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 Billy Graham says that he "never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage."
May 3rd, 2012
11:49 AM ET
Billy Graham backs North Carolina amendment to ban gay marriageBy Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN)– The Rev. Billy Graham, the world's best-known evangelist, has endorsed a ballot initiative to constitutionally ban gay marriage in his home state of North Carolina, a rare move for a preacher who has typically avoided political fights. North Carolinians will vote on the state's Marriage Amendment Act before North Carolina voters next Tuesday. Voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to say that "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State." CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories North Carolina already bans same-sex marriages. The amendment would effectively ban civil unions and domestic partnerships, too. Graham is taking out full-page ads in 14 North Carolina newspapers touting his support for the measure. His website he encourages churches to download a poster that bears his image and the message "Vote for Marriage May 8th." “Watching the moral decline of our country causes me great concern," the 93-year-old pastor, who has prayed with every president since Dwight Eisenhower, said in a statement on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website. "I believe the home and marriage is the foundation of our society and must be protected.” The statement continued to say that Graham "never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage." Graham's newspaper ad will say: "The Bible is clear—God’s definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. I want to urge my fellow North Carolinians to vote for the marriage amendment on Tuesday, May 8. God bless you as you vote.” The bill proposing the amendment says only a simple majority of votes is needed for the amendment to pass. Supporters of the amendment hailed Graham's endorsement. "Reverend Graham understands that we as North Carolinians have a duty to preserve God’s first institution–marriage," said Tami Fitzgerald, Chairwoman of Vote FOR Marriage NC, a group supporting the measure, in a statement. "We cannot be silent as activists work to radically redefine marriage—an institution that has been fundamental to our civilization for thousands of years.” Opponents of the amendment lamented the move. “While we were disappointed to see his endorsement it doesn’t change much,” said Paul Guequierre a spokesman for the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families. The coalition, which includes pastors from across the theological spectrum, opposes the amendment. “We have respect for (Graham) but we will continue to work with our clergy on this.” “People across the country support LGBT equality,” Guequierre said, adding his group was cautiously optimistic about the vote on Tuesday. While Graham may be an internationally known figure, his influence in North Carolina may be even larger. Charlotte is home to the Billy Graham Parkway. When the Billy Graham Library opened in Charlotte in 2007, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter came for the opening ceremony. Graham's son Franklin Graham and daughter Anne Graham Lotz have both voiced support for the amendment and both have taken political stands in the past, in contrast to their father. soundoff (2,998 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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A fanatic never lets the facts get in the way of their opinion... even if the facts are quotations from the text they claim to rely on.
shame on those who preach such hate and ignorance for traditional moral values whihc built this country...we continue to go down the road of secular humanism to our great peril...wake people we must be in the end of days
You are upset that we outlawed slavery and gave women the right to vote?
Nah, this fool just wants to be able to stone his kids to death if they disobey him. that's all he really wants.
Yep, that path brought us, well, this country in the first place, then it went and ended slavery. As if that wasn't enough, it allowed them pesky women to vote. Damn, we need to stop it NOW!
Dr. Graham is in denial that gay families exist, and will continue to exist, regardless of an up or down vote, or a newspaper campaign. This is not about defining marriage. This is about protecting those families and their rights. It is not for Dr. Graham to judge...it is for God. If you believe the words of Jesus, our job is to love one another. Denying rights and benefits to these families is not an act of love. It is, unfortunately, a political act, and sad, after Dr. Graham's lifetime of managing to stay mostly above politics. I worry that he may be subject to the undue influence of his highly political son. I hope he will not be remembered for this unfortunate misstep.
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14
Do you ever do any shopping or work for a business on Sunday?
Well Corinthians 2:14 got it half right. Not because of being spiritually discerned though, but because it is foolishness.
@Surthurfurd
No, but some Christians work on Sunday and Jesus did not condemn them. If you knew God you would have the Spirit of God and you would not ask such questions because you would understand how the whole Word of God fits together and the verses that seem to contradict each other really don't. But that is why I posted the verse from 1 Corintians. You are not smarter than God regardless of what you think.
understand how the whole Word of God fits together
----
The bible is the written word of man. If you think it's the "word of God", it's only because that's what you've been told. Cannot possibly be true, God didn't write it, edit it, and select the individual works that comprise it, as man did.
fred,
There are numerous references to unicorns in the Bible like:
– Psalm 22:21 “Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.”
– Psalm 29:6 “He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.”
– Psalm 92:10 “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.”
Rhinoceros unicornis fits the description, but the Hebrew word is rĕ'em.
Why do your struggle with silly things when the rest of the Bible is pretty clear, it is not the 10 suggestions....
Even among evangelicals, 44% of the 18-29 group supports marriage equality. What we are seeing is the dying wheezes of a belief whose time is coming to an end. Billy Graham can have his moment of cheap cruelty. Soon he and his bigotry will be an embarrassment, and after that, forgotten.
Billy Graham is out dated, old, hard headed and cannot learn. Like the GOP.
He's their idea of a pin up poster.
What a shame. I thought this guy croaked years ago. What Hitchens said of Falwell seems most appropriate where it concerns Graham. "Its a pity there isn't a hell for him to go to." Plan B however might involve organizing bus tours when the moment does arrive, so that people can go and dance on his grave.
Surthurfurd, whats your point? Marriage was around long before the bible was.
Yes, though we seem to assume here in the US that marriage was always exactly what it is today. Actually what we consider to be the "normal" mechanism for marriage would have been considered to be an extreme sin not too long ago.
Billy Graham, please die. The world will be a much better place.
HEY PHIL...why don't you die? Jerk
And Billy Graham is considered hateful?? You people are SICK! How can you accuse people of spewing hate by stating they want marriage legally defined as being between a man and a woman, yet speak such horrific things such as wishing someone dead!
Oh Billy Boy–I remember the Nixon tapes and how you hated the Jews back then...Whats the old song say- "hate your neighbor but dont forget to say grace".
How dare you bring up facts!
There are already countries like the one our own religious zelots want, they're called theocracies and they have names like Iran, Saudia Arabia... Doesn't sound like freedom to me. I suppose the next logical step will be to put the rest of Leviticus into state law. So... better get the stoning pits ready.
So should he campaign to ban divorce too "to protect marriage"?
The Bible directly prohibits divorce except after severe violations.
And Marriage was around before the bible was. So whats your point?
Don't ban divorce until my divorce finalizes!!!!!!!
You're scaring the crap out of me!
Phil – Marriage before the Bible was polygamy and concubines. What's your point?
Provide sources if you are going to put out a whopper like that one, Patti. Polygamy is fairly rare in all the cultures before christianity, and concubines are the province of kings and rich people (polygamy was also – too expensive for most people).
Patti ran away. Normal Christian hit and run thing. Wild assertion, no support, flee.
Graham. Do you believe that God created all people including Gay people? If so then how can you deny those people the love that all of gods people are supposed to enjoy? I don't think you know what love really is.
Do you believe God created the people who became pedophiles? Would he want them to be "happy" by fulfilling their perversions?
God created all people with freedom of choice. Choose to live by God's standards and you'll be OK. Choose to disobey and you will be in a world of hurt. How do people become gay? Choice? Born that way? Environmental factors? Doesn't matter. Recognize that you are sinning, admit it to God, He will forgive and heal. No kidding! Try it!
The reason you guys hate Christianity aka religious people so much is because deep down inside you know it's true and want to deny it so much it makes you angry and you know your wrong but it still bothers you deep down inside. Yes there are fakes out there trying to control people but that's not just in Christianity why don't you pray to God to change your heart and read the bible on your own.
I do not hate Christians. I love lots of Christians. I find repulsive any group that seeks to impose their way of life on others and denies a consistent application of morality.
Why not pray to God to eliminate all the Christian HYPOCRITES who pick on gays for an "abomination" (like eating lobster), while IGNORING the MUCH GREATER problem of sin by Christian ADULTERERS?
Or, maybe the reason we hate Christians so much is that they are trying to take away our rights. You can believe in whatever deity you want, but equal means equal.
Stevo,
Why don't you pray to God to change your heart? It is you and Graham that are not showing love to one of your Gods creations.
I don't consider you Christians. There are so few of us in the world.
Funny how everyone's personal delusion is "the one true religion"......why there must be millions and millions of 'em by now.
Leo,
Why not grow up? I didn't do any name-calling but you resorted to juvenile name-calling when I JUST ASKED you two questions about the Bible and your beliefs.
Why aren't you willing to testify as to your religious beliefs?
Don't delude yourself any further, you know what you are doing, you know what your master wants you to do, keep it up he is proud of you!!
I did by the way look back at my post that you didn't reply to properly. And yes I do feed the poor, and I give to solid Christian Ministries in the Philippines, and Africa. I have also hand delivered food to the poor.
It makes me no better than anyone, but I try.
Leo,
Speaking of delusions, you're the person who insists everyone should follow the Bible, but are unwilling to answer questions about it. You quote from it, but are AFRAID to respond to other quotes from the Bible. You won't even claim you believe every word of it.
You're not doing well to support your book.
Leo,
It's interesting that you consider people in Africa and the Phillipines to be your "enemy". Not surprising.
More religious franatics. When will this Religious bullying stop???? Shame on all of you Billy Graham. Cause your way of God's Love is not the real way of Jesus love!!!!!
YES! YES! YES!
the best thing i have heard in a long time. people had better listen and take heed if they want our country to survive. the path we are taking is a path of no return. if we don't stay with god we are in serious trouble!!
Funny, that sounds like what the Taliban were saying.
@Surtherfurd
Sounds nothing like the Taliban.
And Right Wing Christians just want to defend freedom. Got a problem with that?
True that.
Boy i hope the taliban dont get a foot hold here in america because they hate gays and will kill all of them. They have a zero tolerance with that, you think the christains are bad . not good ....
Does defending freedom suggest that you have the right to limit the freedoms of others?
Right Wing Christians just want us to have as many children as possible to fight their wars for them.
Not true. Christians have no wars. God has not commanded a nation to go to war since Old Testament times. Sometimes nations need to go to war for the right cause.
According to Jason here, The USA must be the greatest heathen nation on the planet for the amount of times they've disobeyed their god by taking to war.