Billy Graham group removes Mormonism from list of cults
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left, meets with the Rev. Billy Graham, center, and his son Franklin Graham last week in Montreat, N.C. AP/ Evan Vucci
Evangelicals have been handed one more hint that it’s all right to vote for Mitt Romney, whose Mormon faith has long been considered beyond the pale of American Protestantism. From the Charlotte Observer:
This week, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed Mormonism from its list of religious cults.
The reclassification follows Romney’s visit to Graham’s mountain home last Thursday, a meeting that also included Graham’s son Franklin, who now runs the association for his 93-year-old father….
An article on the Graham website had classified Mormons, along with Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists and Scientologists, among others, as cults.
“Our primary focus at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has always been promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Ken Barun, the evangelical association’s chief of staff, said in a prepared statement. “We removed the ( cult) information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”
Mark DeMoss, head of an Atlanta public relations firm and a close adviser to the Grahams, has acted as a liaison between traditional evangelicals and the last two Romney campaigns for president.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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276 comments Add your comment
Bob
October 18th, 2012
12:22 pm
Billy Graham is one Baptist Minister,
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) which is the 2nd largest Denomination in the United States (Catholic #1) Still Lists Mormanism as a cult. Top 5 Cults According to the SBC are: The Mormon Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Worldwide Church of God, the Unification Church (the Moonies), and Christian Scientists (Scientology).
emo
October 18th, 2012
12:23 pm
I used to know a lady who said “I can’t vote for somebody who thinks Jesus and Satan are brothers!” I’m sure she’ll hold her nose and vote for him, though…
Shine
October 18th, 2012
12:24 pm
the Graham kook society wants to distance themselves from the Mormon as a cult thang simply because they dont want to be involved in the politics of it. That’s why they have no stand on gays, abortion, and practically any other social issue like pre marital sex, adultery, etc etc etc …Its just too political for these hypocrite phoneys to fathom….gag
atllaw191
October 18th, 2012
12:26 pm
I was instructed as a young child to read all of their books, listen to all of their broadcasts, and now to know they were only spewing what ‘THEY WANTED ME TO KNOW’ like reading only the parts of the Bible they wanted me to learn, not the “other parts”…seems like a sham now, doesn’t it. “Train a child in the way he (sic she) should go and he will not depart from it.” now so trite…I find it incredibly damning that the way they have lived will determine the way they have died!
Ghost
October 18th, 2012
12:28 pm
Shows you the depths of the religious right’s hyprocrisy. They had to get Romneny of “the List” in order to try to get him elected. What happened to sticking to your convictions in times of adversity?
BobDog
October 18th, 2012
12:32 pm
@Big Al
Those darned Romans weren’t very good at preserving graves. I recently had the opportunity to visit the sites where the Apostles Paul and Peter are buried. St. Peter is buried beneath St. Peter’s Basillica in the Vativan. St. Paul is buried nearby in Rome.
Billy
October 18th, 2012
12:36 pm
I still believe it to be a cult, but after searching on the internet for a simple, scriptural explanation, other that fruitcake sites, I can’t find one. I vote GOP, so MR’s mormonism won’t stop me in the slightest. I sure would like to get a definitive book on why this a cult. Someone loaned me a book back in the early 80s on how the various denominations were in scriptural error. I grew up a baptist and was shocked that they had some scriptural errors. I swore off going to anything that was denominational at the time, but have since mellowed out. I go to First Assembly in Griffin; it’s not perfect, by far, but for a denominational church, it’s mostly scripturally correct. The pastor is a respecter of persons to a small degree, but then again, apart from his preaching from the pulpit, I don’t like him, either…
Kim Huffman
October 18th, 2012
12:39 pm
What is the evil Mormon kryptonite, Coca Cola doing in the picture…is the dead looking guy in the center trying to kill off Mitt?..call the secret service, quick!!!
Bob
October 18th, 2012
12:41 pm
From an evangelical perspective, Mormonism is not faithfully or soundly Christian because it deviates from historic, biblical standards of orthodox Christianity. For example, Mormonism teaches that God the Father is an exalted Man, that Jesus, angels, and human beings were all the literal spirit offspring of our “heavenly Father and Mother,” and that the ultimate goal of the Christian life is to become exalted to Godhood ourselves. The LDS Church derives these doctrines from its expanded canon of “scripture” that includes alleged modern revelations given to Joseph Smith, who claimed to be the Prophet through whom God restored true Christianity to the earth.
http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbnew.aspx?pageid=8589952813 (North American Mission Board of the SBC)
Anne
October 18th, 2012
12:43 pm
Just shows anyone/anything can be bought and sold. There is a reason we were founded with a Separation of Church and State/(government).
Bob
October 18th, 2012
12:44 pm
BTW – as a Baptist I will still vote for Romney. We can’t withstand 4 more tears of Obama’s mismanagement of the Economy, and our Nation…
lefty_316
October 18th, 2012
12:46 pm
Billy Graham considers Unitarianism to be a cult? How dare he. The great Joseph Priestley, one of the Unitarian founders, was a brilliant man, a poly-math of the first degree. Bill Graham is a stupid backwoods hick from Oklahoma.
I’m simply amazed that there are still people in this country so incredibly ignorant that they believe the Bible is word-for-word true. The Southern Baptists, the Pentecostals, the Assembly of God……I have nothing but disdain for the literalist beliefs these uneducated fools.
Joanne32a
October 18th, 2012
12:46 pm
AD70 was the end of the Jewish religion as the world knew it. Jesus prophesied that it would be destroyed in Matthew 24. That is the only time He said He would come … not some other time way out in the future as Billy Graham has taught all of these years… along with Hagee, LaHaye, Lindsey, Camping. The “second coming of Jesus Christ” is not in the Bible… anywhere.
He came INTO His followers on the Day of Pentecost and continues to live IN His followers today.
It has nothing to do with any “second coming” in this or any other generation.
AD70 ended the old Jerusalem … and all of its Jewish practices… temple, feasts, priests, etc.
Jesus said … “this generation would not pass away until all of these things happened” The generation He was talking to was the one standing right there with him. Remember audience relevance. Stick to the correct tenses and you will find the 1st century generation of believers were the ones going through tribulation… not our generation which is what Billy Graham has taught all these years.
MoveOnForward
October 18th, 2012
12:49 pm
I don’t care, i’m votin for obama. I wants MY FREE HEALTH CARE, MY FREE CABLE, AND MY FREE SECTION 8 HOUSE!
Proud American
October 18th, 2012
12:50 pm
I am a Christian and who are Billy Graham and his son, God. So, just because Billy Graham and his son say so, or remove this we are suppose to say. Well, okay just because they said so. I hate that they are letting their political biases get in the way. If you check their past records, they have never embraced a Democrated President. Sad.
kjh
October 18th, 2012
12:51 pm
i always felt that billy was the one preacher that couldn’t be swayed, but you lost me on this one billy.
Jeff H
October 18th, 2012
12:51 pm
TechRon wrote at 11:14 that Mormonism is a theology “so crazy” and “downright zany” and that he “finds their religious beliefs strange and unsupportable”. He then says Mormons, as a people, are “honest, hard working, moral, ethical, etc.” Here’s my question for others to consider: how does a mormon theology which RonTech characterizes as crazy, zany, strange and unsupportable produce a mormon people that is ” “honest, hard working, moral, ethical, etc.”? Another question for others to consider: What’s crazy, zany, strange and unsupportable about a theology that produces people who are honest, hard-working, moral, ethical, etc.?
Brenda
October 18th, 2012
12:54 pm
Shame on you.
Joanne32a
October 18th, 2012
12:54 pm
Hey Billy Graham housekeeper/chef/waiter/maid …. You could have kept the Coke cans in the kitchen.
Exrider
October 18th, 2012
12:57 pm
Did Graham also determine that the Mountain Meadows Massacre was not a mass murder?
Know them by their fruits.
emo
October 18th, 2012
1:08 pm
Hey, Joanne32a, where you been? There are still plenty of Jews around, who folllow their religion faithfully, just not with the Temple and sacrifices. You’ve mentioned this twice now, and one could get the impression you might have a “Jewish Problem”. Maybe you should read Constantine’s Sword by James Carroll, a former Catholic priest, to see where that leads.
Lynn
October 18th, 2012
1:14 pm
And if I gave a rat’s behind about any of the Grahams (which I don’t, as I don’t trust those who are “professionally religious”), this might mean something. But I don’t, and it means nothing. Wait, I take that back. If the Grahams are supporting a person, that person is likely ethically challenged and not someone I could ever support.
gm
October 18th, 2012
1:18 pm
Does this surprise anyone? This is the same Billy Graham who refused to help Martin Luther King while he was being beaten during the civil rights era, its ok to change our principals and belief as long as you dont support the black guy who confess to be a christian.
Who in their right mind can take white evangelicalism preachers serious? after they preached the bible in one hand and rode with the klan the same night.
Hopper
October 18th, 2012
1:20 pm
And with this courageous decision, the Billy Graham Ministry moves purposefully into the 19th century.
WPDP
October 18th, 2012
1:23 pm
Dear Obama Supporters:
The Billy Graham Evangelical Association does not keep a keep a list of cults. So Mormonism was not removed from the imaginary list. All that happened was that Billy Graham endorsed Romney because it is believed he is better for America and Christian values than Obama. He says, ” I hope millions of Americans will join me in praying for our nation and to vote for candidates who will support the biblical definition of marriage, protect the sanctity of life and defend our religious freedoms.”
lefty_316
October 18th, 2012
1:23 pm
Joanne32 if you will do a bit of research you’ll find that the very first Christians, a sect that was established around 80 AD, were called the Ebionites. They were based in Jerusalem and believed Jesus was the Messiah. They did not, however, believe in the immaculate conception, nor the resurrection, nor the divinity of Jesus. They were the original Christians and their beliefs were mainstream at the time.
It wasn’t until much later, until the authors of the New Testament got ahold of Jesus, that he turned into a whiz-bang miracle man who got up after being dead 3 days, brushed off the dirt and got on with things. Chrstianity, in fact, was doing just fine until the authors of the New Testament came along and totally corrupted it.
Tag
October 18th, 2012
1:29 pm
All religions are cults.
All are based on faith not fact.
Danny Haszard
October 18th, 2012
1:34 pm
Destructive cult or benign religion?
The *Cult* word gets overused,but in some cases it is appropriate.
The definition of a destructive religious cult is like alcoholism-if booze controls you instead of the other way around you are an alcoholic.
I was in the Watchtower society Jehovah’s Witnesses,they are not benevolent and won’t let you leave their organization in peace.The Jehovahs are not without scandals-child abuse,deceptive mind control tactics, sex scandals, money scams, general bad behavior.
Is it a cult?
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck….
Danny Haszard *tell the truth don’t be afraid*
PlaonTruth
October 18th, 2012
1:41 pm
Anything european created is a CULT !! Therefore Billy Graham and Mitt Romney are all occults. Christainty is the same filth that was instrumental in slavery. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doug
October 18th, 2012
1:41 pm
Whiff, whifff, I smell money and power. Move over principles.
Robert Wayne
October 18th, 2012
1:42 pm
Just another slick ploy by Romney! He knows he is in a cult or he would not have visited Graham. As for Billy Graham. Shame on you for selling out! I have lost all respect for you!
Paul
October 18th, 2012
1:45 pm
For a history lesson – almost 1700 years ago the church met and established the Nicene Creed – we Christians believe in the Trinity – a couple hundred years ago a man in New York found gold tablets that he used to define his belief in 3 gods – the father, the son and the holy ghost. So now – Graham says the 3 gods are not a cult? So what god is Graham praying to? – the Trinty or some other set of gods?
And for those “Christians” who say the Nicene Creed is wrong – in the beginning was the Word – and the Word was God and was made flesh….or see the http://www.spurgeon.org.
Dirty Dawg
October 18th, 2012
1:47 pm
Wonder what that cost em? He’s bribed every one of his former Repug opponents to either say something nice or not say nothin.
Jed
October 18th, 2012
1:51 pm
On the subject of civil rights:
You can espouse all the lies about Billy Graham you want, but he’s still the man who once bailed Martin Luther King Jr. out of jail in Birmingham and once told a white audience, “we have been proud and thought we were better than any other race, any other people. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to stumble into hell because of our pride.”
Yeah, sounds like a real racist.
And Joanne32a @ 10:22 a.m.: Matthew 24:23-31; Matthew 24:36-44; Matthew 25:31-46; Acts 1:10-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8. Sorry for all the references, I just thought you’d like to know the Bible has a lot to say about Jesus PHYSICALLY returning one day. Sending the Holy Spirit was a different thing entirely.
You say, “For a Christian who bases his hopes on a second coming of Jesus sometime in the future has to be a complete mindless nutcase.” Um, that’s pretty much all Christians then, regardless of denomination. It’s a universal teaching in the Bible.
RomeGaGuy
October 18th, 2012
1:52 pm
go watch this episode of South Park http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s07e12-all-about-mormons
Tap Out
October 18th, 2012
1:53 pm
I’m too intelligent to be a republican.
Joanne32a
October 18th, 2012
1:54 pm
Jesus pronounced judgement on the generation living at the time of His prophecy in Matthew 24 Mark 13 and Luke 21
– The same “wicked and adulterous generation” who was asking for a sign (Matt. 12:39, 16:4)
- The same one He calls an “unbelieving and perverse generation,” of which He asks “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” (Matt.17:17.
- The same one that would reject God’s only Son: “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generatino” (Luke 17:25)
- The same one to whom John the Baptist came and about which came about which Jesus lamented, “To what shall I compare this generation?” (Matt. 11:16-24)
- The same one who would crucity Him: “Therefore, this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.” (Luke 11:50, 51b)
- They were worse than all previous generations “more wicked… That is how it will be with this wicked generation. (Matt. 12:45)
- And the same one Apostle Peter warned his contemporaries about: “Sve yourselves from this corrupt (perverse) generation” (Acts 2:40)
- As far back as the Song of Moses in the Old Testament, which prophesied what the end of Israel would be like, God spoke through Moses of this same perverse generation, thusly: “I will hide my face from them… and see what their end will be for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful…. I will heap calamities upom them and spend my arrows against them. (Deut. 32:30, 23)
The generation Jesus was clearly speaking to that was due for destruction was the one living at the time He spoke it… NOT OUR GENERATION.
Judgment did come in AD70 via the Romans and did away with the old Jewish religious system of that day. What the Jewish people today are doing means nothing… they can worship however way they want …. however… the old Jewish religious system was based on temple, priests, blood sacrifices, feasts, etc.
Jesus destroyed that system. If you look real closely you will see a empty temple mount …
He called it a “sign of this coming” in the clouds.
Proud American
October 18th, 2012
1:55 pm
I recently watch old footage on PBS of Billy Graham with former President Richard Nixon. It showed that Graham ran to his side even after he found out that Nixon was wrong with Watergate. Just because they are both Republicans. It showed that he stayed by Nixon and continued to tell Nixon how great he was. I became so disappointed in Mr. Graham after this because from what I see, the apple does not fall to far from the tree. Franklin Graham seems to be worst that his father when it comes to politics instead of what is right with God. It also looks like Franklin Graham sat his father in front of the camera for this photo shot. It is Franklin Graham who is endorsing Romney. Sad.
Robert
October 18th, 2012
1:57 pm
@Joe Velardita – “Think about it. A virgin birth?”
Your lack of respect for the greatest story ever told is unacceptable. Try opening your Bible with a group of friends who can help you understand the true meaning of the birth, death and resurection of Jesus Christ especially as we approach the holiday seasons. Jesus said “he is the light of the world and no one can get to the Father unless they accept him as their personal savior.” There is still time to redeem yourself and save your own soul. Real Christian’s know that when Jesus died on that old rugged cross and came out of the grave in 3 days we have the “Victory”. Real Christian’s know we are just being faithful until he returns. How can I help serve you? Are you hungry, sick, homeless? Are you in need of prayer? Know is the time. Praise the Lord.
arlene
October 18th, 2012
2:03 pm
How much did Mitt contribute to Graham’s church? That charlatan and his son should be ashamed for selling out to that arrogant, disrespectful idiot. OBAMA.. 2012 FOR THE NEXT 4 YEARS.
Ivory
October 18th, 2012
2:06 pm
Money attracts Money; it just goes to show how much the Graham’s are hypocrites, have alway’s been, and alway’s will be!
emo
October 18th, 2012
2:07 pm
Joanne, it’s all foretold:
30 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,
2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.
5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.
6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.
If you have a problem with Jews, reread v.7 a few times.
arlene
October 18th, 2012
2:07 pm
If Obama were a white man running on the Democrat ticket, Romney would be toast! Face it, folks….it’s all about skin color! Go, Obama.
Joanne32a
October 18th, 2012
2:09 pm
It is men like Billy Graham and his futurists buddies that the world of Christianity is in the mess it is in today. Graham always taught Jesus was coming within this generation which is completely against what Jesus Christ said. Jesus said “this generation shall on pass away until all these things happened” …. “this geneation” mean… the generation He was speaking to NOT OURS.
He did escatly what He said He would do to “that generation” Graham wants to negat Jesus’ words…like he either lied or didn’t know what He was talking about.
However, Mr. Graham… you are the one who is wrong. Just look what happened in AD70… to “that generation” …. the only generation that deserved judgement and the only one Jesus said it would happen.
Have fun explaining that to God when you meet Him …. You were the one mistaken… you are the one who misguided believers all these years… making light of Jesus’ words and replacing them with your own.
Jay Money
October 18th, 2012
2:13 pm
God deals with THE TRUTH, The devil deals with LIES..If you vote for Romney, your voting for the devil and in effect you too are the devil..
june
October 18th, 2012
2:15 pm
Billy Graham is a man of God for a long period of time and he should know better than of what he said. He know in his heart that the Mormons are cult. Not because they will support you in the ministry you will compromise with their belief or tell the people that they are not cult since they are cult. Other people said that all religions are cult, you don’t know what you are talking about. Accept Christ before you die because you will go to Hell and to be tormented day and night the Bible said.
Joanne32a
October 18th, 2012
2:15 pm
I don’t have a problem with Jews. The true Jew is one who has his heart circumcised not his penis. The only thing that made Abraham righteous was his faith in the SEED (Jesus) that was coming.
Jesus came to save the Jew first… then the gentile. Salvation is of the Jews… Jesus taught that. He was their messah first… to the Jew first… then the gentile.
Most of “that generation” did not want the spiritual kingdom Jesus offered but that didn’t change anythying. His spiritual kingdom still moved forward within the 40 remaining years of “that generation” …. winding up in AD70 with the destruction of “that generation” … just like the destruction of “that generation” that came out of Egypt who wandered in the desert for 40 years.
Salvation is of the Jews…
Jay Money
October 18th, 2012
2:20 pm
BG, just die already..damn…
Robert
October 18th, 2012
2:20 pm
@I voted for Ralph Nader – “Christianity is a total fraud.”
Have you ever been sick, hungry, homeless? Have you ever felt pain? Do you go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning? If you never had any of these problems in your life somebody’s “praying for you”. Maybe it’s your Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, etc.? One day I hope you get on your knees and thank God for his Son Jesus and ask Jesus to forgive you even on your death bed. He will always love you. Praise the Lord…
The Truth
October 18th, 2012
2:21 pm
Operation Christmas Child is all I have to know about the Grahams. What a wonderful work.