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Since I see a lot of the usual suspect moaning about Rick Warren (who I also don't support, but I understand what Obama is doing), I thought I remind people about anti-semite, anti-gay Pastor Billy Graham  Anti-Semitic comments
In 1994, H. R. Haldeman's diaries revealed that Graham had taken part in conversations speaking of Jewish domination of the media. The allegations were so at odds with Graham's public image that most did not believe his account, and Jewish groups paid little attention. Graham released a statement denying that he talked "publicly or privately about the Jewish people, including conversations with President Nixon, except in the most positive terms." He said, "Those are not my words."<14>
In 2002, however, newly declassified "Richard Nixon tapes" confirmed remarks made by Graham to President Nixon three decades earlier. Captured on the tapes, Graham agreed with Nixon that Jews control the American media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with Nixon.<26> "This stranglehold has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain,"<27> said Graham, agreeing with Nixon's comments about Jews and their influence in American life. Later, Graham mentions that he has friends in the media who are Jewish, including A. M. Rosenthal, saying they "swarm around me and are friendly to me." But, he tells Nixon, "They don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to this country."<26> These remarks were considered highly controversial by some Jewish leaders such as Abraham Foxman, who characterized them as anti-Semitic.<14>
When the tapes were publicly released, Graham apologized for his remarks, stating, "lthough I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made ... They do not reflect my views, and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks,"<28> and "If it wasn't on tape, I would not have believed it. I guess I was trying to please... I went to a meeting with Jewish leaders and I told them I would crawl to them to ask their forgiveness."<29> According to Newsweek magazine, "he shock of the revelation was magnified because of Graham's longtime support of Israel and his refusal to join in calls for conversion of the Jews."<29>
Other issues
* Malcolm Boyd expressed dismay at Graham's silence and alleged hypocrisy involving the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal. In his essay "Superchrist of a Superstate," Boyd stated: " must surely be considered a religious leader, but it is a serious question now to what extent he has compromised his position as a moral leader."
* Graham has been careful to take reasonable compensation far below what other television evangelists would later receive. Graham, along with associates whom he called the "Team," created in 1948 what one of them called, "The Modesto Manifesto," because they produced it in Modesto, California. They decided among themselves to avoid certain problems that gave evangelists a bad name. The first item on the list was a matter of money, to which Graham was sensitive, because of the practices of some unscrupulous evangelists. (The "manifesto" proceeded to note the dangers of sexual immorality, criticism of local churches, and exaggerated publicity.).<30><31> The official biography of Graham is John C. Pollock's Billy Graham: The Authorized Biography (1966). Other helpful biographical studies include William G. McLoughlin's Billy Graham: Revivalist in a Secular Age (1960), Curtis Mitchell's Billy Graham: The Making of a Crusader (1966), The Reader's Companion to American History (1997), Gospel Communications Network (GCN), Time Daily (Nov. 95), and People (1997).<31>
* In 1993, Graham said in Columbus, Ohio, "Is AIDS a judgment of God? I could not say for sure, but I think so." After seeing letters criticizing that comment, Graham later said, "I remember saying it, and I immediately regretted it and almost went back and clarified the statement," and "To say God has judged people with AIDS would be very wrong and very cruel."<4><5>
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