Must we repeat ourselves? We will. Evangelist Franklin Graham surely must have forgotten the sage advice from a verse in Proverbs, about holding one's tongue and "being counted wise."

We said that nearly a year ago when the North Carolina-based head of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and son of famed Charlotte-born evangelist Billy Graham gave a thumbs-up to Donald Trump as a presidential candidate.

In that same interview with ABC News' Christiane Amanpour, Graham repeated the many-times-disproven silliness that President Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States, and expressed skepticism about Obama's Christianity. "He has told me that he is a Christian. But the debate comes: What is a Christian?"

Here we go again.

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe" television show Tuesday, Graham once more questioned Obama's religion. Asked whether he thought Obama is a Christian, Graham said: "You have to ask him. I cannot answer that question for anybody. ... He has said he's a Christian, so I just have to assume that he is."

Pressed further, Graham insinuated that Obama could be a Muslim: "Islam sees him as a son of Islam because his father was a Muslim, his grandfather was a Muslim, great grandfather was a Muslim and so under Islamic law, the Muslim world sees Barack Obama as a Muslim." When asked if Obama is secretly a Muslim, he said: "I can't say categorically (that he isn't) because Islam has gotten a free pass under Obama."

Graham is wrong. Islam hasn't gotten a free pass under Obama, whose administration has worked to root out Islamic terrorists around the world. This is the kind of ill-informed and irresponsible babble we've criticized Graham for before. Sadly, he continues to foster such untruths and innuendoes, and to espouse intolerance. None of it jibes with Christian tenets.

Of course, Graham is part of a larger problem in our political discourse today. Demonization of those with differing political views, and casting them as un-American, has become de rigueur.

GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum started this most recent round of vilification of Obama with comments he made a few days ago in Ohio. He said Obama's political agenda is based on "some phony theology, not a theology based on the Bible." Santorum hastened to add that he wasn't criticizing the president's Christianity. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, also vying for the Republican presidential nomination, chimed in on Tuesday, calling Obama's energy policy "outrageously anti-American."

These are not too subtle xenophobic appeals. They are what should be dubbed un-American.

This country is dealing with significant problems. We need politicians - and religious leaders - committed to bringing us together to tackle them, not pushing us apart with irresponsible and false rhetoric.

News media are culpable too. We too often provide a platform for such nonsense when we don't have to, and elevate these inanities when our time is better spent in helping the public focus on more serious matters. We have a responsibility to the public and must do our jobs better.

As for Franklin Graham, the less the better - words he should try to live by.