Christian conservative Franklin Graham
has criticized comedian Rosie O'Donnell after she told House Speaker
Paul Ryan that he would go “straight to hell.”
On Saturday, Ryan, a practicing Roman
Catholic, tweeted a Christmas message: “At the end of each year, no
matter how short – or long – it may feel, there is always
Christmas. Waiting for us is that sense of wonder the shepherds felt
when the angels appeared in the night sky to herald the birth of a
Savior.”
O'Donnell responded: “paul ryan –
don't talk about Jesus after what u just did to our nation – u will
go straight to hell u screwed up fake altar boy #JUDASmuch.”
O'Donnell was referring to passage of
the Republican tax overhaul.
In a Facebook post, Graham, the son of
televangelist Billy Graham and a supporter of President Donald Trump,
suggested that O'Donnell, who is openly gay, was going to hell.
“Rosie, you don’t have the keys to
hell, but I know the One who does. And I can tell you who will be
there. Hell is going to be filled with people who rejected God’s
offer of salvation and turned their backs on His laws and standards,
refusing to repent,” wrote Graham, a vocal opponent of LGBT rights.
“Jesus Christ is God in the flesh,
and He took your sins and mine to the Cross, dying in our place, so
that we might live–if we would turn from our sins and put our faith
in Him. I hope one day you will put your faith and trust in Jesus
Christ and let him heal your heart, clean up your mouth, and forgive
your sins. Do that today – you’ll never regret it,” he added.