Praise be to...
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| Even these guys are shocked! |
As I read the headlines this morning about Trump's attacks against the Pope on social media and at press conferences, I found myself pausing in disbelief.
I wondered how the evangelicals and Catholics in the MAGAverse would respond. Who will stand with Trump and who will stand with the Pope?
What are the majority Catholic SCOTUS Justices thinking?
Our Catholic Vice President JD Vance has already chosen Trump over the Pope and his own religion which Vance converted to as an adult. I know where he stands.
Will Franklin Graham, son of the Rev. Billy Graham, deny his father's legacy for the Golden Calf / Orange Pumpkin? This last question would linger.
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Trust this former Christian, now atheist, to have a good take on Christianity and religion in general. A thorough understanding of it is the main reason most atheists leave religion behind. I thought of two verses in the Bible.
In the New Testament there is a verse which says, "But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven."
And Jesus predicted that before the rooster crowed twice, Peter would disown him three times prior to the Crucifixion.
The South is majority Protestant but the legacy of Billy Graham brought an acceptance of Catholicism to areas otherwise wary of "The Papists". At the onset of his career, Billy Graham "was often criticized for universalism because of his magnanimity toward Christians across denominational lines, beyond his personal Baptist allegiances. That magnanimity didn’t just extend to Methodists, Pentecostals or others who some might include under the umbrella of Evangelicalism, but also to liturgical traditions as well — Anglicans, Orthodox, and yes, even Catholics." -Source
As Graham grew in stature, his universal appeal increased along with his open arms policy which brought people of numerous faiths under the Revival Tent, which became sold out arenas filled with tens of thousands, surpassing Trump's crowd size many times over. Eventually Graham's messages could be found on the radio and in prime time TV slots also.
Billy Graham's Crusades became popular and wide spread, reaching rural and urban areas, eventually extending to corners of the globe. His ministry would bring the people in, many to conversion or religious renewal. However, the Graham Crusades were not equipped to handle the follow up, that daily walk with Jesus. Their policy was to return the believer to the local care of churches and this included Catholic parishes.
This inclusion of Catholicism did not settle well with everyone. Here in the South the influence of Bob Jones Sr and Jr reaches into far corners and under white sheets. Known for their extreme piety and their our way or the highway to hell beliefs, the Jones family created a religious empire. Their legacy includes requiring women to wear dresses (even guests on campus), separation of the races by denying students (Bob Jones University) the right to date across racial lines, and a fervent dislike of Catholicism. Jones Sr once described a pope as an "archpriest of Satan, a deceiver and an Antichrist... like Judas."
The Jones influence extended to white flight private Christian schools which helped shape generations of evangelicals in Trump's base. Those BJU graduates who became teachers spread racist ideas such as the separation of the races as interpreted through the Tower of Babel story. Bob Jones University teaching graduates also speak against Catholicism, including attacks against the Pope, in private Christian schools throughout the US and abroad.
Billy Graham's open tent policy became a target of Bob Jones Sr and later his son too. After Graham died, Bob Jones Jr. said Graham was "doing more harm to the cause of Jesus Christ than any living man," according to the archives of The Greenville News and Time magazine.
But the Jones' family attitude towards Graham may have had its roots in Graham's rejection of Jones Sr. and Bob Jones University. Writing of his single semester attending Bob Jones University: "I found myself in an environment so rigidly regimented that it shocked me," Billy Graham recalled in his 1997 autobiography, "Just As I Am."
"Our social life was restricted," he said. "Dating had to be scheduled and was governed by the dean’s code book. When you did date, you could not sit on the same sofa or chair as the girl. You were chaperoned and watched like a hawk. Outside of approved dating times, you could not stop to talk to your girlfriend."
Intellectual life at the college also was subject to strict regulation. "Teaching in every subject was dogmatic, and there was little chance to raise questions," Graham wrote. "Dr. Bob’s interpretation of doctrine, ethics, and academics was the only one allowed. Very few students ever questioned his authority to his face.”
“I disliked the overwhelming discipline, which often seemed to have little rationale behind it," Graham wrote. "And I disliked being told what to think without being given the opportunity to reason issues through on my own or to look at other viewpoints. - SOURCE
Graham's biographers suggest the rift was caused by Graham accepting support from non-fundamentalist churches, for what Graham himself called his "growing ecumenism."
Graham also integrated his rallies in the 1950s, angering segregationists, according to biographers.
Graham's official biographer, John Pollock, said BJU officials viewed Graham as "the arch-compromiser, to be shunned and testified against as a menace to the cause of evangelism. In (evangelist) Billy Kim’s memory, no man spoke from the Bob Jones chapel pulpit unless known to take a strong stand against Graham.”
How interesting that Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son and successor to his ministry, has embraced Trump so eagerly. Trump's overt racism, assault on common decency, and attacks against perceived enemies would have been the things Graham Sr would have spoken against. (And now the Pope's words are in direct contrast with Trump policy and rhetoric.) Trump's dividing lines, placing those who do not embrace and promote his policies, or just those different in gender, skin color, religion or culture, is anathema to Billy Graham's ecumenism.
Will Franklin Graham continue to support Trump as he attacks the Pope and Catholic teachings? How far from his father's legacy to promote common life, mission, and dialogue will Franklin descend? Will Franklin Graham move into the Bob Jones camp? Are people waking up to the fact Franklin Graham already has by supporting Trump's racism and in his silence, a tacit support of Trump's anti Catholic rhetoric. Will Graham show any backbone at all? Or will Franklin Graham continue to bow before just another Golden Idol, the Orange Jackass?
