Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on January 22, 2009
Today is the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the ground-breaking Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Throughout his career Billy Graham has taken a stand against abortion, but what is perhaps worth noting is his gentle and loving stance.
While his son Franklin Graham makes headlines for calling abortion murder, Billy Graham has a gentler, more understanding tone. There are four separate My Answer columns in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s spiritual help section addressing abortion, and each one, though firm, still drips with grace.
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Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on January 7, 2009
Billy Graham has had personal interactions with every U.S. president going back to Harry Truman and has counseled many of them. But that historic role, chronicled in the book The Preacher and the Presidents, may be coming to an end. Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told USA Today that Billy Graham would not be mentoring Barack Obama, though the 90-year-old evangelist would like to meet and pray with the president elect.
“My father feels like his time and day for that is over,” Franklin Graham said. “But he would certainly like to meet [Obama] and pray with him.”
Obama tried to meet with Billy Graham during the campaign but wasn’t able to due Billy’s poor health.
While Billy Graham is a registered Democrat (a fact that still seems to raise eyebrows in some circles), Franklin Graham made it clear that he and his father disagree with Obama on abortion and gay marriage.
“President-elect Obama heard our position,” said Franklin Graham. “And I told him that this was very difficult for us and hard for us. It’s a moral issue that we just can’t back down on.”
