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One of the country’s most well-known Evangelical Christians, Franklin Graham, condemned South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg for “trying to tell people that the homosexual lifestyle is OK with God”.
The Trump-supporting pastor criticized Buittigieg in a Facebook post to his 8 million followers on Tuesday, writing: “Mayor Pete Buttigieg has been speaking openly about his support for abortion, which he says is a woman’s right to choose. That’s a crock. No one has the right to choose murder.”
He then cited Buttigieg’s brother-in-law, a pastor who recently urged Buttigieg to “reconsider” his defense of abortion.
“Pastor Rhyan Glezman, who is the brother of the man Mayor Pete is married to said, ‘I feel a sense of responsibility and stewardship of my faith to stand up and say something, to say no, that’s not true,’” Graham wrote. “Mayor Pete is trying to tell people that the homosexual lifestyle is OK with God and that abortion is OK. His brother-in-law is right when he said, ‘This is leading people astray and it’s very, very dangerous.’”
“God defines right and wrong, not us,” he added. “As Christians, we are to live by the standards He gives us in His Word. ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.’ (Isaiah 45:5).”
It’s not the first time Graham has taken issue with the openly gay 2020 presidential hopeful.
In April, Franklin accused the mayor of flaunting his homosexuality and told him to “repent” before God for living a sinful life.
Graham, who earlier this year said he has never heard President Trump tell a lie, called homosexuality a “sin” and “something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.”
Graham took issue with Buttigieg’s response to a CNN townhall question about his plans to unite people of different political beliefs.
“God does not have a political party,” Buttigieg said at the time.
“It can be challenging to be a person of faith who’s also part of the LGBTQ community and yet, to me, the core of faith is regard for one another. And part of God’s love is experienced, according to my faith tradition, is in the way that we support one another and, in particular, support the least among us.”
Graham took to Facebook the next day to explain why Buttigieg was wrong.
Graham shared a CNN story about the town hall on Facebook, and said, “Presidential candidate and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is right—God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws, and standards He gives us to live by.”
“God is God. He doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Mayor Buttigieg says he is a gay Christian and he wants to unite people behind him. I’m sure there will be many people who will want to follow. But as a Christian I believe what the Bible says. God’s Word defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised, or politicized. The Bible defines marriage as between a man and a woman—not two men, not two women,” Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, wrote.
“Mayor Buttigieg also said that to him, ‘the core of faith is regard for one another.’ We are definitely to support and help each other—no question. But that does not come above believing and being obedient to what God says is truth. Without that foundation, we really can’t help anyone in a way that impacts their eternity. The core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world—to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation,” Graham added.
Graham did not explain in the post why he has not issued a similar condemnation of documented liar, admitted sexual assaulter and alleged adulterer Donald Trump, who he has vehemently supported and defended.
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