June 26, 2005
Billy Graham
Billy Graham is in town, which is something that isn't often said anymore, and likely won't be said again, judging from Billy's appearance as well as his accompanying PR blitz, which is hailing the 3 day Queens stint as one last go-round.
I'm obviously no huge fan of Graham's; to start, public displays of religion make me queasy and Graham is nothing if not the most accomplished media whore in our hemisphere.
Graham has parlayed his king of the evangelicals status into a presidential advisor role, and has managed to impose his divine wisdom on nearly every president in memory, but is perhaps best remembered for his relationship with Nixon, whom Graham implored to "do something about the [Jewish] problem." (Nixon replied that he agreed that the Jews owning the media was a problem, but politics limited what he could say or do about it)
Graham's legacy will also include an ugly wake of crass imitators, like Fallwell, Swaggart, Bakker, and Hinn. Whether or not Graham also begat the current wave of Dominionist pirahanas like Dobson, Robertson, and Rushdoony is less likely, but it was at least comforting these past few weeks to witness Graham attempt to put some distance between himself and the current strain of evangelical:
When asked what troubles him most today, Graham doesn't mention homosexuality, abortion or any of the other hot-buttons that rally conservative Christians.He mentioned poverty in the world.
Indeed, Graham seems to be going out of his way to incorporate a message of inclusiveness. While it's nice (and unfortunately rare) to hear any Christian stand up to the conservative bullies that have shrewdly positioned themselves as the spokespersons for all things religious, something tells me it could be too little too late. Franklin Graham, Billy's son and successor, had the brilliant idea during the run-up to the Iraq war to accompany the troops as part of an effort to convert the "wicked and evil" Muslims to Christianty, which suggests that he's not exactly on the same page with his father's big tent idea.
Also interesting is the notable absence of the RCC, who had assumed a visible presence at Graham events in the past, but claimed that they were too busy this year.
posted by scott pilutik at June 26, 2005 09:34 AM