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Pastors Criticize Franklin Graham's Facebook Post in Open Letter

  • Carrie Dedrick Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Mar 23, 2015

Franklin Graham is facing criticism after he wrote a Facebook that went viral in which he told “blacks, whites, Latinos, and everybody else” that “most police shootings can be avoided” with “respect for authority.”

The Blaze reports other faith leaders have responded to Graham’s Facebook message in an open letter.

“We didn’t know if our words would resonate. We only knew the truth that we must speak in response to Graham’s outsized influence coupled with apparent ignorance,” said Lisa Sharon Harper. “In the end, a broad representation of national evangelical leaders agreed to sign this letter to Graham as principal signatories.

“We will not tolerate this type of flippant, patronizing commentary from faith leaders on critical issues that mean life and death for many in the body of Christ and in communities across America,” she wrote. “We won’t tolerate it, even one more day.”

In the post, Graham writes that: “If a police officer tells you to lay down face first with your hands behind your back, you lay down face first with your hands behind your back. It’s as simple as that.”

In response, the open letter reads: “The fact that you identify a widely acknowledged social injustice as ‘simple’ reveals your lack of empathy and understanding of the depth of sin that some in the body have suffered under the weight of our broken justice system.”

Publication date: March 23, 2015