Franklin Graham Says US Is Controlled by Secularists Who 'Deny Jesus Ever Existed'
Leading evangelist Franklin Graham says that while his father, world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, rarely addressed issues concerning secular society, he's doing so because unlike when his father grew up, the U.S. is controlled by secularists who want to "deny that Jesus ever existed."
Speaking at the two-day Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference in Oklahoma City, Graham called on all Christians to become more active in their local, state and national politics, urging them to take back control of America's now-secular society that mocks and ridicules Christians for their beliefs.
The 62 year old, who's the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the president of Samaritan's Purse humanitarian organization, explained that many criticize him for chastising secularism because his father did not talk about it. However, Graham explained that his father never needed to address the issue because when his father was growing up, America had a very Christian-oriented society.
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"Well, you say, 'Now Franklin, you father wouldn't get onto these subjects,'" Graham said. "Wait a second. My father, when he was going to school, they had a Bible in school. When he was going to school, they had the Ten Commandments on the wall. When he was going to school, you could pray in school, and the teachers would lead in those prayers."
Although the 92-year-old Graham went to school during a time where society was more influenced by religious ideals and encouraged prayer, Christians today are often mocked or reprimanded for praying and trying to share their religious views, Graham explained.
"The secularists and the humanists, you mention the name of Christ, they jump all over you," Graham said. "I get jumped on all the time. I don't really care."
Nowadays, students in public schools are prevented from organizing school prayers, prohibited from passing out religious literature in the hallways, and prevented from setting up prayer clubs.
"Our country has changed. And we've got to take a stand," Graham asserted. "We live in a secular society led by people that call themselves progressives. Secularists … have taken control of our country. And we have just sat back and its happened. And we haven't even realized it's happened."
"It's all over the country," he added. "You have the secularists and the humanists who are wanting to deny that Jesus ever existed."
Graham compared the threat that secularism presents to the threat that Communists posed in during the Cold War.
"When the Berlin wall came down, everybody said: 'We won,'" Graham recalled. "And secularism came. And secularism and communism are the same thing. They're Godless. They're Antichrist."
Graham further explained that "there are storms that are coming" and he doesn't trust any politician to help save society from secularism, and emphasized that it's a duty that falls on the followers of Christ.
"America has changed and it's not coming back unless the church takes a stand. … Now I'm not talking about Baptists or Republicans or Tea Party. I have no confidence that any of these politicians or any party is going to turn this country around," Graham explained. "The only hope for this country is for men and women of God to stand up and take a stand.
"There is only one who can save. Only one, Jesus," Graham added. "You see, Jesus is in the boat. All we have to do is call Him, call on His name."
