Army dis-invites Franklin Graham to prayer fest

The fundis and their Republican political allies are freaking out over the Army rescinding an invitation to Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and heir to leadership of his evangelical empire, to pray at a National Day of Prayer event. The reason? Graham's blowhard polemical statements on Islam: Andrea Stone, Graham Booted From Pentagon Prayer Event AOL News 04/22/10

Media Matters provides this video: Johnson Jr. blows gasket over Army's decision to rescind Rev. Graham's National Prayer day invite County Fair 03/23/10, featuring FOX News legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jr., who seems almost to have discovered the virtues of separation of church and state!



Johnson's complaint that "the Army wants to decide what the religious content should be. ... And the government should keep it's hands off what ministers are saying what to what group of people on National Prayer Day. That's wrong." Duh! Guess what? When religion mixes with government, the influence runs both ways. If government is sponsoring a religious event, can any adult actually be surprised that they expect to have some control over the content?

See also:

Jennifer Riley, Franklin Graham Dropped from Pentagon Prayer Event Christian Post 04/23/10

Candace Chellew-Hodge, Army Disinvites Graham to Prayer Day Religion Dispatches 04/23/10

David Corn, National Day of Prayer: Franklin Graham Deserved to Be Booted Politics Daily 04/23/10

Sarah Posner, Franklin Graham Supporters Attack Military Religious Freedom Activist As Anti-Christian Religion Dispatches 04/23/10

Welton Gaddy, The Car Wreck that is Sarah Palin and the National Day of Prayer Religion Dispatches 04/22/10:

Frightened people looking for a quick fix for their fears and alleviation of their anxieties are being hurt by a distorted version of American history and a perverted vision of the future. This past week in Louisville, Kentucky, the former governor of Alaska told a crowd, in response to a federal court ruling that a government celebrated National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional, that “America needs to get back to its Christian roots.”

Sadly, Sarah Palin cannot distinguish between fanciful images of revisionist historians and actual facts documentable in the chronicles of the nation’s archives. She has turned a deaf ear to George Washington who asserted that “The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion,” and to his successor John Adams—who knew the Constitution better than Ms. Palin—when, after signing a treaty with a mostly Muslim nation, repeated Washington’s comment almost verbatim.

Tags: christian right