As the Juneau Assembly considers a city ordinance that would protect the rights of all, including those in the LGBTQ community, a religious group that thinks homosexuality is “sinful” is holding a prayer rally in the capital city Friday.
Franklin Graham, president/CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and son of televangelist Billy Graham, is traveling the country for the “Decision America Tour 2016.”
BGEA vice president Steve Rhoads said it’s an opportunity for Christians to come together in prayer and present the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“We believe that the country is in a lot of trouble and the only answer to the problems we’re facing would be to call the church back to God and to prayer,” Rhoads said during a Tuesday phone interview.
He was en route from a prayer rally in Salem, Oregon, that drew about 3,600 people to another in Olympia, Washington. The tour is stopping in every state capital. Juneau will be Decision America’s 32nd stop. The rally will be held noon Friday at Savikko Park’s Pioneer Pavilion.
“In an election year, we all have a decision to make, so it’s certainly a call for Christians to be more engaged and more involved in every part of public life, which would certainly include voting, but it also means getting actively involved in school and community and standing up for what we know to be right,” Rhoads said.
According to its “Statement of Faith,” BGEA believes “… marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.” Rhoads said homosexuality is considered “sinful.”
“The good news is you can be forgiven of all that and that’s what Franklin would want to say. Most people want to talk about what the Bible is against; the Bible is a book of good news, which says you don’t have to live like that anymore, you can be changed, you can be set free,” Rhoads said.
On his Facebook page, Graham recently denounced other hot issues like abortion (“We need to pray that … Roe. v. Wade will eventually be overturned in this country,” written in a May 27 post) and transgender people (“Doesn’t a person’s DNA or birth certificate count for anything? Shouldn’t fact override fantasy? God created people male and female,” written in a May 26 post).
Rhoads said he doesn’t know what Franklin will talk about at Juneau’s prayer rally – it may not be any of these issues — but, in general, Rhoads said there’s been a loss of tolerance for people who hold these types of views.
“More and more Christians are becoming marginalized and the idea of standing up for the Bible or for our faith in Jesus Christ is becoming more and more difficult in this country, so that’s what’s driving this,” Rhoads said of the prayer rallies.
Graham’s visit to the state capital comes at a time when the Juneau Assembly is considering an equal rights ordinance that would protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Public comment last week on the introduced ordinance was almost all in support.
SEAGLA board member Greg Smith said the alliance organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people supports the ordinance as written.
Smith doesn’t have a problem with the BGEA prayer rally or how the organization feels about the LGBTQ community. He said one of the great things about living in Juneau is diversity.
“We have a prayer rally going on Friday and then in a few weeks or so our Assembly is considering an ordinance to not allow discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. That’s the type of community I want to live in,” he said.
Smith said he might feel differently if the prayer rally tries to restrict his freedom or the freedom of others by, for example, telling people to protest the nondiscrimination ordinance.
“If there is a call … to make our community less understanding, less compassionate, less diverse, just to lessen our community, then I will start to have a problem, but as of right now, I’m fine with it,” he said.
Smith said, of all states, Alaska is a place where people of all faiths and beliefs coexist respectfully, and the ordinance can only strengthen that.
“We live in Alaska because we can feel freer than most places in the world and that’s such a gift.”
Faith at the ballot box
On the Decision America Tour website, Graham states, “I’m going to every state in our country to challenge Christians to live out their faith at home, in public and at the ballot box.”
The website has a Register to Vote link that eventually takes you to State of Alaska’s online voter registration system if you select Alaska. One of the tour’s slogans is, “Pray. Vote. Engage.”
Yet, Franklin states on the website, “We will not be endorsing any political candidates,” and that’s repeated several times on his Facebook page. The website states, “no political party or politician is the answer. Our only hope is Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Richard Green of the evangelical Glacier Valley Church of God said the church has always been involved in politics and it’s important for Christians to vote.
“We hope we’ve done a good enough job at expressing our beliefs as a people and we try to find a candidate that would protect religious freedom, a candidate that holds conservative values, a candidate that would be in favor of life, a candidate that would be responsible fiscally.”
Green said his church has been promoting the prayer rally to the congregation, which has a membership of about 190, but isn’t part of the event leadership. Glacier Valley Church of God did hold a pre-prayer rally service where 10 Juneau churches came together to pray for Friday’s event. There’s been one each month for the last several months at different churches.
Green said it’s the church’s job to promote values, and not necessarily a candidate, although some churches may endorse someone specifically.
No one at Glacier Valley Church of God has asked him who he’ll vote for yet, but Green said it’ll probably happen.
If pressed, “I would tell them who I would vote for, but I don’t tell them who to vote for,” Green said. He “traditionally” votes for the Republican candidate and doesn’t see this year being any different.
• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.
