Billy Graham And The Last Crusade

I thank the gods every day for Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and "Doctor" James Dobson. If these guys were like the Reverend Billy Graham, I might well have stayed a Christian. I mean, here is a guy that so obviously walks the walk as well as talking the talk, you have to be impressed, you even have to admire, and like, the guy. Here is a man that keeps politics out of his sermons. Here is a man that obviously feels called to spread what he considers the word of his God to every nation, race, color, creed, and political persuasion, regardless of sex, age, and it would seem even regardless of sexual orientation. When he says we are all God's children, and we are all sinners, saved by grace through the glory of God through the sacrifice of His only begotten son on the cross, you know he means exactly what he says. You take him seriously when he says through teary eyes that he loves New York. You understand that he feels every bit as kindly toward democrats and liberals as he does towards republicans and conservatives, whom you would automatically expect to be more open to his message.

You feel for the pain and suffering he is exhibiting with such unbridled courage and stamina, and at the same time are caught in the realization that here is a man on whom there is not the faintest trace of a scandal. No lingering suspicions of the slightest bit of hypocrisy. He is head and shoulders above even Pope John Paul II, whom Graham has expressed admiration for, in that the Pope could not rise above the political morass, interjecting his presence even into the sanctum sanctorum of American domestic policy, where he had no business whatsoever, in an effort to influence the American political scene in favor of what he euphemistically referred to as the "Culture Of Life" as opposed to the "Culture Of Death". One knew instinctively where Graham would stand on this issue. At the same time, you didn't feel he was inclined to beat you over the head with it.

No, once he is gone, which may not be long from now, he will be missed by people of good will everywhere. He will not be easily replaced. Though when he is, there are those who will stand at the ready to take whatever credit they can for it. Jerry Falwell has already positioned himself to take credit for whatever status three of Grahams children, and one of his grandchildren, might attain, as he recently pointed out that they are being taught now at his "Liberty University". The implication, obviously, is that Graham has entrusted him as, in a manner of speaking, the trusted guardian of the sacred path.

Like I said, I am glad for people like Falwell. Had I been exposed to nobody but people like Graham, I might still yet believe in an eternal, all good, all powerful creator god who has always existed and has never changed, one I cannot hope to understand, but must yet accept by faith. I might still hold fast to the fallacious doctrine of "Original Sin", and would believe that evolution is an evil concept, that in reality the world was created in exactly the same manner as portrayed in the scriptures. That the Bible is the literal word of God, and must be believed and adhered to, even when simple common sense dictates the opposite, as is more often than not the case. I might never suppose there was any other way to think, might never imagine that I should indeed think for myself, as opposed to the implications of miraculous stories that are little more than fairy tales. Might never suppose that even when the Bible is at it's best,at times it is more symbolic than literal in it's meaning.

In other words, if I had remained exposed to no one besides Billy Graham, or people like him, I might have become, and gladly remained, a sanctimonious, holier than thou, hypocritical religious fanatic and political religious would be Christian mullah. Much like the reverend Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and "Doctor" James Dobson. Kind of ironic when you stop to think about it.