What Franklin Graham Has Said
The following quotes are provided with links to their original sources so that they may be read or heard in their original contexts. More quotes on these and additional topics will be posted.
About Islam:
After the National Prayer Service following the 9/11 attacks, Graham said, "Let’s use the weapons we have, the weapons of mass destruction if need be and destroy the enemy” (CNN, September 14, 2001). In that interview he also said, "We need to focus on those who are actually responsible for this. And it wasn't a race of people who did this, it was a small group of people who are bent on the destruction of this country, those Islamic fundamentalist that need to be stopped. So I plead with people not to paint in a broad brush, so to speak, the people of the Middle East. They're wonderful people." However, just weeks later he said, ''We're not attacking Islam but Islam has attacked us. ... and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion.'' quoted by NBC Nightly News, Nov 16, 2001
"True Islam cannot be practiced in this country," he told CNN's Campbell Brown last December. "You can't beat your wife. You cannot murder your children if you think they've committed adultery or something like that, which they do practice in these other countries." CNN.com April 23, 2010
"The Muslim Brotherhood is very strong and active in our country. It's infiltrated every level of our government. Right now we have many of these people that are advising the US military and State Department on how to respond in the Middle East, and it's like asking a fox, like a farmer asking a fox, "How do I protect my henhouse from foxes?" We've brought in Muslims to tell us how to make policy toward Muslim countries. And many of these people we've brought in, I'm afraid, are under the Muslim Brotherhood. ... We certainly love the Muslim people, but that is not the faith of this country. And that is not the religion that built this nation. The people of the Christian faith and the Jewish faith are the ones who built America, and it is not Islam." Newsmax.com March 18, 2011
"We are under attack by Muslims at home and abroad. 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. 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." Post on Graham’s Facebook page, July 17, 2015
About the LGBTQ community:
“I was talking to some Christians and they were talking about how they invited these gay children to come into their home and to come into the church and that they were wanting to influence them. And I thought to myself, they’re not going to influence those kids; those kids are going to influence those parent’s children. ... What happens is we think we can fight by smiling and being real nice and loving. We have to understand who the Enemy is and what he wants to do. He wants to devour our homes. He wants to devour this nation and we have to be so careful who we let our kids hang out with. We have to be so careful who we let into the churches." Interview with James Dobson, January 19, 2016
In the same interview, Mr Graham goes on to say, "You cannot stay gay and call yourself a Christian." This implies that all LGBTQ+ persons can change their sexual orientation, which even many Christian psychologists dispute, and that being gay in and of itself is a sin.
About politics:
Regarding Donald Trump's election: "Hundreds of thousands of Christians from across the United States have been praying. This year they came out to every state capitol to pray for this election and for the future of America. Prayer groups were started. Families prayed. Churches prayed. Then Christians went to the polls, and God showed up. While the media scratches their heads and tries to understand how this happened, I believe that God’s hand intervened Tuesday night to stop the godless, atheistic progressive agenda from taking control of our country." Post from Graham’s Facebook page, November 10, 2016:
"All I know is Donald Trump was supposed to lose the election. For these states to go the way they did, in my opinion, I think it was the hand of God. It wasn’t hacking. It wasn’t Wiki-leaky or whatever. It was God, in my opinion, and I believe his hand was at work, and I think he’s given Christians an opportunity." quoted by Brietbart, December 31, 2016
When it started raining during Trump's inauguration: “Mr. President, in the Bible rain is a sign of God’s blessing, and it started to rain, Mr. President, when you came to the platform. And it’s my prayer that God will bless you, your family, your administration, and may he bless America.” Youtube
"The Huffington Post spoke with Graham on Wednesday, and asked whether it’s possible to reconcile Trump’s temporary ban on refugees with the Christian commandment to welcome, clothe and feed the stranger, and to be a Good Samaritan to those in need. Graham said he doesn’t believe those two things need to be reconciled. 'It’s not a biblical command for the country to let everyone in who wants to come, that’s not a Bible issue,' Graham told HuffPost. 'We want to love people, we want to be kind to people, we want to be considerate, but we have a country and a country should have order and there are laws that relate to immigration and I think we should follow those laws. Because of the dangers we see today in this world, we need to be very careful.'” Huffington Post, January 25, 201