Addressing the crowd at the Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference last week, world-renowned evangelist Franklin Graham admittedly took a different spin than his iconic father, Billy Graham, on the podium and criticized America, declaring that "secularists have taken control of our country." The president of the Billy Graham Evangelist Association admonished believers in America for standing by while godless, democratically appointed government officials rip the Christian foundation of the country out from under them.
"Our country has changed, and we've got to take a stand," Graham exhorted the Oklahoma City crowd, according to The Christian Post. "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 it's happened. And we haven't even realized it's happened."
Not my father's world
Graham then said that he is not afraid to talk about many of the issues his father didn't typically address and critique, noting that the bulk of the senior Graham's ministry took place during a time before American society thoroughly divorced itself from God. He explained how Billy Graham's school days weren't riddled with fears that students would be punished for handing out Christian literature, forming Bible clubs or leading organized prayer.
"Well, you say, 'Now Franklin, you father wouldn't get onto these subjects,'" insinuated Graham, who is also the president of Samaritan's Purse, a nonprofit Christian humanitarian organization. "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."
Since his father, the 92-year-old Billy Graham, grew up decades before God, Bible reading and prayer were removed from the public schools in 1963 — which is also the year that evolution replaced creation as the dominant teaching about the origins of man and the universe — the younger 62-year-old Graham argues that the changed times call for him to speak on the many moral issues that Christians now face on a daily basis.
"The secularists and the humanists … you mention the name of Christ, they jump all over you," Graham contended. "I get jumped on all the time. I don't really care."
Secularization infiltration
Graham went on to argue that the secularization of society has long since extended beyond the schoolhouse gate, infiltrating virtually every facet of American society.
Graham
"It's all over the country," Graham insisted. "You have the secularists and the humanists who are wanting to deny that Jesus ever existed."
Billy Graham's son then talked about the ironic twist that came about in the late 1980s and early 1990s — a time when the Cold War ended and hearts went cold to God, as secularism, socialism and communism entered into American education, society and politics full force.
"When the Berlin wall came down, everybody said: 'We won,'" Graham remembered. "And secularism came. And secularism and communism are the same thing. They're godless. They're antichrist."
Only One hope, not 12
Graham argues that America is not what it used to be, as it has turned its back on the Christian principles upon which it was founded. And as another presidential election draws near, he contends that conservative politicians aren't the answer.
"America has changed and it's not coming back unless the Church takes a stand," Graham insisted. "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."
In the midst of the current political frenzy taking place, with a dozen conservative prospective candidates promising that they can turn America around from its godless, destructive path, Graham promises that no politician can deliver the country from falling apart.
"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."
As godless policies and laws continue to work their way into American society — from God being ousted from the public schools in 1963, to Roe v. Wade ushering in legalized abortion in 1973, to the floodgate of same-sex "marriage" opening in 2004, to the normalization of homosexual behavior in the military in 2011 — Graham warns that America will be judged for its disobedience and repudiation of God's Word.
"There are storms that are coming," Graham foretold. "The only hope for this country is for men and women of God to stand up and take a stand."
