Alaska News

Who is Franklin Graham?

franklin_grahamAlaska Natives have seen their share of Christians spreading The Word throughout their villages over the past 150 years, at times to their detriment. Now a couple villages in western Alaska are going to meet the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, thanks to Gov. Sarah Palin, who has invited Franklin Graham on her trip Friday.

Who is Franklin Graham?

Well, besides being the son of Billy Graham, Franklin is the head of Samaritan's Purse, a Christian evangelical group that helps distressed communities worldwide. The group has a done a lot of good around the world but has also come under attack at times for its preaching, including encouraging abstinence to combat the HIV epidemic.

In an interview with Frontline on PBS, Franklin said, "I believe that God created one man and one woman. He gave sex to us, God did, and sex is to be enjoyed and is to be used within the bounds that God created.... In sexual behavior outside the parameters that God created, we're at high risk, and we're seeing the evidence of this with HIV/AIDS. We're outside of these parameters, and we have a huge global problem now."

Then there was the time when Graham referred to Islam as "a very evil and wicked religion" in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

How his brand of Christianity will go over in rural Alaska is anybody's guess.

For more on Franklin Graham, check out his Wikipedia entry.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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