Graham’s remarks unsettling
The Layman April 2002 Volume 35, Number 2, April 8, 2002
Billy Graham, in a private White House conversation with former President Richard Nixon, said things about Jewish people he should not have said. His taped remarks were politically vicious and theologically unsettling.
Graham’s comments to Nixon also reveal the sad reality that access to political power – whether sought by liberals or conservatives – can become a cultural opiate that stupifies even those of sterling character. That Dr. Graham, one of the world’s finest, momentarily fumbled his call from God is a sobering lesson for all of us.
It is also a reminder that the darkest secrets in our lives will eventually come to light in a far more revealing arena than the American press. None of us will be spared of that glare, but those whose hope is in Christ – and not their own merit – will finally and fully be untethered from the many times they violated the call to discipleship.
Perhaps, many Jews will find it difficult to forgive Dr. Graham. It must deeply trouble him that he gave such offense. He apologized and said, “God’s mercy and grace give me hope.” There is no other hope.