tell Graham that HE is a “Sodomite.” Of course the bottom line is that the country is NOT (yet) a fascist Christian theocracy.
fur_hunter
If you mention to ANY of these ‘holier than thou’ fundamentalists that you know of a guy who is 31 and not married, lives with another man, sleeping with him, you saw him kiss another man in public and you heard him say he loved another man, that ignorant fundamentalist would wave that BOOK in the air, condemning him to HELL and calling him a homosexual, an abomination. Next time that happens, calmly say. “Well….Jesus was over 30, not married, lived and slept with 12 men, kissed Judas and proclaimed his love for Big Peter. Then I guess you would call Jesus a homosexual, an abomination and He is going to HELL. Right?” Try that sometime and see their reaction. Total IMBECILES!
jsteinbee
Amen to that Fur
fur_hunter
To jsteinbee………Thank you. I’ll bet you would love to read my Commentary that is out to the public on two writing websites. It is called: ‘And What Of Religion’. I think you would get a chuckle out of it. If you are ever interested in reading any of my 11 novels, 13 short stories and the 1 commentary that are out to the public, drop me an email sometime. I can send them directly to you. furhunter1 at ya hoo dot com……..Thornton
james7
Franklin Graham is hilarious. His nonsense should be printed verbatim in THE ONION, so that everyone, everywhere can roll around on the floor laughing at “insights.”
justgeo
So Daddy had a dick big enough for all those folks to suck on. Who cares about this pee pee?
AxelDC
Matthew 7: [1] Judge not, that ye be not judged. [2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. [3] And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Beachman
This is the trap Mayor Pete has been setting for guys like Graham, and he walked right into it. Buttigieg is pursuing Evangelicals in the midwest and south as a way to win back Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, and Colorado. It wont’ take many voters, but they are the key to a democratic win in 2020. And Buttigieg knows that he won’t be able to flip all of them, but just 10% more voters in 2020 than 2016 would be enough for the democrats to win in each of those states. Buttigieg knows many Christians are embarrassed and tired of Trump, and are smart enough to see through the hypocrisy of morons like Graham.
I see this as a positive sign that Graham has taken the bait, and other Evangelical ‘leaders’ will follow, as they ignorantly believe they control the Christian voters…..and they don’t.
Remember, Bill Clinton won about 25% of Evangelicals, and Obama won 26%, and 21% in 2008 and 2012. If you look at Clinton’s numbers in 2016 you see that she was only able to win about 19% of them. If Clinton had won just 2% of them in Michigan, OH, PA, FL, etc. the electoral results would have been drastically different, and Clinton would have won in a landslide.
fur_hunter
Pete is NOT a stupid man. He isn’t a Rhodes Scholar for being an imbecile. I believe you are totally correct.
dwes09
Sadly, many evangelicals acknowledge that Trump is neither one of them nor particularly moral. But they see him as “chosen by God”, and cite examples of “God using flawed men” to further his agenda.
This is a dangerous belief, and Trump uses it, keeping their support with his judicial appointments, other promises and his usual dog whistles. And he has done things like the moving the embassy to Jerusalem which the evangelicals see as hastening the “end times”.
It will be very hard to flip Trump’s ultra-Christian base.
AgainNagain
dwes, you are right. The ultra conservative Christians see Trump as an imperfect but reliable ally. They don’t like him and many Trump voters can’t stand Trump but they share similar agendas such anti-abortion, anti-immigration, and pro-Israel. I think it’s human nature to seek allies that we don’t like but can manage to tolerate. Unfortunately, anti-abortion is the top priority for the ultra conservatives.
JessPH
We should not be angry. We should be thankful that this lowlife is giving Christian fundamentalism a bad name.
Dwik27
Such a comment from one who is eternally stupid.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
This vile abhorrent smcubag Graham
refers to that disgusting noxious closet case Leviticus not stating the full verse where he demands Gays be put to death .
Yet they ALWAYS refer to this obscure passage to “justify” their hatred of Gays..
However they NEVER seem to demand death for ones teenage children who misbehaving, if their wife is not a virgin on her wedding night, or their MOTHER if she wears ” gold or baubels” all of which that nasty book of fairy tales DEMAND DEATH FOR!!!
fur_hunter
If you really think about it, it is like I said above. The guy who wrote Leviticus and Paul, who wrote Romans, were latent closeted homosexuals who hated themselves. That’s why they wrote the $H!T they did. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Scott Amundsen
I’ve been a Christian for fifty years. Graham and his ilk are delusional and crazy and their followers may call themselves Christians but there is nothing of the faith to be seen in any of them.
mikeatl
Interesting to headline with the word “Lunatic”
Apparently his Bible is missing the book of Matthew, especially chapter 7. “Judge not…”
The same CRAZY judgment he applies to others WILL come back on him.
sjhess222
This man does not own religion. He does not on my religion. I am free to practice my religion either straight or gay. As to why people listen to this type of individual I have no idea. But my the Bible does not condemn me in fact my cBible embrace me
Tombear
I will ensure your place in Heaven if you send me 100K by next Wednesday. Address: Profitable Ministries, PO Box 666 , Tonopah, NV. Send your God money today before it’s too late.
fur_hunter
Tom…….You have hit the nail right on the head. Yep. RELIGION = Control of People and their MONEY.
Mimi77023
At this point in Modern Society, we need rules! Morals, & Principals, & Ethics, & Values! of the Earth, & the gift of Life and profound obligation to Laws of the land! and The Constitution of the United States of AMERICA protects us who live in the United States of America! Religion protects citizens! and deters & controls crimes of all kinds! Coran, & Holy Bible, & Tora and all Religion is protected under The Constitution! Pastor Graham is not or ever has been or ever will be mainstream! he advocates religion! rules and decency regulations for oneself and each other! This 2019, not cave dwellers!
Dovebyrd
One does not need religion to know the difference between right and wrong !Are you really that brainless ?
Dovebyrd
With all the horrible things going on this world,this insane,wicked and rotting from the inside out lunatic has nothing better to do than condemn a young,bright and hopeful presidential candidate like Pete Buttigieg for being gay ? He reminds me of a modern-day Anita Bryant. The difference being,way back in 1977,people were ignorant and homosexuals were largely invisible and had no voice.Today, in 2019,a lot has changed !People are far better educated and accepting. With same-sex marriage now legal in all (50) states…..how are gay relationships still seen as illicit,immoral or taboo by anyone with half a brain today ? Tell this dreg to put his energies to use for something positive; not hate,victimization and brainless religious fanaticism !
WindsorOntario
Calling Graham a minister is like calling Jeffrey Dahmer a chef.
mondongo
Refreshing to see that most comments are indicative that religion is on the way out. The scariest part of all is we have (potential) leaders who still believe in the guaranteed 100% fallacy of religion! This applies also to queer candidates who need to rely on such a drug. It looks like Pete is playing it up that one can be queer and religious but the scary part is that if you have ingrained fantasy beliefs based on 0 validation (other than what one feels/believes) of gods, zombies, virgin births, etc, etc, I do not want you to have any responsibility for my life and my needs. Queer/Straight is irrelevant! Believing in fantasy and living your life based on such fantasy is total nonsense. You cannot accept the truth of science and still believe in sky fairies, so go find another job until you smarten up and then come back to be a politician!
jcoberkrom
Everyone seems to forget that Graham has a direct line to god!!!
Chaucer
If I believed in “eternal damnation,” it would be preferable to being around a hypocritical criminal like Franklin Graham. He and his father have been sucking money from poor people for decades–people who want to believe in something greater than themselves. If there is a “hell,” then Billy already is toast and Frankly hopefully is just a few steps away…is there another generation of these crooks?
Billysees
Question — What’s easier, to repent of your sins or just cover them up?
Answer — ABOVE ALL, LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY, because love covers over a multitude of sins…….1 Peter 4:8
mondongo
Good answer but does it take a god to say that? Do you assume that nobody would realize that unless it was quoted by someone/thing that is not human?