[W]hat set Graham off was this lovely ad, released by Wells Fargo in April. For those who can’t watch clips online, the minute-long commercial shows a lesbian couple learning sign-language before meeting a young deaf girl they’re adopting. Where Graham sees “moral decay,” some of us see perhaps the sweetest banking commercial of all time…. “It has dawned on me that we don’t have to do business with them,” Graham wrote in a Facebook post, referring to Wells Fargo. “At the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, we are moving our accounts from Wells Fargo to another bank…. This is one way we as Christians can speak out - we have the power of choice.”
Ah, America; where the power of choice is the very essence of freedumb. Each and every American has the power to make choices about any number of things…even when those choices may turn out to reflect poorly on the person doing the choosing. In this case, it’s the Very Most Righteous Rev. Franklin Graham, the self-acclaimed veritable Mouthpiece of the Almighty. Graham is distressed that America is, in his eyes, at least, becoming more tolerant of sin, licentiousness, and all manner of sexual impropriety. To his way of thinking, homosexuality is immoral, ungodly, and anti-Christian…and he’s certainly entitled to that opinion. This being a free country, I’m also free to regard him as an intolerant, hyper-religious, authoritarian zealot who’s WAY too concerned with the sexuality and private sexual conduct of consenting adults.
In fact, Graham’s so concerned that his organization not participate in the increasing homosexualizing of America that’s he’s pulled BGEA’s assets from Wells Fargo. He’s free to take his money where he chooses, of course; it’s a free country, right? If he’s so deeply offended by an ad portraying an adorable couple working hard to learn how to communicate with the deaf child they’re adopting…well, that’s his prerogative. Freedom of choice, right? Except in Graham’s case, it’s freedumb of choice…because his “protest” in moving BGEA’s assets to BB&T has left him with no small amount of egg on his face, because the new home he chose for BGEA’s money is fairly openly tolerate and supportive of the LGBT community. Oops…. This is what happens when you don’t do your homework, kids.
Don’tcha just LOVE it when bigots and haters move into the house at the intersection of Karma and Schadenfreude??
Graham may not have done much research, as BB&T has received an 80 percent score in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and this year is the sponsor of the Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade, along with the chief sponsor of Miami Beach Gay Pride’s “Legacy Couples” program, which celebrates same-sex couples in “committed relationships of 10 years or longer.”
A bank spokesman said the company hopes to “support the individuals and organizations that broaden our perspectives and strengthen the diverse fabric of our communities. That’s why BB&T is proud to be a part of this day of pride and celebration of the 2015 Legacy Couples.”
In fact, BB&T hosted a same-sex couple’s wedding reception earlier this year “in a makeshift chapel at event sponsor BB&T Bank South Beach branch.”
Yeah…about that whole “fighting the tide of moral decay” thing….
Rev. Graham may believe that he’s in the right, being as how he’s so thoroughly godly and all…but the truth is that he’s on the wrong side of history. If he removed his anterior from his posterior (and with it his Old Testament mindset), he’d recognize that Jesus never preached against homosexuality. In fact, Graham’s personal Lord and Savior was all about love, tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion…something that seems to have been conveniently ignored because it doesn’t mesh with his personal prejudice and hatred.
Nice try, Reverend. The next time you decide to give vent to your considerable righteous moral fury, you might do a little research first. Just a thought.
Yep, there’s nothing that registers extreme moral outrage quite like moving large amount of God’s money from one financial institution bearing the indelible stain of moral depravity to another financial institution bearing the indelible stain of moral depravity.
I wonder if Rev. Graham has considered banks in Uganda and/or Nigeria? I’m sure the (undoubtedly VERY stable) financial institutions in those countries could be certified by him as suitably morally upright and anti-gay.
