ADDENDUM::Gushing Over Graham, or, How Much is That Anti-Semite in the Window? | Mark Axelrod

As I was writing up my post concerning Pat Robertson's tirade against Mikey Weinstein of MRFF, I was reminded of an "incident" that came to light in 2002 involving none other than the Rev. Billy Graham.

"This stranglehold (i.e. the Jewish one) has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain," said Graham who went on to agree with more anti-Jewish Nixonian comments.

"You believe that?" Nixon goes on.

"Yes, sir," Graham says.

"Oh, boy," counters Nixon. "So do I. I can't ever say that but I believe it."

Graham continues, "No, but if you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something,"

During the same exchange, Graham says he has Jewish "friends" in the media, who "swarm around me and are friendly to me." But, he continues, "They don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to this country."

What some may remember is that this private exchange took place in 1972 and was first publicized in H.R. Haldeman book The Haldeman Diaries (1994). Even though I had left the church by then, I hadn't quite come out of the atheist closet (that didn't occur privately till 97 and "publicly" until 1998/9.) I was still agnostic, still holding on to some "hope" of salvaging my immortal soul. I grew up on Billy Graham, every televised crusade, three attended in person. My introduction to Corrie Ten Boom came through Graham. I'm fairly certain that when Halderman's book was released, this revelation would have rocked my world, but I remember nothing.

But why is this important? What makes Billy Graham's anti-Semitic remarks different from Robertson's?

If one digs deeper, the remarks are the "same," just different words. "Tuesday, Feb. 1, 1972 entry, Haldeman wrote "There was discussion of the terrible problem arising from the total Jewish domination of the media, and agreement that this was something that would have to be dealt with" (Diaries, 405). According to James Warren, a Chicago Tribune staff reporter, in an article dated March 1, 2002, Haldeman also said that, "Graham has the strong feeling that the Bible says there are satanic Jews and there's where our problem arises."

Unlike Robertson, Graham did issue an apology, "Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman some 30 years ago. They do not reflect my views and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks."

In his public life, unlike Robertson, Graham was never heard to speak ill of those of the Judaic religion. "The one thing critics of Billy Graham have failed to come up with is a single act, a single syllable in the public career of Mr. Graham that could be interpreted as anti-Semitic. There can't be another living American whose day-by-day life has been more minutely examined. When did he say anything anti-Semitic? When did he egg on critics of the Jews? When did he by inflection, let alone declaration, seek to undermine the Jewish state?"

Unlike Robertson, Rev Graham did not "attack" a specific individual. "'There’s a left-wing radical named Mikey Weinstein who has got a group about people against religion or whatever he calls it, and he has just terrorized the armed forces,' Robertson opined. 'You think you’re supposed to be tough, you’re supposed to defend us, and you got one little Jewish radical who is scaring the pants off of you.'”

But, no matter how one were to look at both Graham and Robertson, they remain anti-Semitic in their sentiments. Apology or not. And yes, the 2002 disclosure pretty much shut down any return to the church. When an icon falls (Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, Benny Hinn), reason does not allow one to turn back the clock.

Gushing Over Graham, or, How Much is That Anti-Semite in the Window? | Mark Axelrod