Transcript of Hannity & Colmes guest appearance by Franklin Graham on 10/03/01

A.C. = Alan Colmes
S.H. = Sean Hannity
F.G. = Franklin Graham

A.C. Why would god let this happen?
F.G. Ah.. that's a mystery. Ah.. Allen I don't think I can really answer that. We know there is natural disasters, we know there is hurricanes and tornadoes, and good people end up getting hurt, and it is a mystery, but we do know that god does love us, we know he cares, and the bible tells us that god so loveth the world that he gave his only begotten son, that who so ever believeth in him shall not perish but have forever lasting life. God does care, and he does love, and we have, ah.. we have come to the city just within a few days of the, of the ah...
A.C.. You opened up a ministry here...
F.G. It's a prayer center, When I saw the hundreds and hundreds of people on the street looking for their loved ones, many of them realizing that they would never see them again, we sent a team of ministers up here, and we opened up a prayer center where a person can call and talk to a minister. We don't ask for anything, we don't want anything, we're just here to give, just to pray with people, to answer their questions, read scripture to them, and it's right here in New York, and it's a, it's a wonderful thing for the New Yorkers to...
A.C. You know, it's interesting that the churches and synagogues become fuller after atrocities like this, and the question still pervades: Why..., how do you explain both to the faithful, and to those who might be searching for faith that something like this could happen to us?
F.G. Again, ah.. it's hard to.., hard to.., to answer these things, except we were confident that god does love us, he does care, and he wants us all one day to be with him in heaven and I hope that if there could be a silver lining, and I don't...I can't speak for god, I don't know god's mind...
A.C.. Everybody thought that Graham did speak for god, no...
F.G. No, but I hope out of this there may be an awakening, a spiritual awakening in this country. Ah.. this country, we.., we need as a nation, we need to ask for god's forgiveness. This country ah.. has sinned against god. We think of the pornography, we think of the violence that's on television, we think of what we use now in this nation for entertainment you know displeases god, and I hope that what's happened in the last few weeks will turn America once again to god, that we will seek his faith, that we will ask forgiveness, and we will be willing to open up our hearts and we will receive his salvation, his son Jesus Christ into our hearts and into our lives...
S.H. Reverend, welcome to the show, good to see you.
F.G. Thank you sir.
S.H.. I'm a big fan of yours and of your dad's. How ah... Well your dad was magnificent during that memorial service. How's he feeling?
F.G. He's ah.. he's doing quite well, he's right now in California, in Fresno..
S.H.. I hope he's watching...
F.G. I hope so too. But he has a campaign, a crusade ah.. starting this ah... next week. Be a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Fresno, California
S.H.. Well, terrific. It's amazing he's going strong
F.G.. He's going strong...
S.H. Still going strong [mumbling] and the reason is, he's the real deal. I want to ask you specifically. You were talking about America turn to god, and so on, and I agree with you. Ah.. In light of... If an individual sins, he loses the protection of god? He loses the safety net perhaps? Is that a way to put it?
F.G.. It's what separates us from god.
S.H. And... and that works as a nation also?
F.G.. Sure, and I think... [garbled]
S.H. Nation..
F.G.. Sure, we see, when you read the scriptures, how Israel would follow god, and then after a number of years they would begin to slowly turn, and then you would read that there would be a period in history where they didn't seek god, didn't seek his faith, and all the calamities would come up on Israel...
S.H. Yeah
F.G.. And then something would happen, and Israel would turn once again to god, and seek his faith, and I'm hoping and praying for our nation. I love this country, I love America, I love the freedom that we have, ah... the freedoms that we have allowed other nations around the world to have, but we have become a violent place, ah... we,. we are consumed with violence and sex,
S.H. Yeah.
F.G. And ah... and you know that this, this angers god, and it hurts him, and I hope as a nation, all of us individually will seek god, and his will for our lives, you know all of us, one day, are going to step through that portal of death, everyone of us, and we need to be ready to stand before a holy god and give an account to him for our lives
S.H. I think we all do. I think that is good advice for everybody, even liberals, by the way
A.C.. Liberals believe in god too, by the way...
S.H.. Just kidding, I'm kidding. I want to ask you, ah... you know the controversy with reverend Falwell, I know reverend Falwell, and he's a friend of mine, and ah... and he's said that,.. I mean, was he speaking philosophically, as you just have, about {speedo?] nation will always have to look up and perhaps reevaluate, cardinal Levy just said the same thing this week... that's a good thing for a nation to do, correct?
F.G. Yes. I think as a nation we should, and I am speaking for us as a nation. We have a Christian heritage. This nation ah... was built on men and women who came to this country, looking for,.. for religious freedom, and they wanted to worship god freely, and they were Christian pilgrims, they came, and then others, they followed them, puritans and so forth, but we have turned our back on god, the bible says 'In god we trust', our coin, our currency, but we have not put our faith in god, as a nation, for the last 20, 30 years we have put our faith and trust in our 401k's, we have put our faith and trust in our stock portfolios, and when we saw September the eleventh, when the World Trade Center ah... ah... was hit, in that horrible attack, the symbols of.., of our economic strength, came crumbling down, and I think for many people, they realized that at that moment, ah... we need to put our faith and trust in god, and we saw the churches, the next Sunday, all across America just fill with people going back to worship god.
A.C. We need to take a break right there.....

TV COMMERCIALS

S.H. We'll now continue with reverend Franklin Graham. We're now at war. I believe, the people who are responsible for this attack on America, they had biochemical, weapons, that they had nuclear, tactical nuclear weapons, they would use them against us. We're gonna go to war, we're gonna kill people. How do we resolve the conflict with religion? Is that the moral thing to do?
F.G. I believe the United States has the right to protect itself. I believe that our president, ah... George W. Bush, ah... should do everything in his power ah... to protect the shores of this nation and the American citizens. We were attacked on September... actually we were first attacked when you go back to the first time the Trade Center was bombed, when our embassies were bombed, when the Cole was bombed, and for some reason it took four strikes to get America's attention, but what... George W. Bush, he's doing the right thing, he says...
S.H. You must think, under president Clinton we should have gone to war...
F.G. No question. I think if he had made really a strong effort to go after..., after bin Laden, he might not have had this problem we've had the last two... but we don't know that. But we do know there is a god in heaven, he is in control, one day I'm gonna stand before god, as we all are, and we'll have to give an account to god for us, and we need to be ready to stand before our holy god, and we need to confess our sins, ask god's forgiveness and receive his salvation, his son Jesus Christ...
S.H. Let me ask you about whether or not this is a holy war. The head of the Afghan ruling Taliban warned everybody that's against, ah..., that's with the opposition that they could be... getting punishment as traitors and get ultimately death, and he warned against reinstating the former Afghan king, that's what he said, he said, do you think the king, if he were back in power, will arrest Christian proselytizers, like we do, and the point I been making, is this extremist, fanatical, form of Islam, is about world-wide domination, pushing back the west, and putting those values forward.
F.G. That's exactly right.
S.H. Is this a religious war?
F.G. Well, they.. they see it a religious war. We don't. We are taught tolerance, we are taught to respect people of another faith, but you go to these, many of these Muslim countries. You don't have the freedom of religion, you have in Saudi Arabia, you don't have it in many... I work in the Sudan, I have a hospital in the Sudan, a hospital in the southern Sudan last year was bombed on seven separate occasions. some of our staff was killed in those bombings, so we have seen what happens to the Christians, and most of these are black Africans that are being attacked by Muslims, and the black Africans predominantly are Christians and they have paid. Two million have died with their life...I mean,,, have given their life for their faith in Jesus Christ. We don't understand that in this country where we have tolerance. But most countries around the world, you don't have... especially in the middle east, you don't have the freedom not to worship, and if you're a Muslim, and you want to change your faith, to Christianity, you would be put to death. What are they afraid of?
A.C. Reverend, you referred earlier to the entertainment in this country, you referred to some of the sins that Americans commit. Are you in any way saying that we brought this on ourselves?
F.G. No. I'm not god, and ah... ah... I certainly I can't speak for god, or I don't want to say this is judgment, but it's a fact, but I think that the way we have lived our life in this nation it certainly displeases god
A.C. Is there any connection with that and the events of September 11th?
F.G. I have no idea, you'll have to ask god, and you know what, he don't talk to liberals
-Laughing-
A.C. God won't talk to a liberal?
F.G. Yes he will.
A.C. You know I can understand why so many people found faith through you and your father, when you say things like that. Ah... you're quoted in this week's Time magazine. [unintelligible] the biblical history of the Israelites. 'You turn away from god, and god would allow calamity'
F.G. Yes
A.C. And that suggests again that you're suggesting a connection between a calamity and turning away from god, and that this is a message from god for us to find him.
F.G. No. I think... ah... as we read the scriptures, all I can do is just give you what the scripture says. Every time there was a calamity, many times where there was a draught, whether it was a war, god would many times use that to serve as a wake-up call to the Israelites, and they would turn back to him, and so we have seen throughout history where this is the case, whether September 11th was god's judgment on this nation, I would not want to say that, I don't know that, but what I do hope and pray is that somehow this will wake up America spiritually and turn their faith towards god.
S.H. Reverend, last question. Biblical predictions of floods, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, this sign... I mean...is it potentially the end?
F.G. Well in Matthew's, chapter 24, our lord gives, ah... what he..., what is going to happen to end of time, and there is going to be wars, and there is going to be rumors of war, and there is going to be famine, there's going to be earthquakes, like the world has never seen, and of course we've seen in recent years, that seems to be escalating, and I personally believe that we are in the midnight hour of god's clock.
S.H. You do?
F.G. I do. Ah... and whether we have 30 years or a hundred years left, I don't know, but things are rushing to a climax..
S.H. Reverend... good to see you. I'm glad your dad's doing OK, and come back and see us....