Texas pastor is 'bridge' between top politicians and conservative Christians
By Eric Killelea,
Religion Reporter
Pastor Jack Graham on Sunday morning took the stage at Prestonwood Baptist Church's student ministry building in Plano, Texas to deliver a sermon on "Saving the Family." The former president of the Southern Baptist Convention held the service there rather than at the sanctuary after a violent storm ripped a hole in the roof of its 7,000-seat worship center north of Dallas. Despite the wholesome title of his message, Graham told his 45,000-member congregation they were engaged "in a spiritual war described in the Bible" against liberals in opposition to God, Jesus and scripture.
"The American family is under attack," Graham said. "Satan is deploying weapons of mass corruption against the family. Your family and mine and especially our child. And the world is the battleground."
If Graham's rhetoric sounds familiar, it's likely because he's one of the leading thinkers influencing Texas' most powerful religiously conservative politicians, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott—who visited Graham's SBC-affiliated church in April and earned praise for keeping churches open during the pandemic. That group of conversatives, among many others, has increasingly been calling for spiritual warfare against liberal enemies as they attempt to infuse elections, public education and healthcare with Christian ideals.
Snip
Conservative Texans seeking to blend their versions of Christianity with politics isn't a new phenomena, said Denker, who wrote about Graham in her 2019 book, titled Red State Christians: Understanding the Voters Who Elected Donald Trump. But she believes it's important to consider the similar ways Graham and his political counterparts use language. "It's not rhetoric about loving your neighbor. It's not rhetoric about caring for the poor. It's not rhetoric about spreading the teachings of Jesus. I don't hear any of that," Denker said. "What ties them together is rhetoric that demonizes immigrants and women and seeks to put themselves above others and sort of make a hierarchy at the top."
More
The Chronicle has now called out two influential SBC pastors in this State - Ed Young, Houston and this disgusting POS.
= new reply since forum marked as read
