Evangelist Franklin Graham, son of famous evangelist Billy Graham, has created sort of a furor recently by being asked to speak at the Pentagon on the upcoming National Prayer Day. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has asked the Pentagon to cancel his appearance because of bigoted statements Graham (pictured) has made about muslims. After the 9/11 attack, he chose to blame all muslims by calling their faith "a very evil and wicked religion."
That kind of all-encompassing statement can to very hurtful to soldiers who are muslim, and there are currently over 3400 muslim soldiers serving in the United States Military. How can their leaders at the Pentagon turn their backs on these brave soldiers by inviting someone like Graham to speak? No religious figure would be invited to speak at the Pentagon that had made such bigoted statements about the christian or jewish religions, and it is just as wrong to invite someone who is bigoted against muslims.
Graham had the opportunity to apologize or at least soften his words yesterday. He appeared on Fox and Friends yesterday, and was asked about his views on islam. Instead of backing off his anti-muslim stance, he just made himself look like a hypocrite in addition to being a bigot. Here is what he said:
"First of all, I want Muslims to know that I love them …. They don’t have to die in a car bomb they don’t have to die in some kind of a holy war to be accepted by God … But when you look at Islam, I love the people of Islam but the religion I do not agree with the religion at all and if you look at what the religion does to women and the women alone it is horrid. And so yes I speak out for women, I speak out for people who live under Islam, who are enslaved under Islam, and I want them to know they can be free by Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone."
Those are amazingly hypocritical words for a fundamentalist preacher! Has he been wearing blinders when preaching in the fundamentalist christian churches? Can he not see that these churches are just as guilty of discriminating against women as the muslims? These fundamentalist churches do not allow women to be ministers, or in fact, have any position of authority within the church. In addition, they teach that women must be subservient to their husbands -- no equal partnerships in evangelical christian marriages.
He is right that the muslims treat their women as second-class citizens. But how can he not see that his own fundamentalist religion does exactly the same thing. The muslims are wrong whenever they do it, and so are the christians when they do it. You simply cannot condemn another religion for doing the same thing your own religion does.
It was bad enough when Graham offended muslims with his bigotry. Now he is also offending women with his misogyny. If the Pentagon cares about its muslim and female soldiers, it must rescind their invitation for Graham to speak.
hahah..if the guys thought they were in trouble with the muslims..wait till they hear about ole graham..haha
ReplyDelete"But how can he not see that his own fundamentalist religion does exactly the same thing...You simply cannot condemn another religion for doing the same thing your own religion does." [Emphasis added]
ReplyDeleteTed, I know just what you mean.
All those Methodist honor killings. All those Presybterian women stoned to death for adultery. The women in the Church of Christ forced to wear the chador. Christian women of every denomination, denied ownership of property, denied drivers licenses.
And if that weren't enough, what about this photo, obviously taken in a Baptist church parking lot.
Yep. Just like you said, "exactly the same thing."
I stand by what I said CT. Fundamentalists in islam and in christianity both treat women like second-class citizens. Just because each does it in a different way, doesn't invalidate that fact. And yes, it is "exactly the same thing."
ReplyDelete"The women in the Church of Christ forced to wear the chador." Where did you come up with this false accusation? Women in the Church of Christ are NOT forced to wear anything of the sort. Get your facts straight dear sir before you open your mouth and let your foot fall out.
ReplyDeleteI believe CT was just being satirical, Anonymous. You need to lighten up a bit.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous-
ReplyDeletePlease go back and read the original post and all the comments.
You'll see that I also referred to "Methodist honor killings," "Presybterian women stoned to death for adultery," and "Christian women of every denomination, denied ownership of property, denied drivers licenses." If you click on the link I gave you'll see that I the photo I atributed to a Baptist parking lot is of a woman in a hajib about to be shot in the head.
Do I believe that Methodists engage in honor killings, Presbyterians stone adulterers, and Christian women in general are denied ownership of property and drivers licenses? Do I believe that Batpists shot women in their parking lots? In a word, no. In fact, I'm a Christian and a member of the Southern Baptist denomination.
So what did I make these outrageous assertions?
Satire
(Pronunciation: \ˈsa-ˌtī(-ə)r\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin satura, satira, perhaps from (lanx) satura dish of mixed ingredients, from feminine of satur well-fed; akin to Latin satis enough — more at sad
Date: 1501
1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly [Emphasis added]
The folly I was trying to expose and discredit was Ted's assertion that "[Franklin Graham's] own fundamentalist religion [i.e. Christianity] does exactly the same thing" as fundamentalist Islam.
Hopefully the next time you're outraged by another "false accusation," you might check the entire context and see what the writer is really trying to say?
P.S. Why didn't you point out the "false accusations" of Methodist honor killings, Presybterian stonings and Baptist shootings? Or do you believe that those demoninations actually engage in that kind of activity?
That's a joke, by the way :)
@ Curious Texan
ReplyDeleteDid you know that honor killings also occur amont Middle Eastern Christian communities too? It's not a religious thing, thoough some cloak it in religion just as there are those in the US who kill an abortion provider and claim that is what god wanted them to do. Honor killing stem from ancient tribal cultural practices, one I agree the world would be better without. As for chadors and burqa, etc. not all women in all Muslim majority countries wear them. Go to Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Egypt etc. etc. and you will see plenty of women walking around hair uncovered, dressed in modern clothing. The middle east is rife with serious political and social issues, even in the abscence of religion, the outcome would still be the same. Think of all of the strife in Northern Ireland between the Catholics and Protestants and the IRA terrorism. Would you sat that is really over religion or is it really about one group of people who want to leave the UK and join the Irish Republic and another group that does not want to join the Irish Republic and wants to stay as a part of the UK? See what I mean? Political problems often become wrapped in religious language, someting many people do try to give their views legitimacy in their own minds. People in the US for example who oppose gay marriage who use religion to justify their position. I don't recall from my reading of the new testament Jesus having an opinion on gay marriage. So it is really that person is just againist it, but use religion to try to give their opinion some kind of legitimacy or authority.
Personally, I don't care for either Christianity or Islam, but religion is not the problem with Muslim peoples. Historical development is. Just look about four centuries ago, and you'll see that the West was committing the same barbarities and fanaticism during the Spanish Inquisition, the Reformation and the Wars of Religion.
ReplyDeleteWhat Muslim countries need is a feminist revolution and an Era of Enlightenment like the West had in the 18th century. It was the 18th century Age of Reason which created the modern world.