Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist
Billy Graham, on Thursday condemned President Barack Obama's
endorsement of gay marriage.
Graham, who backed Tuesday's passage of
Amendment One, North Carolina's gay marriage ban, said the president
has “shaken his fist” at God.
In making his endorsement, Obama cited
his faith, telling ABC News that he and the First Lady “are both
practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered
to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we
think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not
only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it's also the
Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be
treated.”
In chiding the president, Graham said
marriage “is 8,000 years old and was defined not by man, but by God
Himself.”
“In changing his position from that
of Senator/candidate Obama, President Obama has, in my view, shaken
his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It
grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage,
though I believe it grieves God even more.”
Graham
added that “changing legislation or policy will never change
God's definition” and “This is a sad day for America.”
Billy Graham, 93, also called
on North Carolinians to approve Amendment One.