Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham and the CEO of the Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse, has been criticised by the megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes for his recent comments regarding U.S. President Barack Obama’s Muslim roots.
Graham told media of his conviction that Obama was born a Muslim and that those religious roots affect his governance today. Franklin insisted that although Obama claimed to be a Christian, the “seed of Islam” is in him and “the Islamic world sees the president as one of theirs.”
In an interview with columnist and Obama biographer Roland S. Martin, Jakes said Graham’s comments deeply concerned him.
“We didn’t question the Christianity of President Bush when he said he accepted Christ, and I’m disappointed in Rev. Franklin Graham in that regard,” Jakes told Martin.
”…And I would hope that he would see the rationale in apologizing for such statements — because if the president’s faith is suspect, then all of our faiths are suspect, because the Bible is quite clear about what it takes to be saved and the president has been quite open about his accepting Christ and him openly confessing it before men. And if it’s good enough for the Bible it ought to be good enough for the rest of us.”
“I wish he had the diplomacy of his father, who brought the gospel to people without being nuanced by politics because when you do those things you offend people that you are actually called to save and to serve,” added Jakes.
(Image shows Obama with T.D. Jakes at the recent White House Easter Prayer Breakfast).