Franklin Graham says ‘Christian nationalism’ is a ‘coin the media came up with’
Evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, said in a recent interview that the term "Christian nationalism" is often used by the media as a tactic to polarize and divide the country.
Graham, 72, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Evangelical humanitarian organization Samaritan's Purse, discussed his views on the political landscape and Evangelical support for former President Donald Trump during a recent interview with the British newspaper Financial Times.
Addressing the media's role, Graham, a conservative Christian, expressed concern over what he sees as a loss of objective journalism in the U.S.
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"We don't have journalism anymore in America," he said. "It's about picking a topic and spinning things for the candidate that you support."
This criticism extends to the term "Christian nationalism," a buzzword that has gained popularity in recent years among progressives and is often broadly used to describe Christian conservatives even if they are not nationalists.
"'Christian nationalism' — that's a coin that the media has come up with. It is to divide our country; it's to polarise people," he said. "And then there's 'white supremacy.' … There are people that are bent on destroying our country."
"They are people that want to see a one-world system, a one-world government — that see the United States as hindering that," Graham added. "And there are people that don't want the American dollar to be the standard of currency in the world ... There are people in America, in Europe and Russia, who want this. ... And having an open border is part of it."
Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, noted in an op-ed earlier this year that Christian nationalism differs from conventional Christian conservatism. Christian nationalists, he said, are often post-liberals that seek a form of Christianity that is officially recognized and supported by the state. Meanwhile, Christian conservatives are classical liberals who support the traditional American principle of complete religious freedom for everyone.
While both groups aspire to a "Christian America," Christian nationalists aim to achieve this through laws, whereas conservatives view it more as a demographic, historical and cultural characteristic of the nation, Tooley stated.
Graham attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this month. There, he prayed for Trump, mentioning the recent assassination attempt on the former president. Despite not officially endorsing Trump, Graham has described Trump as a crucial figure for Evangelical Christians.
Graham lauded Trump for appointing conservative justices who played a role in overturning the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade and ruling abortion is not a constitutional right. The evangelist cited Trump's unprecedented appearance at the March for Life rally in 2018.
Graham expressed concerns about an encroachment on religious freedoms under the Joe Biden administration, which contrasted with what he believed were stronger protections under Trump.
The current political climate is a threat to the Christians in America, he suggested.
"We are losing that a little bit in this country. A little bit of our religious freedoms every year," he said. "I think they're under attack by people that would be secularist, people that don't believe in God ... and people that hate God. They don't believe God should have any say in daily life," he said.
