\n\tRecent actions by prominent evangelical Christians give evidence of compromise for the sake of political advantage, including what might be called one of
\n\tthe most striking theological sellouts in the history of the Christian church.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe closing days of the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign witnessed a remarkable, almost unbelievable reversal on the part of the world\u2019s most iconic and
\n\tconspicuous evangelical leader, regarding the identification of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints\u2014commonly called the Mormon Church\u2014as a
\n\ttheological cult.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJust in time for the second debate between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, evangelist Billy Graham and his son Franklin met with Romney
\n\tat Billy Graham\u2019s North Carolina home. One political observer chronicles the subsequent story in a few short words:\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOn Thursday, when they met, Mormonism was a cult on Graham\u2019s Web site. On Tuesday, the offending passage was gone. Like Moses on Sinai, Billy Graham on \n\tIn evangelical and fundamentalist Christian circles, this cult identification has often been attached to such groups as Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, Mormons, \n\tFollowing this abrogation of Mormon cult status, Franklin Graham declared that the 2012 election was \u201cAmerica\u2019s last call\u201d for avoiding wrathful judgment \n\tOne cannot speak of one who doubtless has been the world\u2019s most prominent Christian evangelist for the past half-century or more, without a large measure \n\tWhat is more, Billy Graham has for many decades distinguished himself as \u201cAmerica\u2019s pastor\u201d\u2014the confidant and spiritual counselor to individuals from many \n\tBut considering their posture and reputation in evangelical circles, it is truly impossible not to see this seismic shift on the Grahams\u2019 part as one of \n\tThe inescapable conclusion for the honest observer is that this reversal by the Grahams regarding Mormonism\u2019s cult status was an act, borne not of biblical \n\t\u201cThrough an inclusive evangelistic ministry spanning more than 60 years, Mr. Graham was called to preach the transformative message of the gospel to the \n\t\u201cNeither did Mr. Graham attempt to divide his audience before he had opportunity to preach to them. He has a genuine love for all people, and faithfully \n\t\u201cMr. Graham\u2019s calling is not to pass judgment, but to proclaim the biblical truth that Jesus is the only way to heaven, allowing every individual and group \n\tRoss further stressed that \u201csalvation is the work of God . . . and that only He knows what is in each human heart.\u201d7<\/sup>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBut if in fact the Grahams have \u201cnever proselytized [or] targeted specific . . . groups, faiths, or denominations,\u201d why were the Mormons listed for so long \n\tMost important of all, why have the Mormons been removed from their status as a cult on the Graham\u2019s Web site? Have the Mormons changed their theology \n\tEqually ironic is that many of the same evangelicals who insisted they couldn\u2019t vote for President Obama because they doubted he was a \u201creal\u201d Christian \n\tIn the November\/December 2011 issue of this magazine, my article \u201cLeaving Faith Behind\u201d8<\/sup> noted a similar compromise on the part of Minnesota \n\tWith this declaration by the Grahams regarding Mormonism, we confront a far more conspicuous sacrifice of biblical absolutism and theological integrity on \n\tLike the pursuit of material wealth, the quest for temporal power is a dangerous thing. Once large numbers of conservative Christians decided politics was \n\tFollowing the Grahams\u2019 announcement, one headline read \u201cFranklin and Billy Graham Sell Their Souls for a Mess of Republican Pottage.\u201d10<\/sup> It is \n1 Hrafnkell Haraldsson, \u201cBilly Graham\u2019s Debate Day Present to Romney\u2014You\u2019re Not a Cultist,\u201d at\t www.politicususa.com\/billy-graham-present-romney-cultist.html<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t2 Ibid<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t3 Ibid.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\t4 Hrafnkell Haraldsson, \u201cFranklin Graham Says Election Day 2012 Is America\u2019s Last Call,\u201d at \n\t5 Haraldsson, \u201cBilly Graham\u2019s Debate Day Present to Romney\u2014You\u2019re Not a Cultist.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t6 Ibid.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\t7 Ibid.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\t8 Kevin D. Paulson, \u201cLeaving Faith Behind,\u201d Liberty<\/em>, November\/December 2011, pp. 4-7.\n<\/p>\n
\n\this mountaintop in Montreat, N.C., changed the religious landscape with a snap of his fingers.\u201d1<\/sup>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tScientologists, the Unification Church, and others.2<\/sup> The Web site of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, like similar groups within the
\nevangelical orbit, identifies a cult as \u201cany group which teaches doctrines or beliefs that deviate from the biblical message of the Christian faith.\u201d\t3<\/sup> While they have the right to make this designation, it functions as an act of extreme religious prejudice.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tfrom God.4<\/sup> Noting the devastation wrought in the Northeast by Hurricane Sandy, Graham clearly implied that unless the country elected Mitt
\n\tRomney as president, far worse calamities would likely befall our land. Apart from an attempt at political blackmail, such a prediction of future troubles
\n\twould seem to match a truism with political intent.\n<\/p>\nExegesis or Expediency?<\/h2>\n
\n\tof respect. Especially in light of the fact that Billy Graham and his family, unlike so many others in similar lines of labor in recent decades, have kept
\n\ttheir ministry and personal conduct almost entirely scandal-free.\n<\/p>\n
\n\twalks of life, including presidents of both political parties. Now, it would seem, he is not immune to the drift toward crass partisanship.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tthe most jaw-dropping events in recent Christian history. Such a change of position is no less dramatic than if the late Jerry Falwell had decided abortion
\n\tand homosexual marriage are in fact acceptable Christian practices, or if the pope were to decide to endorse artificial birth control.\n<\/p>\n
\n\texegesis, but of political expediency. One is frankly appalled by what one reporter was constrained to call \u201cthe embrace of the moral relativism the church
\n\thas always claimed to oppose\u201d5<\/sup> in the following statement by Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross:\n<\/p>\n
\n\twhole world, regardless of one\u2019s religious background, affiliation or none. As such, he never proselytized, targeted, or labeled specific people, groups,
\n\tfaiths, or denominations.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tproclaimed the love of God to everyone, providing opportunity for them to respond by making a faith commitment.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tto fall along that plumb line.\u201d6<\/sup>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tas a cult on the Grahams\u2019 Web site? And why does their site still in fact list other groups as such? The inconsistency here is nothing short of
\n\tbreathtaking.\n<\/p>\n
\n\trecently? Have they renounced those areas of doctrine to which conservative Christians have hitherto raised objection? Or is this truly an open-and-shut,
\n\tblatant case of theological compromise for the sake of political power?\n<\/p>\n
\n\tchose to vote for one who\u2014according to their own long-held religious tenets\u2014is not a Christian at all. Of course they could have, all along, paid tribute
\n\tto the constitutional requirement that there is \u201cno religious test\u201d for public office, but that has not been the case.\n<\/p>\nLeaving Faith Further Behind<\/h2>\n
\n\tcongresswoman Michele Bachmann, on the eve of her announcement of presidential candidacy in June 2011. After 10 years of membership in the Salem Lutheran
\n\tChurch of Stillwater, Minnesota, the Bachmanns left this church just before Michele entered the presidential race, citing as a reason their former
\n\tdenomination\u2019s belief (stated on its Web site), that the Roman Catholic Church is the antichrist of Bible prophecy. They had every right to leave or change
\n\ttheir minds, but one is obviously led to wonder why it took the Bachmanns 10 years to decide this belief was unacceptable to them. Did they suddenly find
\n\tbiblical or other problems with this particular tenet of Lutheran theology? Or did it have more to do with the large number of Catholics living in such
\n\tstates as Iowa and New Hampshire?\n<\/p>\n
\n\tthe altar of political gain. To the present writer\u2019s knowledge, the Mormon Church and its leaders have made no movement in their teachings toward a more
\n\torthodox Christian stance. The only change that has occurred is that a member of that denomination just happened to acquire his party\u2019s presidential
\n\tnomination, and was thus poised to challenge and perhaps unseat an incumbent administration despised by the Christian Right. Rather than risking division
\n\tin evangelical ranks at the polls, or seeing large numbers of their flock just stay home in despair at the choice confronting them, those who have so often
\n\trebuked the moral and theological compromise in today\u2019s world chose to craft an unbelievable compromise of their own.\n<\/p>\n
\n\ta convenient venue for furthering their goals, the political imperative of winning at all cost began to supersede the sanctity of sound doctrine. The
\n\teffective surrender of Protestant principles as a means of cementing an alliance between evangelicals and Roman Catholics was one major step in this
\n\tprocess.9<\/sup> Now the ecumenical hand is stretched across the gulf to clasp the hand of a religious movement long recognized for its opposition to
\n\tkey principles of classic Christianity. Sober reflection constrains the thoughtful observer to ask, If conservative evangelicals are prepared to ignore
\n\tbiblical conflict with Mormon theology for the sake of present political convenience, how many other biblical teachings might they sacrifice in the future,
\n\tshould expediency so demand?\n<\/p>\n
\n\tdifficult if not impossible to argue with this assessment. Like the Esau story of old, there is surely a consequence of these concessions.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t
\n\t\twww.politicususa.com\/franklin-graham-election-day-2012-americas-call.html
\n\t<\/a>
\n\t.\n<\/p>\n