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A famed Christian publication, Decision magazine, launched originally by Billy Graham, has delivered to voters a voting guide just as early voting starts for the 2024 presidential race.
It portrays this year’s contest as a fight between “socialism” and “freedom,” and it explains that the war is not just over politics this year; it’s over the values on which the nation will move forward, the moral choices now being made over atrocities like transgenderism, abortion, and more.
Issues on which the Bible clearly states a position.
And the nation may, or may not, choose.
The simple advocacy by a Christian organization for Christian principles, of course, immediately drew an attack from an organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
It boasted that it is asking the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s tax-exempt status over its “illegal campaign intervention.”
It claims that CEO Franklin Graham denigrates the Democrat Party’s platform.
In fact, he says, “Progressive, liberal thought and activism have so contaminated the mainstream of American life and culture that once-unthinkable abominations such as same-sex marriage, abortion on demand and transgender advocacy have become dogma in one major party’s platform.”
Those issues have become part of the political war being waged in America, but the fact that politicians have demanded to have their way on those points doesn’t make them any less an issue of faith, on which tax-exempt organizations have a right to opine.
The FFRF claims that the publication encourages voters to choose Donald Trump, quoting Trump’s statement at a Moms for Liberty event where he said, “Our enemies are waging a war on freedom and faith, on science and religion, on history and tradition, on law and democracy, on the family, on children, on America itself.”
The FFRF claims the only reason to use that quote is to “encourage readers to vote for Donald Trump.”
Its staff lawyer, Chris Line, claimed to the IRS the BGEA “has breached the responsibilities of its tax-exempt status by publishing an election guide that gives the clear impression that it favors one candidate over the other.”
However, the publication clearly focuses on moral and faith issues, topics on which religious organizations not only are allowed, but expected, to comment.
Franklin Graham, in fact, points out, “America has drifted far from the Biblical values that once stood as our rock-solid foundation. In so many ways, we have turned our back on God, and the results have been devastating. Progressive, liberal thought and activism have so contaminated the mainstream of American life and culture that once-unthinkable abominations such as same-sex marriage, abortion on demand and transgender advocacy have become dogma in one major party’s platform. Our dangerous plight reminds me of Isaiah’s warning to apostate Israel, which had abandoned allegiance to Almighty God and instead adopted the godless culture of surrounding nations.”
That warning, he quotes from Isaiah, was, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
He said the magazine has “carefully examined and outlined the positions of the presidential candidates and their parties on key moral issues. We also highlight the difference in the platforms of both political parties. Additionally, we examine the critical congressional and gubernatorial races, along with pivotal state contests.”
He continues, “The Bible clearly teaches that governments are ordained by God to restrain evil and enable righteousness to flourish (Romans 13:3-4). That’s why Christians should carefully pray and vote for candidates who best align with and stand for Biblical principles.”
Sections of the publication simply recite the facts. For example, Kamala Harris has attacked the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, has lobbied to make criminal those who hold Biblical views on sexuality, wanted government to be able to order businesses to pay for abortions, and pushed federal cash to colleges “that violate the religious liberties of students.”
On the other side, Donald Trump protected religious nonprofits from Barack Obama’s contraceptive mandate agenda, integrated religious freedom into America’s foreign diplomacy, and held a conference calling for an end to religious persecution.
On the issue of free speech, Harris demanded information from nonprofits about their donors, “which was widely seen as having a chilling effect on free speech,” and criticized conservatives who objected to pornography online and in libraries for “banning books.”
Trump “signed executive orders withholding federal funds from colleges that don’t protect free speech on campus” and “filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop, who had declined to use his artistic talents to create a custom cake that would celebrate a same-sex wedding.”
On abortion, Harris has tried to change the law to use tax dollars to pay for the wanton destruction of the unborn, tried to demand that pro-life centers promote abortion, and twice voted against protecting babies who survive abortion.
Trump defunded Planned Parenthood, appointed Supreme Court justices who overturned the faulty Roe v. Wade abortion precedent and cut U.S. funding for the United Nation’s abortion agenda.
Further comparisons followed, regarding border security, education, parental rights, and more, explaining the positions Harris and Trump have adopted.
For example, Harris as a senator tried to block religious freedom for adoption providers and as California attorney general refused to defend the law when her state voted to recognized marriage as being between a man and a woman only.
Further, regarding basic Christian beliefs, an article by Tony Perkins points out how Harris’ extremism even had her fighting “to overturn abortion safety standards for women.”
And he explains, “As believers, we understand that this earth is not our ultimate home. However, we must engage with the culture, including politics, while standing firm on the transcendent truth of God’s Word. Paul tells the Ephesians to keep standing (6:13). Will we turn this country around? We pray so, and we’ll work hard toward that end. When former president John Quincy Adams was asked a cynical question about the failure to end slavery after decades of trying, he said simply, ‘Duty is ours; results are God’s.’ Let us do our duty!”
The guide further addresses the significance of congressional votes as well as state and local races.
The guide explains, “In Virginia, voters in 2021 elected a conservative Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, to replace a liberal Democrat. One of Youngkin’s campaign slogans was ‘Parents Matter,’ which resonated in a state embroiled in controversy over how public schools were handling LGBTQ issues and the teaching of critical race theory. In the same election, Jason Miyares, a Republican who shares Youngkin’s views on those issues, was elected attorney general. Together, Youngkin and Miyares have required school boards and educators to respect parental rights, and Youngkin rewrote state guidelines for schools navigating LGBTQ issues, especially in regard to gender questions. The guidelines now say students’ participation in sex-segregated sports and the use of school locker rooms and restrooms should be based on a student’s biological sex. Also, school officials must call minor students by their given names in their official records, not preferred pronouns—unless a parent approves. In California, voters have a starkly different experience. Second-term Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has doubled down on pushing left-wing social trends in public schools. By his side has been the state attorney general, Rob Bonta, who has sued school districts that have tried to ensure parents have the right to object to radical policies or be informed if their student wishes to identify as the opposite sex.”
Even ballot issues matter, as extremists have proposed putting “gay marriage” into at least three states’ constitutions. Eight states will decide whether killing the unborn will be a “right” in those same state constitutions.
One article in the guide also notes that the nation got to the point of formalizing anti-biblical concepts because the Christian church has been “ignoring the outside world.”
“Evil has incrementally marched into every area of our culture – our schools, out universities, our media, our government – and we have done nothing about it,” wrote Rusty Guenther.
He wrote, “I believe we’ve gotten here by buying into the greatest lie that was ever sold to the church: that, for the sake of peace, we shouldn’t talk about politics and religion. You cannot separate politics from the Bible. The Old Testament is immersed in politics; it is about God creating a nation in the midst of lostness, with kings and kingdoms and rulers, and with prophets rebuking kings. That’s politics. And Jesus Christ came to Earth in the midst of one of the most dynamic political empires the world has ever known—one that had grown corrupt and divisive. If you don’t think the church used its voice to impact that culture, read the Bible. Christ’s followers were put to death when they wouldn’t bow to Caesar or remain silent about Jesus Christ.”
Included is the perspective of the late Billy Graham:
What would happen today if the Bible were the supreme authority in the United States, and if every individual in America would accept Christ as Savior and begin to live up to the terms of the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus Christ can solve the problems that the nation faces—the race problem, the crime problem, the home problem, the international problems. He can also lift the burdens that we have as individuals; He can reach the problems down in the innermost recesses of our own souls. The things I have said here about the United States are largely true in other countries as well, so those nations also need to repent if they are to be spared the judgment of God. But many of you have frustrations and difficulties on a personal level. You have a civil war raging inside of you. I want to tell you that Jesus Christ can solve that problem and lift that heavy burden. He can bring peace to your soul. My message today to the nations of the world is this—turn to God before it is too late! And that is my message to you as an individual as well. Turn to God before it is too late.
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