Billy Graham on the Jewish stranglehold

The late Billy Graham was a devout evangelical Christian, so no one should have expected him to praise rival religions. His son preaches about the evils of Islam.

The Atlanta newspaper reports:

At first, Graham denied comments Haldeman made in his book, "The Haldeman Diaries" that Graham and Nixon had disparaged Jews in a conversation following a prayer breakfast in Washington D.C. on Feb. 1, 1972. Haldeman said Graham had talked about a Jewish “stranglehold” on the country.

''Those are not my words," Graham said in May 1994. ''I have never talked publicly or privately about the Jewish people, including conversations with President Nixon, except in the most positive terms.''

Graham was believed and the matter dropped until 2002 when tapes from Nixon’s White House were released by the National Archives. The 1972 conversation between Nixon and Graham was among those tapes, and Graham had to face the fact that he had been recorded saying the things of which Haldeman accused him.

The tapes proved damning.

''They're the ones putting out the pornographic stuff,'' Graham had said to Nixon. The Jewish ''stranglehold has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain,'' he continued.

Graham told Nixon that Jews did not know his true feelings about them.

''I go and I keep friends with Mr. Rosenthal (A.M. Rosenthal) at The New York Times and people of that sort, you know. And all -- I mean, not all the Jews, but a lot of the Jews are great friends of mine, they swarm around me and are friendly to me because they know that I'm friendly with Israel. But they don't know how I really feel about what they are doing to this country. And I have no power, no way to handle them, but I would stand up if under proper circumstances.''

I do not know what Graham's concerns about Jews were precisely, but it is a fact that "They're the ones putting out the pornographic stuff". The newspaper does not say anything to the contrary, except that Billy Graham apologized to the Jews. I guess he wanted to keep getting favorable stories in the NY Times and other Jewish media.

Apparently some people were offended by what Graham said.

It is a little silly to promote a religion, unless you can explain why it is superior to the alternatives. Graham may have thought that Jews and Moslems and others were going to Hell. So what? If you believe him, then you are probably a Christian anyway. If you subscribe to some other religion, then you are rejecting his message, and have no reason to care about his opinions.