# Billy Graham dies at 99 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269 "2018-02-21T14:56:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/1 "2018-02-21T14:56:26Z")
Graham’s Crusades for Christ were a regular fixture on tv for much of my early life. His organization presented specials that ran a couple times a year. I always enjoyed hearing his sermons. He created a wonderful organization that transformed many lives. > **[Billy Graham, whose 'matchless voice changed the lives of millions,' dies at...](https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/02/21/us/billy-graham-obit/index.html)** > > Evangelist Billy Graham -- a confidant to presidents, a guiding light to generations of American evangelicals and a globe-trotting preacher who converted millions to Christianity -- died Wednesday at the age of 99, his spokesman confirmed to CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/2 "2018-02-21T14:59:49Z")
Billy: I am here Jesus, I am awaiting my paradise! Jesus: Look Bill, you did my work pretty good…but you were kiiiiiiind of an asshole about it… ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/3 "2018-02-21T15:06:56Z")
I’m ambivalent about him. On one hand, he seems to be quite sincere in his beliefs and he wasn’t one of these “send my money and I’ll have God bless you” televangelists. On the other, he seemed to be an “America! Fuck yeah!” kind of guy. I don’t think fervent nationalism and Christianity are compatible. Plus, he afflicted the world with Franklin Graham, who has a vicious anti-gay and pro-Republican agenda. > [@](#): > > In my opinion, Putin is right on these issues. Obviously, he may be wrong about many things, but he has taken a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda. > Read more at: [https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/franklin\_graham](https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/franklin_graham) He also praised T\*\*\*p on many occasions, another trait incompatible with Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/4 "2018-02-21T15:09:22Z")
Screw him. He was Nixon’s Holy Roller lap dog. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/5 "2018-02-21T15:16:51Z")
To be fair, he preached with Martin Luther King and he wouldn’t preach in South Africa unless the crowds were integrated. On race relations, he was quite a bit ahead of his time. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/6 "2018-02-21T15:37:54Z")
Graham has been frail for quite a few years. He hasn’t been involved in the National discourse for over a decade. It’s probably closer to two decades since he was regularly seen on tv in the news. So many evangelists got caught up in scandal. Jimmy Swaggart and Jim & Tammy Faye Baker being the most notorious examples. Billy was the exception that wasn’t in it for the money or fame. He preached salvation through Christ and that message never wavered throughout his seventy year ministry. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/7 "2018-02-21T15:38:57Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > To be fair, he preached with Martin Luther King and he wouldn’t preach in South Africa unless the crowds were integrated. On race relations, he was quite a bit ahead of his time. Bully for him. He’s still playin’ cribbage in Hell with Billy Sunday right now, and the deck is missing all the Jacks. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/8 "2018-02-21T15:45:49Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Plus, he afflicted the world with Franklin Graham, who has a vicious anti-gay and pro-Republican agenda. I don’t think it’s all that fair to blame the parents for how the kids turned out. Especially kids of famous parents. I think Billy would be somewhat appalled by how Franklin is acting if he had been in his right mind the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/9 "2018-02-21T15:52:30Z")
I was sure that Billy Graham would make it to 100 or more. Almost, but not quite, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/10 "2018-02-21T15:56:13Z")
Billy Graham and gangster Mickey Cohen… > **[God and the Gangster: How Billy Graham Tried to Save Mickey Cohen - Criminal...](https://www.criminalelement.com/god-and-the-gangster-how-billy-graham-tried-to-save-mickey-cohen-jake-hinkson/)** > > Publicity makes for strange bedfellows. So does crime. So does religion, for that matter. Add publicity, crime, and religion together, and you get the fascinating story of how the Reverend Billy Graham set out to save the soul of the most notorious... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/11 "2018-02-21T15:59:33Z")
To be fair, his daughter [deserves](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/08/09/preacher-anne-graham-lotz-the-solar-eclipse-is-god-judging-america-somehow/) [some](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/01/20/anne-graham-lotz-god-may-send-a-nuclear-strike-to-punish-us-for-immorality/) [note](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/05/13/anne-graham-lotz-god-controls-the-weather-and-reveals-terrorist-plots-also-evolution-is-evil/), too. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/12 "2018-02-21T16:09:52Z")
Loved him in the WWF. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/13 "2018-02-21T16:19:45Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Screw him. He was Nixon’s Holy Roller lap dog. Christopher Hitchens called him a “religious valet” to the presidents. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/14 "2018-02-21T16:49:33Z")
Don’t know anything about his religious work, but I always liked his crackers. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/15 "2018-02-21T16:50:06Z")
The Dope weighed in a few years ago: [Billy Graham; he’s one of the good guys, right?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=666967) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/16 "2018-02-21T16:54:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Don’t know anything about his religious work, but I always liked his crackers. Graham crackers were originally invented by a Presbyterian minister to prevent masturbation\*, so you’re not to far off the mark. \*They were originally blander. Exciting food = Satan fuel, was the thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/17 "2018-02-21T16:56:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > He preached salvation through Christ and that message never wavered throughout his seventy year ministry. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Bully for him. He’s still playin’ cribbage in Hell with Billy Sunday right now, and the deck is missing all the Jacks. If he did the first quote, then the second quote wouldn’t be true. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/18 "2018-02-21T17:19:11Z")
A good quote that may show how different Billy was from his son, Franklin: > [@Rev. Billy Graham](#): > > I’m for morality. But morality goes beyond sex to human freedom and social justice. We as clergy know so very little to speak out with such authority on the Panama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists can’t be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle to preach to all people, right and left. I haven’t been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will be in the future. And furthermore: > [@](#): > > I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. Liberals organized in the ’60s, and conservatives certainly have a right to organize in the ’80s, but it would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it. I believe both quotes arise from a February 1981 cover story in Parade magazine ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/19 "2018-02-21T17:19:41Z")
If you are ever so unfortunate to have to visit the Metropolitan (traffic) Court of Los Angeles, you’ll find that the entrance is plays host to [this plaque](http://www.publicartinla.com/Downtown/Grandhope/billy_graham.html). It doesn’t make the experience any less unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269/20 "2018-02-21T17:45:36Z")
Say ‘Hi’ to my Daddy, Rev. Graham. He loved you with his whole drunken, gambling self. Jesus was also his friend, so I am fairly certain he’s playing ponies up there somewhere. He always said the track was like heaven, to him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-graham-dies-at-99/809269.md?page=2)