Today an Article came out by the associated press titled: “Billy Granham backs NC anti-gay marriage amendment”. In the article the Rev. Billy Graham is urging North Carolina voters to support an amendment that will ban gay marriage in that State. One observer said this move was highly unusual but another said it was in keeping with the minister’s moral beliefs.
Graham was quoted as saying;
"Watching the moral decline of our country causes me great concern," said Graham, 93, who lives near Asheville. "I believe the home and marriage is the foundation of our society and must be protected."
Graham states "At 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage," Billy Graham's statement continues:
"The Bible is clear — God's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. I want to urge my fellow North Carolinians to vote for the marriage amendment" Tuesday.”
In the AP article Danny Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary was quoted as saying, “ he's not surprised that Graham took such a strong stand on Amendment One. "I think he would see this as I do, not so much as a political issue — which it is — but a moral issue," Akin said. "He believes it's right to affirm that marriage should be understood as a covenant between a man and a woman."
The article states: “ Although Graham's last crusade was in 2005, he remains deeply influential. In April 2010, President Barack Obama made the pilgrimage to meet with Graham, continuing a tradition of counseling commanders in chief that began with Dwight Eisenhower.”
Billy Graham is one of the most recognizable figures in the world, a man who for more than 60 years has spoken in person to over 100,000 million people on 6 different continents, in 85 countries, and in all of America’s 50 states. Graham has ministered to millions around the world, has counseled Presidents and Prime Ministers, and is a leading figure in the Evangelical movement of the 20th Century.
Those who Stand Firm in the Faith on biblical teaching are often attacked and ridiculed for their faith and biblical stand on homosexuality. Last year there were several stories of Christians that suffered persecution for their faith on this issue. Below is an excerpt of a story from August 2011 of a Florida School teacher that was at risk of being fired for posting his personal opinions on his own Facebook wall regarding the New York decision to legalize same sex unions.
One must ask … is what happened to this man’s case going too far? Surely it is. This man made a profession of his faith on his Facebook acct and quoted Romans 1 and what the Bible says about Homosexuality, doing so on his own personal computer at his home on his face book account, not on School district property or equipment and this man was at risk of losing his Job. (Buell was reinstated to his teaching position several days later. He was supported by teachers at the school as well as students) These are perilous times indeed. (2 Tim. 3:1 - 5)
Below is just an excerpt from this article:
Florida Teacher Suspended for Anti-Gay Marriage Posts on Personal Facebook Page
By Todd Starnes
Published August 19, 2011
FoxNews.com
“ A former “Teacher of the Year” in Mount Dora, Fla. has been suspended and could lose his job after he voiced his objection to gay marriage on his personal Facebook page.
Jerry Buell, a veteran American history teacher at Mount Dora High School, was removed from his teaching duties this week as school officials in Lake County investigate allegations that what he posted was biased towards homosexuals.
“We took the allegations seriously,” said Chris Patton, a communication officer with Lake County Schools. “All teachers are bound by a code of special ethics (and) this is a code ethics violation investigation.”
Patton said the school system received a complaint on Tuesday about something Buell had written last July when New York legalized same sex unions. On Wednesday, he was temporarily suspended from the classroom and reassigned.
Patton said Buell has taught in the school system for 22 years and has a spotless record. Last year, he was selected as the high school’s “Teacher of the Year.”
But now his job is on the line because of what some have called anti-gay and homophobic comments.
Buell told Fox News Radio that he was stunned by the accusations. “It was my own personal comment on my own personal time on my own personal computer in my own personal house, exercising what I believed as a social studies teacher to be my First Amendment rights,” he said.
The school system declined to comment on the specific Facebook messages that led to their investigation, but Buell provided Fox News Radio with a copy of the two Facebook messages that he said landed him in trouble.
The first was posted on July 25 at 5:43 p.m. as he was eating dinner and watching the evening news.
“I’m watching the news, eating dinner when the story about New York okaying same-sex unions came on and I almost threw up,” he wrote. “And now they showed two guys kissing after their announcement. If they want to call it a union, go ahead. But don’t insult a man and woman’s marriage by throwing it in the same cesspool of whatever. God will not be mocked. When did this sin become acceptable?”
Three minutes later, Buell posted another comment: “By the way, if one doesn’t like the most recently posted opinion based on biblical principles and God’s laws, then go ahead and unfriend me. I’ll miss you like I miss my kidney stone from 1994. And I will never accept it because God will never accept it. Romans chapter one.”
According to the school system, what Buell wrote on his private account was disturbing. They were especially concerned that gay students at the school might be frightened or intimidated walking into his classroom. Patton also disputed the notion that Buell’s Facebook account is private.
“He has (more than) 700 friends,” he said. “How private is that – really? Social media can be troubling if you don’t respect it and know that just because you think you are in a private realm – it’s not private.”
Buell’s attorney strongly disagreed and accused the school system of violating his First Amendment rights.
“The school district is being anti-straight, anti-First Amendment and anti-personal liberty,” said Horatio Mihet, an attorney with the Liberty Counsel. “The idea that public servants have to whole-heartedly endorse homosexual marriage is repugnant to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” Mihet told Fox News Radio.
“All he did was speak out on an issue of national importance and because his comments did not fit a particular mold, he is now being investigated and could possibly lose his job. What have we come to?”
See the rest of this Article at Foxnews.com
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Billy Graham
backs NC anti-gay marriage amendmenthttp://www.charter.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9UGS2Q02%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1018
Billy Graham backs NC anti-gay marriage amendmenthttp://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/02/billy-graham-backs-nc-anti-gay-marriage-amendment/
Billy Graham Backs Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment In North Carolinahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/billy-graham-backs-nc-ant_n_1472485.html