Rev. Franklin Graham: 'Secularism is anti-Christ'

During an interview in which he complimented Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, questioned President Obama's religion and citizenship, and said he believes in the Bible "word for word," the Rev. Franklin Graham told ABC's Christiane Amanpour on Sunday that "secularism is anti-Christ."

"I look at the world in which we live today, and the secularism is anti-Christ," Graham said on ABC's "This Week." "It's every bit anti-Christ. We can't talk about Jesus in our schools. God has been kicked out of our government. Whether it's Europe or whether it's here, yes. The spirit of anti-Christ is in the world today."

In a complete journalistic failure, Amanpour did not press Graham, whose father Billy has had a private audience with every U.S. president since Harry Truman, on any of his comments, and instead gave him an unchallenged forum to spread his radical evangelical message, even asking at one point "what will the second coming look like?"

It's not surprising when a divise figure like Graham -- who last year created controversy by calling Islam "evil" -- spews theocratic nonsense. But it's beyond frustrating to see a prominent mainstream journalist like Amanpour give tacit approval to his radical views by refusing to question their accuracy or meaning -- by say, pointing out that the First Amendment's Establishment Clause clearly separates church and state. 

It's also interesting how Graham says that keeping religion and government separate is "anti-Christ" but that he believes the Bible "from cover to cover; absolutely, word for word." Hmm, I wonder what he thinks of Matthew 22:21, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Who said that, again? Oh yeah: Jesus! Does that mean Graham thinks Christ is "anti-Christ"?

What about Amanpour's next guest, Pastor Tim Keller, who said, "I personally think that the church, as the church, ought to be less concerned about speaking to politics and more concerned about service"? 

Does Graham think Pastor Keller is anti-Christ? We don't know. Because Amanpour didn't ask.