Billy Grahams last crusade

[Cindy Denning]

To a man I learned to know, invited in our households over the years. I thank you Mr. Graham and God bless. Hope is always in our favor.

 

[jsmatos]

He's led an inspiring life. I heard his daughter say the other day that she never heard him say anything bad about anyone (Or something like that). Can you imagine having that much control over yourself. I wonder what kind of impact that must have had on her. How do you live up to a role model like him? He truly took his role as God's faithful servant seriously. I believe that he was able to bring so many people to God because he has such a genuine, wonderful spirit. Even in his dying, he's sharing his faith with all of us. What a beautiful gift! He will most certainly be embraced by God. We will miss him, but we couldn't possibly be saddened by his journey.

 

[Grover_Cephas]

He's led an inspiring life. I heard his daughter say the other day that she never heard him say anything bad about anyone

Except, y'know, when he told Nixon to do something about Jewish control of the media in his second term...

 

[Cindy Denning]

Yes I have heard about the Nixon/Graham tapes. I cannot apologise for him. He has although which was absolutly the right thing to do! My savior was Jewish.

 

[KnifeAddictAK]

True to that Cindy...

 

[KnifeAddictAK]

Except, y'know, when he told Nixon to do something about Jewish control of the media in his second term...

We are all human and make mistakes. For Graham, he may have succumb to a weakness and spoken to harshly, in a sense. But I feel it is not my place to judge him, that is God's position. I can only hope to have a walk as strong as he did. I must admit, that I am not where I want to be, but people like Graham are the ones who make waves, take time to help sovereign countries.

Just my opinion and beliefs... Whether they be right or wrong, they be mine.

 

[jsmatos]

Except, y'know, when he told Nixon to do something about Jewish control of the media in his second term...

I read the transcripts of the statement and know that he apologized for them and stated that they don't reflect his feelings. Apparently, he stated that the jews control, "have a stranglehold on," the media. I don't really see anything inherantly negative about this statement. I don't really follow who, as a group, controls the media, but I have read that many of the major network stations, newspapers, radio stations, etc.. of the time in which Reverend Graham made that statement were, in fact, owned by Jewish people. I don't see anything wrong with acknowledging what seems to have been a reality. If the media was primarily controlled by Jehovahs Witnesses, Mormons, Baptists, or simply Christians, or any other religion, I wouldn't think anything negative about someone acknowledging that fact.

The real question is what affect Mr. Graham believed such control was having on the masses. I really view Jews as being a very diverse group of people. I don't see how such control would necessarily limit the expression of other viewpoints. As I see it, the Jews are a very open and welcoming group. You need look no further than Isreal's holy land, which they try to keep open to everyone, to appreciate that about them as a group. I can't tell you how important it is to me that I might one day be allowed to go to the holy land to see where Jesus Christ was born, where he walked, where he was baptised, etc... The Jews are the ones who try to keep those sights open for me too. For that alone, I deeply love them.

I really have no idea what Reverend Graham saw was the harm of Jewish control over the media. The only thing that stands out to me is that he may have believed that "Jesus Christ" didn't get enough of the spotlight. Reverend Graham has spent his lifetime dedicated to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I can see where Reverend Graham would want to see Jesus Christ and his scriptures embedded throughout major media. That's why if Christians controlled the media, people would say, "The Christians have a major stranglehold on the media. We need to stop it." I wouldn't see that as derogatory. It's simply a different viewpoint.

Obviously, that doesn't explain Reverend Graham's viewpoint whatsoever. It is simply my best interpretation of his intent being a Christian myself. I also agree with Cindy who stated beautifully, our beloved savior was Jewish. How could we not love the Jewish people?

There was also what Reverend Graham did during the Civil Rights movement when he refused to attend an all white service. Even if the worst is true, and he intended that statement in the most negative way possible, it really shouldn't detract from the lifetime of good that he brought to this world. He was only human with all of its failings. I fail daily. I hope people try to remember the good things that I stood for at the end of my lifetime. Unfortunately, they'll be much fewer in number than Reverend Grahams. I'll also have many more failings to note then too.

 

[Nordic Viking]

Ethnical Demography in the Broadcast industry
A Simple guide by Billy Graham​

Yeah right Some people make mistakes and apologise and move on. Let's not make excuses for or try to rationalize bigotry.

 

[jsmatos]

Call it what you want. I don't see him as a bigot. It's amazing to me that after a lifetime spent like his, this is the way people choose to reflect upon it. A couple of sentences discovered 30 years after the fact, and he's a bigot.

No, it couldn't have anything to do with his desire to have the gospel of Jesus Christ heard in every household. Nope, he's simply a bigot.

 

[Nordic Viking]

Call it what you want. I don't see him as a bigot. It's amazing to me that after a lifetime spent like his, this is the way people choose to reflect upon it. A couple of sentences discovered 30 years after the fact, and he's a bigot.

Actually I said he apologised and moved on. You seem to want to explain his bigotry at the time as him just reading the 1972 census' jobs per race summary to Nixon.

 

[fixer27]

I had heard that Dr. Graham had said that he is suffering so much that
he looks forward to his own demise. I think he has Parkinson's, prostate
cancer, and fluid on the brain. Clearly he is not a well man.

That being said I do love his heart, even through all of that he just keeps
doing what he loves to do. Evangelize large crowds like he has always done
since the 1950's. I also had heard that he might travel to Europe and
evangelize there later in the year.

 

[KnifeAddictAK]

I had heard that Dr. Graham had said that he is suffering so much that
he looks forward to his own demise.

Simply because he knows his destination after death

 

[Grover_Cephas]

I heard his daughter say the other day that she never heard him say anything bad about anyone (Or something like that).

Except, y'know, when he told Nixon to do something about Jewish control of the media in his second term...

That was it; that was all. No "Billy Graham's an antisemite bigot and nothing else about his life matters!" or anything like that.

I respect Martin Luther King Jr. Quite a bit. Is that respect diminished by the knowledge that he plagiarized some of his work and cheated on his wife? Youbetcha. Does that mean I ignore his accomplishments? Nope. Does that mean I ignore his faults or rationalize them away? Nope again.

Graham made a bigoted statement. If I said "There are too many Christians in office; we should do something about that", that'd be a bigoted statement on my part, too. I might say "there're too many people in offices across this country who want to turn America into a Christian theocracy and inject their creation myths into science classes", if I wanted to criticise people's actions and decisions rather than their heritages.

Again, he apologized for it, admitted it was a mistake, and moved on. Good. The bigoted opinions he held at the time shouldn't define the man for the rest of his life, but his followers should be aware of them. Just like people who present MLK Jr. as an immaculate saint should have a full understanding.

The bottom line is that Graham's daughter said something silly, and I wanted to point it out. I gotta learn...

 

[nenofury]

Graham made a bigoted statement.

Is it bigoted because he said "you need to do something" or is it bigoted because he said "jews in media"

 

[Cindy Denning]

I posted this picture of Billy Graham out of two reasons. One being the fact I learned finally how to post a picture, that I have always listened to his televised sermons, love the man. The second reason, he is holding a Bible and preaching. He is merely human, like all of us. I can't find the word bigotry in the Bible for we are to love one another. Sundays church bulletin June 26, 2005 stated: Acia and Sandra Strickland have placed flowers in the auditorium today in memory of their daughter,Melissa Rowell, who went to be with the Lord June 29, 2002 Missy, her nickname died of cancer at the age of 23, she left behind a baby boy and a husband. She was also a beautiful young woman we thought would beat the cancer but she didn't. She would come to church wearing the stylish hats to hide her head from the chemotherapy that naturally made her hair fall out. I see her little boy every Sunday and how much he has grown and children like him. Missys parents and her widowed husband still go to the same church, very faithful because it was and is faith that got them through this. At Missys wake there was a closed casket and her mother stood infront of it wringing her hands, a large picture of Missy posing in her beautiful summer wedding dress on a axle nearby. And her son, will know, when he grows up just how wonderful his mother was from the "steel magnolias" that have been attending this church for years and years to come. Have patience with eachother, have an encouraging word, you never know what in life is to come.

 

[heathah]

Billy Graham is a great man. I have never had the chance to see him in person but I would've liked to. There is simply something about him that indicates that he is truly a man of God. His son, Franklin, seems to be continuing the family legacy and I hope he touches as many lives as his father has. As for statements that delve into Graham's past, remember this:



"And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the Law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou?"

"This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him."

"But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground."

"And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst."

"When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?"

"She said, No man, Lord." "And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (John 8:2-11 KJV)

 

[Esav Benyamin]

It's bigoted because he characterized an entire group by his view of some members of that group. Being Jewish has nothing to do with having an inherited tendency to be overrepresented in the media, and more to the point, to be in any sense unfortunately influential in the media.

That's like saying how nice it is that those Italians cook so well and open so many fine restaurants. Individual American citizens of any particular background are not bound to follow our stereotypes about their community, however those stereotypes arose.

In our case, we do get tired of the cliches pointing to something negative -- even if when the majority does it, it's considered positive. Good business sense, high educational standards for children, support for community values -- we praise this in all our people. But sometimes, referring to Jews, it has a negative connotation.

Graham knew better. He made it clear that he didn't stand by the negative view his words implied. People say things in private conversations they don't think through for the effect they would have in public. If that's the only stick we have to beat him with, he's not doing badly at all. But it just points out (didn't you know it already?): nobody's perfect.

 

[arawn]

While I do not necessarily agree with all of his ideals or aims, I admire what I see as a good man who spent his life doing what he believed would make the country, and the world a better place.

He helped MANY people to improve their lives, and that is more than most folks can say at the end of their careers.


B.

 

[nifrand]

As a Christian,but still struggling with life and the Devil, I love to hear a good sermon.
Billy Graham was and is one of the best.
Brings tears to my eyes to this day when his choir starts to sing"Just as I am"
and see the hundreds of people going down front and changing their life.
Billy is not perfect,just forgiven

Wish I could do something and leave some kind of a mark. Probably sleep better at night.



Just a thought.
Randy

 

[uncle Alan]

To a man I learned to know, invited in our households over the years. I thank you Mr. Graham and God bless. Hope is always in our favor.

Cindy
Only a man of God could tell Bill Clinton he should/could become an evangelist.





Uncle Alan