Franklin Graham claims harassment, calls his NY coronavirus relief critics ‘tone deaf’
Franklin Graham on Tuesday called critics of his Samaritan’s Purse coronavirus relief effort in New York City “tone deaf.”
And being continually “harassed” is diverting “precious resources of time and energy and personnel away from serving COVID-19 patients” by Graham’s Boone-based nonprofit Samaritan’s Purse, Graham posted to his 8.5 million Facebook followers.
On March 28, Samaritan’s Purse trucks delivered a 68-bed emergency field hospital, medical supplies and equipment to New York City, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. An advance team, including a Samaritan’s Purse doctor, had left the night before for New York, according to the ministry.
Gay-rights supporters in New York immediately blasted the presence of the organization and the Statement of Faith the Boone-based non-profit requires employees to sign. Critics are upset over a line in the Statement of Faith that says “marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.”
On Tuesday, Graham, the Charlotte-based evangelist and son of the late Billy Graham, posted on Facebook that many people “have expressed their appreciation and support” for the organization’s New York relief effort.
“Sadly some New York officials and a special interest group have expressed concerns or outright opposition to the presence of Samaritan’s Purse and our field hospital in Central Park,” Graham posted to his 8.5 million Facebook followers.
Graham singled out eight Democratic members of New York’s congressional delegation, along with the New York City Commission on Human Rights and the Reclaim Pride Coalition.
“It’s a shame that the federal government has left New York with no other choice but to accept charity from bigots,” N.Y. State Sen. Brad Hoylman tweeted the same weekend the Samaritan’s Purse field hospital arrived in New York City.
Graham said Samaritan’s Purse has “never asked any of the millions of people we have served to subscribe to anything.”
“It seems tone-deaf to be attacking our religious conviction about marriage at the very moment thousands of New Yorkers are fighting for their lives and dozens of Samaritan’s Purse workers are placing their lives at risk to provide critical medical care,” Graham posted.
In an April 9 interview with the Observer, Graham said: “All of our doctors and nurses and staff, (they’re) Christians. We believe it’s very important that — as we serve people and help people — we do it in Jesus’ name. ...
“Of course, I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s part of who we are,” he said. “So we have a long list of things we want people to understand and agree with before we take them to work with us.”