The Late Billy Graham - Seller of a Slicker Brand of Snake Oil

I waited to post this out of a sense of holding any invective until he was boxed up before leveling a broadside at the late Billy Graham.

Last Wednesday the gush gate was thrown wide open…gushing tears over the death of 99 year old purveyor of religious snake oil Billy Graham…and gushing sparkling accolades and tributes to his being what idolizers call the 20^th century’s greatest evangelist. I prefer huckster, but what the heck, evangelist, huckster...same thing.

Fox News immediately crowed “It’s a great day in Heaven.” Yes, a great day in Heaven….They actually spend part of their broadcast claiming it was A.GREAT.DAY.IN.HEAVEN!!!

How do they know? By what method can they know this? They do not have any faculties that the rest of us do not have, so please Fox, share with us how you know that it’s a great day in heaven. Flipping through a bible cannot and could not tell you that. You have indicated no apparatus that extends into the supernatural world so you could tap into the “great day festivities.” How are they even sure of Graham’s arrival there? Many Pentecostal preachers and church members will assure you in NO uncertain terms that Graham did not reach the Pearly Gates on Wednesday February 21st, or will he at any time in the future. The same sentiment would also be expressed by the Westboro Baptist Church.

Billy Graham was not a man any of us should revere or embrace. He built his career on being a bamboozler, or what in the old west was called a snake-oil salesman. He made countless open-ended promises that he never had to deliver on, promises built on heresies…scriptural heresies as interpreted from the Roman Catholic and Jewish points of view. Can you imagine what Torquemada of the Inquisition would have done with someone who preached scripture as Graham did?

But more to the point; who gets to determine which bible interpretation is correct? Is it the Presbyterian version? Methodist? Freewill Baptist? Shakers? Holy Rollers? Disciples of Christ? Mormon? Roman Catholic? Eastern Orthodox? Coptic Christian?

Billy Graham grew up in a Presbyterian home but eventually joined the more unruly evangelical Southern Baptist denomination, a group of regressives who objected to and refused to ordain women as ministers, although Graham eventually revised his thinking and said he could accept women’s ordination even though that appears to be in direct contradiction to 1 Timothy 2:11-12. He even initially opposed his own daughter Anne Graham Lotz from teaching a bible class…but later said she was the family’s best preacher. If his god existed, how would he view that statement given it is quite clear in the bible women are not to teach, assume authority over men, and to “learn in quietness”. If preaching is not teaching, what is it?

Fawning revisionist history blathers on about what a good man Billy Graham was when he actually was on the wrong side of history repeatedly. From his theological outlook that included racism, xenophobia, and homophobia, his passing will not wipe away the hate he helped foment that damaged so many lives. In 1993, he suggested that AIDS was punishment from God. “Is AIDS a judgment of God” he said while preaching in Columbus, Ohio. “l cannot be sure, but I think so.”

Graham was notorious for his anti-Semitic opinions. When the Nixon tapes were released, Graham is heard to reiterate an old conspiracy theory that claimed Jewish-Americans had a “stranglehold” on the media that “has got to be broken.” He also condemned gay marriage and targeted transgender people on his website.

.         Graham missed the boat on racial injustice, too, refusing to walk in 1963 with Martin Luther King Jr. in the March on Washington. Why? Because Graham did not subscribe to racial equality, stating on several occasions that little white boys and girls would only walk hand in hand with little black boys and girls “when Christ returned.” There was no sense in working for it until Jesus’ second coming… so equality be damned. It underlines the fact that Graham was a Civil Rights coward.

Graham became known for his revivals but those revivals basically amounted to Christian buzzwords, mild threats of hellfire and damnation, promises of a better world after this one, condemnation of communism…and a request for money. Love of God and country went hand in hand for him as he preached against the Soviets and Chinese, advocated an American way of life that never existed, and reminded people god expected them to give 10% of their income. In short, the perfect Republican. No wonder Richard Nixon and George W. Bush liked him.

Would those same people at Fox who find Graham’s death a cause for celebrating in heaven have accepted it as truth if, say, Al-Jazeera claimed it was a great day in paradise when 19 new martyrs arrived there on the morning of September 11, 2001 after killing hundreds aboard four aircraft and thousands in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon? What’s the difference other than the religion?

I just consulted my Magic 8 Ball and asked if there really was a celebration going on in heaven due to Graham’s arrival. Its answer was “Outlook Not So Good.” And you can believe my Magic 8 Ball because it is as reliable as that information about it being a great day in heaven. The difference is my Magic 8 Ball actually exists.

The Republicans and evangelicals are to blame for the Trump presidency

We must never forget how Trump won the 2016 election. Yes, there was Russian interference. Yes, the Clinton campaign was poorly run. Yes, there was acrimony and divisiveness on the part of most of the candidates. Yes, there was fake news slathered across the internet and repeated by the media. Yes, millionaires and billionaires gave Trump boatloads of money to run, even though he claimed at his rallies that he was self-funding so no one would own him. But Trump’s biggest boost came from the far-right fundamentalists who decided Trump represented their core Christian values…which is astounding given all the vulgar, unethical, immoral, and downright unchristian things Trump had said and done on the campaign trail. Then again, maybe those who professed Christian values didn’t really have them, but rather were far, far more closely aligned with Trump’s narrow-mindedness and were easy to manipulate.

They actually yelled "Heil Trump!"

         A 2016 collaborative scientific paper by Edward Dutton of the Ulster Institute for Social Research in the UK and Dimitri Van der Linden of the Rotterdam University in the Netherlands spotlights a reason for this. ‘If religion is indeed an evolved domain…an instinct…then it will become heightened at times of stress when people are inclined to act instinctively…” wrote Dutton. Trump’s campaign was built on stressing people out by scaring them with rapist Mexicans, terrorist Muslims, job-stealing Asians, currency-manipulating Chinese, payment-cheating NATO members, outmaneuvering-trade-partners in NAFTA and TPP, free-loading health care recipients, and a crumbling defeated America. It was a perfect vehicle for enlisting the evangelicals. Their instinct to “circle the wagons” from heightened stress over Trump-manufactured pseudo-problems assured him of their vote. Why think things through rationally when you can just instinctively let an authoritarian bigot do the thinking for you?

 According to Pew, Quinnipiac, and NBC/Wall Street Journal polls, over 80% of white evangelicals turned out to vote for Trump, [no less than 85% of white evangelical men] and that made just enough difference. The Republicans are the reason Trump got the nomination as the Republican candidate in the first place. They could have stopped it, or stepped in and changed the course of his candidacy for over a year. But they all chose party over country. They knew of his tampering with the Republican platform before he got the nomination, changing one item - a provision to deny defensive hardware to Ukraine in their fight against Russia. They knew he had numerous failed businesses that put him in financial jeopardy over and over and in debt to dozens of banks around the world. They knew of the countless multi-million dollar lawsuits against him, many that were still in the courts. They knew he had had repeated interactions with known mob and criminal figures. They knew he was an immoral womanizer and a serial sexual predator because he bragged about it on the Howard Stern show, not once but on three occasions, even infamously on the Access Hollywood tape. They knew of his shady dealings with the Russians because he boasted about his interactions with Putin and Russian government officials in several TV and radio interviews. They knew he lied, and that he lied repeatedly. He even doubled down on his lying over easily verifiable stories. The Republicans and evangelicals KNEW all this…yet they voted him in any way. Because of that, we are now suffering through the Trump presidency. Their support is why we have the chaos in the White House and across the land. It will only get worse and spread around the world until Trump is forced out. But there will be blood in the streets when it happens because he now thinks of the presidency as his legitimate right. No one should be allowed to challenge him thanks to the Republicans and evangelicals.

The Republicans and evangelicals are solely responsible for this catastrophic administration, and they must be held accountable. Every decision Trump makes, decisions that harm this country; whether judicial, legislative, environmental, military, diplomatic, or economic, it is on the hands of the Republicans and the evangelicals. If it was within my power, I would ban the evangelicals from ever voting again. They have shown that their religious view negatively impacts their judgment, meaning they cannot be trusted to vote in the interest of the nation any more than a rabid bear can.

                  The clowns applaud their Clown-in-Chief.

          And voters should be reminded of Republican support for Trump in every election from this point forward...no ifs, ands, or buts. Like when the Republicans dig in their heels and insist that the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia won’t slow down the president’s legislative agenda, or passing a huge tax plan that transfers more wealth to the richest one percent of Americans [of which Trump is a member], when they try to gut healthcare and leave millions of Americans with lesser or poorer quality coverage, when they rescind regulations and laws that harm American workers but put more money into the hands of billionaire CEOs in the nation. The GOP is the new Whig Party.

                               Coming soon to theaters everywhere.

Trump is all about the show, the theatrics, the use of gold paint to cover the cheap wooden frame, and nothing more. He is using the presidency to make himself rich again, even as he fails to make America great again. We wouldn't be in this intolerable position if the GOP had not nominated…and evangelicals had not helped elect…this thoroughly unfit man for the office. This must never be forgotten…or forgiven.

Faithfully Dumb

What is it about the Republican mindset that causes the men in that party to abandon common sense when it comes to pregnancy and rape?

Last month, Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock became the latest in a collage of Republican dimwits to say something astonishingly idiotic regarding women and rape. In a debate with his Democratic opponent Joe Donnelly, Mourdock explained his abortion stance saying that “even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.” There you have it…God intended it to happen. God knew the rape was going to occur and did nothing to stop it…which means rape should be taken off the books as a crime, since it is something God foresees and wants. Following biblical law, maybe Mourdock should also introduce legislation demanding that the victim then marry her rapist and he must pay the woman’s father fifty pieces of silver. After all, that’s precisely what it says in Deuteronomy 22:28-29. God’s law is great, isn’t it?

God often sneaks over to watch down on some of his "intended" rapes as they occur

Prior to Mourdock stuffing both feet in his mouth, we had Tom Smith, a candidate for the Pennsylvania state senate comparing rape to having a baby out of wedlock. Smith said if you “put yourself in a father’s situation”, it’s a similar kind of thing. So guys, when you rape a woman, look at it as though she’s having your baby without the hassle and inconvenience of a wedding. The whole point of rape is just recreational procreation, right?

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, on August 23^rd during an interview on WJHL in Roanoke, VA stated  "I'm very proud of my pro-life record, and I've always adopted the idea that, the position that the method of conception doesn't change the definition of life." What he is referring to is rape as a "method of conception" when asked if it should it be legal for a woman to be able to get an abortion if she's raped. If that sperm makes into you, the method is acceptable for obtaining protection from the government and it is now your responsibility to see it through to its 21^st birthday. The rape victim’s health, mental and otherwise, isn’t up for consideration in Ryan’s view. Only that of the newly engaged sperm and egg. They must now be federally protected and the 'method of conception' carried to full term. The Republicans don't really give a damn about what happens after the birth of the baby though.

                And lest we forget (although, much to his chagrin, I doubt most people will), there was Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin in an August interview stating, “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Leaving aside what exactly constitutes ‘legitimate rape’ (maybe that’s Paul Ryan’s definition as well), not one Medical School I know of teaches that a woman’s body can shut down the consequence of a rape. The implication behind his statement is; if the victim is not really being raped but just fooling around with her rapist and enjoying the ‘sex’ involved, then any conception is automatically intentional, should have the full protection of the federal government, and the woman must carry the result full term. Republican logic isn’t baffling, it can be completely understood from the viewpoint of an alternate universe where only men understand a woman's reproductive capabilities.

                         Mourdock, Ryan, Smith, and Akin…a Mount Rushmore of Republican stupidity.

What do all these poor excuses for XY chromosomes have in common, aside from the fact that they are arch-conservative right-wing GOP standard-bearers? To one degree or another, they are Christian fundamentalists. That can’t be stressed enough; they are all Christian fundamentalists. Why should that be the emphasis? Because it is that bible-infected influence resulting in narrow-minded (or rather brainless) thinking that leads them to make such asinine and morally-bankrupt remarks. When rape is thought of as nothing more than a method of conception, can be legitimized through some magical process, or that the Christian God intended it to happen, I have to wonder why ANY female would vote for a Republican…or attend a Christian church. (Who knows, maybe God rounded up a few rapists with ‘intent’ on their minds and are now lurking behind the altar.) Don’t be concerned ladies, following God’s law, your dad will be bribed with a token amount of money, and you’ll get a guaranteed husband out of the deal. Oh, and most likely that unplanned baby too!