Jump to content

The Billy Graham Library

monsoon

By monsoon
in Charlotte Coffee House

Is the new Billy Graham Library good or bad for Charlotte's Image?  

56 members have voted

  1. 1. Is the new Billy Graham Library good or bad for Charlotte's Image?

    • Bad
      18
    • Good
      33
    • I resent this question
      5

Recommended Posts

monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

Posted
Posted

Today was the official ground breaking of the new Billy Graham Library located off the highway of the same name, and of course is named after one of Charlotte's most well known natives. While we have not talked much about this new development here I was surprised to learn this facility claim may draw more people to the city than the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Yet no downtown rallies for it.

The main dedicated was given by Graham's son, the Reverend Franklin Graham. Franlkin is most well known globally for his comments about Islam that were made after 9/11 "The God of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different God, and I believe a very evil and a very wicked religion."

So the question is. Will the new Billy Graham Library be good or bad for Charlotte's image?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 34
  • Created
  • Last Reply
wheatie Unincorporated Area

wheatie

Posted
Posted

The main dedicated was given by Graham's son, the Reverend Franklin Graham.  Franlkin is most well known globally for his comments about Islam that were made after 9/11  "The God of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different God, and I believe a very evil and a very wicked religion."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't see how Franklin's past comments are pertinent to the question. It is dedicated to Billy Graham and not Franklin. I have close friends and relatives who say things I don't agee with, but they do not define my views and they should not define a person's legacy. The addition of Franklin's quote seems to me an attempt to discredit the father, and at the very least is unfair. Anyone who knows Billy Graham's view on matters of other religions, knows that this statement by Franklin does not reflect Billy's approach to other religions including Islam.

The fact that Billy's son spoke at the dedication is not an explicit endorsement of all Franklin's views and past statements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wheatie Unincorporated Area

wheatie

Posted
Posted

Wow, must be a small library.  How many copies of the Bible and those Horrid "Left Behind" books do they need?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you're looking to offend with your comments, you have succeeded. Try reading C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Bunyan, G.K. Chesterton, Jonathon Edwards, Martin Luther, Pascale, Dante, Milton, Watchman Nee, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Solzenheitzen, Thomas Merton, Brother Lawrence, Thomas a Kempis, and many more. Agreed, the Left Behind Series is bad writing, but there are plenty of great works which could be included in a Christian library.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
Posted

Billy Graham has a positive national reputation. He has managed to be a very public person for half a century, and has mostly avoided scandal and inpropriety. His ministries handle serious amounts of money, but he took a salary and stayed out of the mess that many others fell into (a few of them also from this area).

Even franklin graham's comments are not inconsistent with those of most Christian denominations (universalism is not common in evangelical denominations). I know what he said was politically incorrect...but it isn't like he is a politician.

That isn't to say that everyone agrees with either Franklin or Billy Graham, but I certainly think that the reputations are mostly positive throughout the country and that their association with the city does help our reputation (although maybe not with some groups of people).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dale City

Dale

Posted
Posted

Today was the official ground breaking of the new Billy Graham Library located off the highway of the same name, and of course is named after one of Charlotte's most well known natives.  While we have not talked much about this new development here I was surprised to learn this facility claim may draw more people to the city than the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  Yet no downtown rallies for it. 

The main dedicated was given by Graham's son, the Reverend Franklin Graham.  Franlkin is most well known globally for his comments about Islam that were made after 9/11  "The God of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different God, and I believe a very evil and a very wicked religion."

So the question is.  Will the new Billy Graham Library be good or bad for Charlotte's image?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You'd prefer a Jim Bakker Library then then ? ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 year later...
Neo City

Neo

Posted
Posted

As a quick update this project is now complete. WSOC-TV is broadcasting the ceremony of the opening starting at 2PM and you can watch it live on wsoctv.com. Of worthy note is the worldwide attention to be received for Charlotte as Charles Gibson will be broadcasting tonight's ABC World News from the new Billy Graham Library. You can tune in to Charles Gibson tonight at 6:30PM EST on ABC stations, locally this is WSOC-TV Channel 9.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
capitalcity Unincorporated Area

capitalcity

Posted
Posted
As a quick update this project is now complete. WSOC-TV is broadcasting the ceremony of the opening starting at 2PM and you can watch it live on wsoctv.com. Of worthy note is the worldwide attention to be received for Charlotte as Charles Gibson will be broadcasting tonight's ABC World News from the new Billy Graham Library. You can tune in to Charles Gibson tonight at 6:30PM EST on ABC stations, locally this is WSOC-TV Channel 9.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

Posted
Posted

I have mixed feelings about this. While it's true that the two preachers most identified with Charlotte (Jim Bakker and Graham) were the least malevalent of famous preachers, I still wonder if Charlotte should want that kind of identification with flamboyant religion.

I think Graham's religion had a certain flamboyancy. He drew huge crowds like a spectacle. Bakker's religious focus was more gaudy, but I think less harmful than Graham's.

Frankly I have always been amazed at how quickly everyone forgave Billy Graham when his true (bigoted) feelings came out on one of Pres. Richard Nixon's famous tapes.

I'm also surprised that more people weren't as offended by Billy Graham's message as I was. I find his typical christian message of using fear and intimidation (about hell) to mold weak people's minds to be abhorent.

When I was 16, our church group went to see a film of Billy Graham's (this must have been 1970 or so) and it was the first time I had ever heard that kind of Baptist message. As a young whipper-snapper with an undeveloped intellect, I was SCARED TO DEATH after seeing that film.

Graham used fear and ignorance to his advantage to control people. I see no reason to exalt such a man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nowensone Burg

nowensone

Posted
Posted

To add to that, and some of the 2005 posts on this, Graham's son and his views are relevant to his father's dedication and memory. Dedications are typically done by those with some relationship to or significance to the subject, and certainly one can assume their is some similarity in ideals, beliefs, etc. Graham has always been careful not to reveal his real inner beliefs and feelings, but I think it is safe to conclude that they are less than equality for all. His fiery brand of religion, especially when at home with his family, must have had some influence and direct effect on his son. Billy Graham was famous for having "crusades", and being very public about the whole concept, I think we can read between the lines on that.

As to his evangelism, while it may have been more honest than many in this field, I still have a very negative opinion of it which centers around the asking of money and implicit or explicit damnation of groups that don't fit into the program. I do not want to see any such organization in a downtown setting, and I'd much rather have NASCAR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pazzo83 Unincorporated Area

pazzo83

Posted
Posted
If you're looking to offend with your comments, you have succeeded. Try reading C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Bunyan, G.K. Chesterton, Jonathon Edwards, Martin Luther, Pascale, Dante, Milton, Watchman Nee, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Solzenheitzen, Thomas Merton, Brother Lawrence, Thomas a Kempis, and many more. Agreed, the Left Behind Series is bad writing, but there are plenty of great works which could be included in a Christian library.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
voyager12 Town

voyager12

Posted
Posted

I am a Gay Jew so I am hardly a member of Graham's flock but I have always regarded him as a religious figure that has earned admiration from other faiths because of his willingness to dialogue with others of different views and be respectful. Graham's comments to Nixon about Jews were insulting and to Graham's credit he sincerely apologized when confronted. He has had warm relations with Jewish leaders for years. I have no doubt that he believes that his faith is the only way to be saved and the rest of us are damned. And he has the right to that opinion just like I have the right to disagree. But unlike the late Falwell and his ilk he does not express his faith through bigoted attacks and he also has never used his powerful position in American Christianity to push for anti-gay legislation of any kind. An important difference given how integrated The Republican Party has become with most of the leaders of the Christian Right in this country. As a final aside to Billy Graham vs. Homosexuality, well know crime fiction author Patricia Cornwell is a very close friend to Billy and Ruth Graham and is a lesbian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

Posted
Posted

^^^^^oh trust me, I'm the first one to admit 100 Grahams is better than 1 Falwell! lol

But just because he wasn't "as bad" as his peers, doesn't mean he wasn't bad. Just put yourself in the brains of all the weak minded individuals that heard Billy Graham speak over the years. People who were gay, or non believers, or Jews, or sexually promiscuous, or independent minded, etc----imagine the fear and intimidation so many of our fellow human beings felt, after listening to Billy. Imagine all the self hatred that people felt over the years when they realized they didn't fit Billy's and the Baptists' requirements.

How can so much misery be ignored? After I saw the Billy Graham film (when I was 16) I had nightmares about hell, and satan, etc for weeks. Things I had never had nightmares about as a youngster~~~

I realize lots of people felt inspired by listening to Billy speak, and from reading his writings. On this thread he has received quite a bit of praise. I must be one of the very very very few people who hold him in contempt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mallguy Town

mallguy

Posted
Posted
Doesn't mean a thing. Many southerners who were Democrats became so as a revolt against the Party of Lincoln, the Republicans. Jesse Helms was originally a Democrat and the former KKK member and current high ranking member of Congress Robert Byrd is also a Democrat.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.