Franklin Graham To Kate Middleton: Don’t Want Your Topless Photos To Leak? Then “Keep Your Top On”

In 2012, Prince William and Kate Middleton were on vacation in France in a private villa. The duchess was sunbathing without her top on, as she had every right to do, but paparazzi found a way to take photos of her. Those photos were later published in a French magazine, Closer, and the royal couple is now seeking $1.6 million in damages from the publication over the breach of privacy.

There’s an added emotional aspect to this whole story since William’s mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a car crash while trying to avoid photographers. But even beyond that, it’s hard to argue that the photographers and magazine were in the right here. William and Kate are known around the globe, but they also deserve their privacy. And if they can’t find it at a private home, what other options do they have?

Not that evangelist Franklin Graham gives a damn. In his mind, the real villain in all of this is Kate Middleton, who defied God by going topless in the first place.

… We all appreciate our privacy, but we live in a high tech, digital age where it seems there’s no privacy. Cameras are everywhere. Princess Kate, of all people should know this. She is followed by paparazzi from all around the world. If you don’t want topless pictures of yourself taken, it might be a good idea to keep your top on at the beach. This is also a reminder to all of us that even though it seems people are always watching — more importantly, God is always watching.

That is slut-shaming at a level only Christian leaders can manage. Franklin Graham is the sort of guy who hears about a woman getting raped and asks, “Well, what was she wearing?” He spends virtually no time criticizing the photographers or magazine publishers in this situation, but a woman relaxing at her own home?! GOD MUST BE FURIOUS!

This is what we’ve come to expect from the Religious Right. It’s just a perfect example of why people say evangelical Christians don’t give a damn about women. They’ll criticize women for what they put in their bodies, what they do with their bodies, whether their bodies sufficiently satisfy their husbands, and what they wear (or don’t wear) on their bodies.

It’s despicable. And anyone who treats Franklin Graham and his ilk as moral authorities is complicit in it.

(Top image via Shutterstock)