Franklin Graham: ‘Everything Related to God’ Is Under Attack’
America is not only “blatantly defying God’s laws,” it’s trying to erase them from public view, evangelist preacher Franklin Graham charges in a blistering condemnation of an Oklahoma court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument.
The president of the foundation named after his famed father Billy Graham and leader of the global charity Samaritan’s Purse writes in a Facebook post that “everything related to God and His Word” is lately coming under fire.
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Graham has most recently made use of social media to unsuccessfully urge the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
“When I went to school, the Ten Commandments were posted in the classroom, and the teacher led us in the Lord’s Prayer before we went to lunch,” he writes. “There was respect throughout society for the Word of God. How times have changed! ”
These days, he continues, “everything related to God and His Word is coming under fire in our nation.”
In particular, Graham rails at the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday that ordered the removal of a 6-foot-tall Ten Commandments monument on the capitol grounds.
“Governor Mary Fallin supported the monument and is looking at other legal options to keep it there—I hope she finds some,” Graham writes.
“We’re living in a time when our country is not only blatantly defying God’s laws, but is trying to remove them completely from public view. Just think what a difference it would make if our school children today learned about the Ten Commandments and ?and the God who wrote them.”
The Oklahoma court’s ruling immediately prompted calls by some Republican lawmakers for impeachment of the justices who said the $10,000 monument – paid for privately by a GOP lawmaker – must be removed.
Attorney General Scott Pruitt had argued the monument was nearly identical to a Texas monument ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Oklahoma justices said the local monument violated the state’s constitution.
Pruitt also said his office would ask the court for a rehearing, and also suggested the provision in the Oklahoma Constitution banning the use of public money for religious purposes may need to be repealed.