I don\u2019t care what you believe, or don\u2019t let alone who you vote for. Vote for an atheist, agnostic, Hindu, Evangelical or Mormon for all I care. There should be no \u201cfaith test\u201d for political office.<\/p>\n
That said if you care about religion isn\u2019t lying about religion for political ends bad for religion? \u00a0But Billy (perhaps manipulated) and Franklin Graham have sold evangelicals down the river by declaring that Mormonism<\/a> is not a cult and (by implication) is just another garden\u00a0variety\u00a0\u201cChristian\u201d denomination.<\/p>\n Franklin Graham is a Republican Party insider and operative\u00a0masquerading\u00a0as an evangelist. I first met Franklin when we were both 9 years old and he and his dad Billy Graham, visited my parents\u2019 evangelical retreat center L\u2019Abri Fellowship. My father was a religious right leader and close personal friend of Billy\u2019s.<\/p>\n Because Franklin is trying to help Mormon Mitt win (at any cost) he\u2019s got to lie about Mormonism because he knows that many evangelicals \u2014 rightly \u2014 think\u00a0Mormonism\u00a0is anything but Christian. And he\u2019s taken his father\u2019s good name with him.<\/p>\n Watch the video below and you tell me: Is there any Evangelical, Charismatic, Reformed, Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox church \u2014 anywhere in the world \u2014 that looks like this?<\/em><\/p>\n Why are the Grahams lying about the most basic\u00a0theological\u00a0and church history facts? Is\u00a0political\u00a0victory really more important than clarity on what the gospel is or isn\u2019t? I mean aren\u2019t the Grahams\u00a0supposed\u00a0to be\u00a0Christian<\/em>\u00a0evangelists?<\/p>\n Isn\u2019t labeling Mitt just another Christian\u00a0falsehood\u00a0in advertising?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As Tony Jones writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvangelicals say that the Bible and theological orthodoxy are the most important things for a Christian to abide by. And yet, time and time again, evangelicals will forsake these tenets for political expediency.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been quite candid on this blog: I do not think that the LDS church<\/a> is a Christian church. I do not think that the Mormon faith<\/a> is Christian. I think it\u2019s a sect \u2014 or call it another religion \u2014 that drew inspiration from Christianity at its birth. (I think it\u2019s too big and diverse to call it a cult.) But it\u2019s not Christian.<\/p>\n It seems that Graham, like many other evangelical leaders, is supporting Romney. That\u2019s totally fine. But to sweep under the rug their long-standing teaching that the LDS Church is a cult is not only disingenuous, it\u2019s downright deceptive.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So I have a question for Billy and Franklin Graham:<\/strong><\/p>\n Watch this\u00a0video\u00a0and tell me, is this what you\u2019ll be doing at the next presidential prayer breakfast? <\/em><\/p>\n Franklin: When people convert at a Billy Graham\u00a0rally\u00a0and come forward and your dad tells the new convert to find a \u201cgood Bible-believing church\u201d and go next Sunday, is this what Billy has in mind?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n