Jimmy Carter’s views of gay marriage and abortion have become a hot topic among progressive bloggers of late — and now evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham is expressing his strong disagreement with them.
The former president and lifelong Democrat — and a former governor of Georgia — gave an interview to HuffPost Live in 2015, as LifeSiteNews reported Wednesday, and his controversial views are right now in the spotlight.
Faith has “always been important in my life. Y’know, I’m a born-again Christian, so-called — I’m a Baptist. I taught Sunday school the day before yesterday, I’ll be teaching again next Sunday, I teach every Sunday that I’m home in Plains,” Carter told interviewer Marc Lamont Hill three years ago.
Carter, who is 93, claimed in the interview he’s “never run across any really serious conflicts between my political obligations and my religious faith.”
Although the former president had no scriptural evidence to point to, he claimed that “Jesus would approve [of] gay marriage.” Carter also said abortion “has been a long-time problem of mine” — and while he believed Jesus was not in favor of it, he said he thought Jesus would make an exception for abortion under certain circumstances.
“I have had a hard time believing that Jesus, for instance, would approve [of] abortion — unless it was because of rape or incest or if the mother’s life was in danger,” Carter claimed.
Franklin Graham expressed his strong disagreement in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“I have to respectfully disagree with former President Jimmy Carter on this one,” Graham wrote. “He is absolutely wrong when he said Jesus would approve of gay marriage. Jesus didn’t come to promote sin, He came to save us from sin.”
“The Bible is very clear,” added Graham, a son of Billy Graham. “God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of homosexuality. God defines sin in His Word — it’s not up to our opinion, the latest poll, or a popular vote.”
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“What is very troubling is that some people may read what President Carter has said and believe it, whether it was this week or from a video 3 years ago that is now recirculating,” he added. “God loves us and gives us the truth in His Word. He warns us of the serious consequences of sin.”
Rev. Graham then cited Biblical verse: “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
“God defines sin in His Word — it’s not up to our opinion, the latest poll, or a popular vote.”
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (Romans 1:24-27).
Kyle Becker is a content writer and producer with LifeZette. Follow him on Twitter.
(photo credit, article image: Franklin Graham, CC BY-SA 4.0, by Cornstalker)
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