Rev. Franklin Graham. (AP)
In an interview on The Kelly File, host Megyn Kelly noted to Rev. Graham that “we’re now engaged in a war over there” against ISIS and “the president is taking some action.”
Reverend Graham, who heads the international relief group Samaritan’s Purse, said, “He is. But the Christians are being slaughtered. Listen, this storm was coming last year as ISIS was building. And everyone knew it.”
“I have people that work there [Iraq and Syria] and they saw these things happen, they saw it coming,” said Rev. Graham. “Certainly, the CIA and everyone else knew it, the White House knew it, but he [Obama] called them junior league or something J-V.” (JV refers to junior varsity.)
“So, it’s there,” he said. “And listen, Christians are not only being targeted but they are being butchered. The women are usually raped by the soldiers. The men are shot or beheaded in front of their families. This takes place every day.”
Host Megyn Kelly then mentioned a case, as disclosed by the Anglican Vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, about four children who were beheaded by ISIS for refusing to convert to Islam. Before they were murdered, the children said, “We love Yeshua [Jesus], we have always loved Yeshua, we have always followed Yesua. Yeshua has always been with us.”
Kelly asked Rev. Graham whether “in those circumstances, should Christians consider saying what the enemy wants them to say to preserve life?”
Rev. Graham, son of world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, said, “No, no. I think we take a stand for our faith. Christians have been martyred going all the way back to the Romans when they fed them to the lions. We would be betrayed, every person who stood for their faith, who stood for Jesus Christ, if we turned our back on Christ.”
In describing the martyrdom of the four children, Canon White related that ISIS jihadis had demanded of the children, “You say the words that you will follow Mohammed. … Say the words!”
But the four children, all under age 15, said, “No, we can’t,” and then they “chopped all their heads off,” said Canon White, who has multiple sclerosis, which slightly impairs his speech and movement. “How do you respond to that? You just cry.”
Canon White was ordered to leave Baghdad, where his church is located, by the Archbishop of Canterbury several weeks ago. Canon White told the story about the martyrdom of the four children, along with other instances of persecution by ISIS against Christians during a recent interview in Israel with the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Franklin Graham, 62, is married and has five children and numerous grandchildren. He and his wife, Jane Cunningham Graham, live in Boone, N.C. In addition to heading Samaritan’s Purse, Rev. Franklin Graham is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.