No doubt you've heard of Billy Graham.  Before he passed away last year at the age of 99, Billy Graham had, by most counts, preached the gospel to more than anyone on the planet, living or dead.  Most estimates ranged in the hundreds of millions.  For over forty years, he traveled the globe, sharing what he considered to be good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, with whomever would listen.
     I believed strongly in Graham's mission, and I believed strongly in his work.  I applauded his efforts to tell people about the love of God in Jesus Christ.  After over close to three decades of supporting his organization, however, my wife and I, sadly, have stopped.  Why?  Primarily because of the words and actions of his son, Franklin Graham, who took charge of the organization when his father "retired" in his eighties.  

     Franklin's seemingly blind and unwavering support of American president Donald Trump, regardless of what the president says or does, all in the service, for the most part, of ensuring a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, is, to me, an extraordinarily pragmatic approach to morality.  Although as his father did, Franklin preaches the gospel in very black and white terms (one either believes in Jesus or one does not), he seems to set this aside when he enters the realm of politics.
     Among other things, I find Franklin's assertions that all progressives are "godless" and America is a "moral cesspool," highly offensive and, moreover, extremely demeaning to all who hold political and moral viewpoints different from his.  Such remarks are entirely inconsistent with the gospel of God's love that he preaches.  I occasionally wonder whether Franklin and I read the same Bible.
     Thanks, Billy Graham, for your tireless efforts to tell the world about the meaningfulness of Jesus.