Evangelist Franklin Graham delivered a message to those critical of President Donald Trump’s controversial plans for a border wall as well as the president’s ongoing quest to restrict immigration from six countries of concern: “Wake up.”
“We’re living in a very dangerous world,” Graham told Faithwire in an interview this week from our New York City newsroom. “For us, as members of the church, we are to be hospitable to everyone and to the refugees, to those who are hungry, those who are hurting … the Bible commands that.”
But Graham drew a distinction between the responsibility of Christians and the role of the U.S. government, saying it is the government’s job to decide who can and cannot come into America.
“It’s the government’s responsibility to protect its citizens and there are some very dangerous people out there,” Graham said, before offering up other examples of times in which walls have been built for the purposes of protection. “Jerusalem had walls and they had gates … the pope lives behind the wall.”
Watch Graham discuss these themes at the 21:00-mark below:
The evangelist, who heads both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, a humanitarian group, said he also believes Trump is right to be concerned about the worldview of those immigrating or coming into the U.S. as refugees.
“Donald Trump is right: we need to vet people more carefully to make sure that people who come into this country are of the same mindset that we are — that they have the same love for freedom and liberty and will be respectful of our laws,” Graham said. “I’m all for immigration … but we have to be very careful.”
In the end, he reaffirmed his belief that it is essential for people — even those who don’t like Trump and didn’t vote for him — to pray for the commander-in-chief.
“Donald Trump has won and I just have to take that as God’s will … there are a lot of kings that weren’t really godly people that God used,” Graham said, citing Nebakanezer, among others. “We just need to pray for Donald Trump. He’s the president whether you voted for him or not.”
As Faithwire previously reported, Graham’s new film “Facing Darkness” tells the unbelievable story surrounding Liberia’s battle with Ebola and the role that Franklin Graham’s organization, Samaritan’s Purse, played in helping fight against the disease. The movie, which aired for a one-night showing on March 30, will have an encore on April 10 in theaters nationwide.
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