The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, wrote on his Facebook page on July 17, 2015, that the United States should block Muslims from immigrating to country.
Source/Credit: Christian Post
By Nicola Menzie | July 21, 2015
Samaritan's Purse President & CEO Wants US to Repeat World War II Treatment of Japanese and Germans
Some evangelical Christians have condemned recent remarks made by Franklin Graham, president and CEO of relief organization Samaritan's Purse and of his father's Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, expressing concern that the minister is distorting the message of Christianity and promoting fear of those who follow Islam by saying the U.S. is "under attack by Muslims" and "all Muslims" should be banned from immigrating to the U.S.
"Yesterday Franklin Graham said really awful things about Muslims. If he knew the Muslim men and women I know, he would NEVER say such things," Lynne Hybels, of Willow Creek Community Church and a social justice activist, wrote July 18 on Twitter.
Carl Medearis, an author and "international expert in Arab-American and Muslim-Christian relations," tweeted an open letter to Graham, calling the 63-year-old minister's remarks "harsh" and "unhelpful."
"This is Christian witness?" Helen Lee, associate editor at InterVarsity Press, asked in relation to Graham's remarks.
Greg Jao, vice president and director of Campus Engagement for InterVarsity/USA," wrote: "As an evangelical and American, I strongly reject @Franklin_Graham's proposal. Horrified over 134K people can like it."
Brian Zahnd, an author and pastor of Word Life Church, said Graham's remarks reflected "xenophobia."
Tim Sweetman, a writer and blogger, called the Southern Baptist-ordained minister's remarks "despicable" and said they were counter to "Christian love" and "American freedom."
The remarks in question were made by Graham on July 17 on his Facebook page, where he frequently posts personal commentary on current events and hot-button issues, such as the recent undercover video of a Planned Parenthood executive discussing the harvesting of baby body parts and President Barack Obama's response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage.
"Four innocent Marines (United States Marine Corps) killed and three others wounded in #Chattanooga yesterday including a policeman and another Marine — all by a radical Muslim whose family was allowed to immigrate to this country from Kuwait," Graham wrote in his edited Facebook post.
The ordained minister and frequent Fox News guest was referring to Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, a Kuwaiti-born Tennessee resident who fatally shot four Marines in July 16 attacks on two military facilities in Chattanooga. A Navy sailor wounded by Abdulazeez eventually died from his injuries.
The FBI has not described the 24-year-old Muslim's violent act as terrorism and nor have investigators declared a motive for the attacks, which were denounced by the gunman's family and by members of the Muslim community in Chattanooga.
Abdulazeez, killed in a shootout with police, reportedly sent an Islamic verse about "declared war" hours before carrying out the attack. The gunman, who reportedly abused drugs and alcohol and suffered for years with depression, wrote in his diary about having suicidal thoughts and "becoming a martyr," ABC News reported.
"We are under attack by Muslims at home and abroad," Graham argued in his Facebook post about the shootings. "We should stop all immigration of Muslims to the U.S. until this threat with Islam has been settled. Every Muslim that comes into this country has the potential to be radicalized — and they do their killing to honor their religion and Muhammad."
Graham went on to tell his two million Facebook followers that the United States should consider how it treated Japanese and German immigrants during World War II as an example of how to handle emigrating Muslims today.
"During World War 2, we didn't allow Japanese to immigrate to America, nor did we allow Germans. Why are we allowing Muslims now? Do you agree? Let your Congressman know that we've got to put a stop to this and close the flood gates. Pray for the men and women who serve this nation in uniform, that God would protect them."
The Christian Post was not able to ask Graham what he would suggest government officials do with Muslims already residing in the U.S. However, in 1941, after Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order allowing for the mass incarceration of 120,000 citizens and legal permanent residents of Japanese ancestry due to fears of domestic spying. The U.S. government repented in 1988 of its illegal detention of Japanese Americans, reportedly half of whom were children.
A great many of those reading Graham's Facebook post calling for a prohibition of Muslim immigrating to the United States presumably agreed with the Christian minister's suggestions, as the social network indicated that more than 166,000 people have "liked" his post as of press time.
A YouGuv/Huffington Post survey of 1,000 U.S. adults interviewed March 6-9 about Islam revealed that 55 percent of Americans hold a "somewhat" or "very" unfavorable view of the religion. Fifty percent of respondents said they did not understand Islam "too well" or "well at all." Seventy-four percent said they do not work with anyone who is Muslim, while 68 percent said they did not have any Muslim friends and 87 percent said they have never been inside of a mosque.
Less than 1 percent (2.75 million) of the U.S. population identifies as Muslim, with 63 percent of them born outside of the United States, according to the Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan fact tank Pew Research Center. Pew also reports that "between 1992 and 2012, a total of about 1.7 million Muslims entered the U.S. as legal permanent residents," originating from 77 countries.
The New York Times reported in June that the segment of the U.S. population most responsible for cases of deadly domestic terrorism were not Muslims. The Times reported that "white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists" have predominantly committed such crimes, according to figures collected by the George Soros-funded think tank New America.
In comparison to the 26 people killed in "deadly jihadist attacks" since the 9/11 terrorism attacks, 48 people were killed as a result of "deadly right wing attacks," the research center reported.
The most recent entry under New America's "deadly right wing attacks" is the case of Dylann Storm Roof, the 19-year-old white supremacist gunman charged with killing nine black men and women during Bible study inside their church on June 17 in Charleston, South Carolina.
The day after the shooting, and before Roof was apprehended by authorities, Graham expressed sympathy for the families of those killed in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church attack. Although he has yet to make any specific comments regarding Roof on his Facebook page, Graham shared with his followers that he believed it was time for the Confederate flag "to be set aside as a part of our history." Roof's fondness for the flag pushed the Civil War icon to the center of public debate, highlighting a continued divide over its public display and historical meaning to Americans.
In that same post calling for the Confederate flag "to be set aside," Graham added: "We are all Americans, and we need unity today more than ever. Through faith in Christ we can have love and reconciliation with one another — regardless of race. Jesus Christ can change the human heart and take away the prejudice, racism, and hatred that lies within."
Harris Zafar is the national spokesperson for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, one of the nation's oldest and largest American-Muslim organizations. Zafar, aslo author of Demystifying Islam: Tackling the Tough Questions, previously criticized Graham for his "anti-Islam" remarks concerning Duke University's decision to allow the Muslim call to prayer to play from speakers on its chapel bellow tower.
On Monday, Zafar said Graham's latest "tirade" was "an exposé of demented imagination in place of intelligent rational thinking" and that he "would have expected more knowledge about the religion of Islam from a religious leader."
The "Rev. Graham's comments are the latest in a regretfully long string of remarks exhibiting not only his intolerance of Muslims and Islam but also his inherent ignorance of the Islamic faith," Zafar said in an email to The Christian Post.
"I have always had respect for the humanitarian work (the) Rev. Graham has been engaged in through Samaritan's Purse, but his engagement in social, political and religious discourse has exhibited an extreme and intolerance [sic] mindset and ideology. His approach to dialogue is an insult to the inspiring and Divinely guided teachings of Jesus. He may think he is deriding Islam through his dialogue, but he only derides the teachings of Jesus. Franklin Graham is to Christianity and Christians as ISIS and Taliban are to True Islam and Muslims," he argued.
The Demystifying Islam author, who has asked Graham to debate him publicly about the religion, said he also found the mostly positive responses to Graham's Facebook remarks "quite surprising."
If Christians are suspicious or fearful of Muslims, the best way to address their concerns would be "to simply meet and get to know some Muslims," said Zafar.
"Have lunch with them, go to each other's homes or houses or worship. Ask questions in order to understand what they truly believe in. True Islam condemns all violence, does not promote violent jihad, champions freedom of speech and freedom of religion and champions the empowerment of women. If you want to judge Islam, first find out what true Islam is," he added. Zafar also noted that his organization, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, "has enjoyed very strong interfaith relationships with all varieties of Christian congregations."
The Christian Post attempted to contact Graham about his Facebook post and the resulting responses, but was told Monday by DeMoss, the public relations firm representing Graham and his organizations, that he was traveling and unavailable to comment.
In addition to his outreach and relief work through Samaritan's Purse, Graham follows in the footsteps of his influential and widely respected father, the Rev. Billy Graham, by preaching as an evangelist around the world through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
The evangelistic ministry recently published a feature with David Nasser, a former Muslim and the senior vice president for spiritual development at Liberty University. Nasser, whose family moved from Iran to the United States when he was a child, suggested that Christians should be motivated by love and not fear in sharing the Gospel with their Muslim neighbors and friends.
"Muslims are not the enemy; they are the prize. We are part of the only kingdom where the King of our kingdom died for His enemies. It is us for them, not us against them," Nasser said. "We want to see them come to Christ. And we need to maintain a passion for the very people we rise up against, but at the same time rise up for."
Correction: July 22, 2015:
An article on Tuesday, July 22, 2015, reported that Tim Sweetman is the general manager of training and leadership development at two Chick-fil-A franchise restaurant locations in Annapolis, Maryland. Sweetman, also a writer and blogger, informed The Christian Post that he did not make his statement regarding Graham as a representative of Chick-Fil-A.
Follow Nicola Menzie CP reporter on Twitter.
Read original post here: USA: Evangelicals Condemn Franklin Graham's Call to Ban Muslim Immigration
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