In a recent interview, evangelist Franklin Graham used the “s” word. And he used it a lot.
That word is, of course, “sin” — as in, “(T)he Obama administration is celebrating sin and they are pushing sin.”
That’s right. Obama pushes sin just like a dealer pushes dope. And how does Graham know this? Because Obama doesn’t hate the gays. In fact, Obama downright acts like LGBT people are, like, human or something and worthy of living.
Franklin is not to be confused with his father, Billy Graham, the evangelical celebrity who is still alive, by the way (I had to look it up, but I can’t really be blamed since his new book is titled “Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity and Our Life Beyond.” I mean, that title basically screams “written from beyond the grave”).
But it was the younger Graham who was interviewed recently by the Church Boys — a podcast by two guys who, as far as I can tell, are kind of like the shock-jocks of right-wing radio.
When asked what concerns him most about “where we are now,” Graham replies, “Well, our country has changed so much, and we’ve seen the moral decline, and that moral decline is being led by the Obama administration, championing things like same-sex marriage, which is really defiance against God. Same-sex marriage is a sin against God.”
And what evidence does Graham offer for this declaration of “defiance against God”? Penises and vaginas, of course.
“God made us male and female,” he said. “And then to say that marriage is between two men or two women, this is sin.”
Now, I don’t care what Graham or anybody else says about my marriage making God vomit because I don’t believe in God (Santa Claus, on the other hand, I believe in, since I’ve seen him at the mall). But there are a lot of LGBT people of faith who would beg to differ that declaring their love for each other before their friends and family and God is a “sin.”
But don’t worry, gays, Graham’s just trying to help you.
“Now, for a gay person, I don’t want to bash them,” he said, “but I want them to know the truth, that the lifestyle that they are living, God will one day judge that. And they’ll stand before God and God will condemn that and they will spend an eternity separated from him.”
Thanks for the truth bomb, Graham. Will be sure to put that in the Where the Sun Don’t Shine file. It’s pretty shitty to try to use God to scare LGBT people of faith into thinking they can pray the gay away instead of accepting people as they are, like some guy named Jesus supposedly did.
And now for some offensive comparisons!
“Whether it be murdering people, or whether it be stealing, or whether it be committing adultery, cheating on your wife or your husband,” Graham said, “you have to turn from those sins. And so for a gay person, or anyone else, you have to be willing to turn and leave those sins. And can you be forgiven? Yes. And you can have that assurance knowing that your sins are forgiven and that one day, when you do stand before God, he’s going to accept you and welcome you.”
Aww, isn’t that sweet? God’s gonna welcome you just like he would a murderer so long as you ask for forgiveness for the terrible thing you’ve done, whether it be killing people or loving someone with the same genitalia.
D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since 2003. She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe it!). When she’s not taking on the creeps of the world, she reviews rock and roll shows in Detroit with her twin sister and teaches writing at the University of Michigan.