Bloody hell: Franklin Graham to tour Britain despite venue cancellations

Franklin Graham (Franklin Graham/Facebook photo)

Famed evangelist Franklin Graham, chief of the worldwide Samaritan's Purse Christian ministry, says he'll be touring the United Kingdom and speaking at various locations despite a series of cancellations by venues influenced by the LGBT community's outrage at his biblical stance on homosexuality and marriage.

In an interview with Premier Christian he said that not only will his tour go on, he likely will end up in venues bigger than the ones originally planned.

And it's not impossible that there might be legal action over the contracts he had with the various venues that they then breached.

WND reported just days ago that all of the venues in the United Kingdom scheduled to host Graham, son of the late Billy Graham, canceled their agreements to hold his events because of the evangelist's biblically based views on human sexuality and marriage.

"Pastor Graham peddles controversial, repulsive views about LGBT people which are in direct conflict with the values we hold dear in Newcastle," Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes told the local Chronicle Live after the city's Utilita Arena became the latest venue to cancel.

Previously, Graham events were canceled in Birmingham, Newport, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Liverpool, according to a Pink News report cited by Breitbart News.

Franklin Graham told Premier that his views are like most Christians.

"I believe the Bible teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman," he said. "That's the Church of England's position. I think Her Majesty the Queen, that's her position and it's the position of the church, pretty much worldwide. This is what the Bible teaches and that's what I believe."

See the interview:

The report explained Graham addressed various organizations that have not given support to his plans to visit.

"I think there's a number of churches that feel that proclamation evangelism, like what we do, like my father did is old school, old fashioned and it doesn't work in today's culture," he said. "I'm here to say it does work if it's done correctly with churches praying. God will use this. Peter stood up on Pentecost and preached and 3000 were added to the church in one day, Paul stood on Mars Hill in Athens and preached and people were saved. God uses all forms of evangelism."

LGBT organizations have complained their members are "hurt."

"I don't know what they've heard or what they've experienced but I would certainly apologize to anyone who feels that I am against them, or hates them. People who use these words like homophobic or Islamophobic – I'm not sure what those terms even are. But I would certainly apologize if there was someone who's afraid or hurt because of something that they think I have said. I'm here to say that God loves you. God is willing to forgive sin. If we will repent and believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, we will be forgiven," Graham said.

He said work is under way to find replacement venues, some of which will be bigger than those originally proposed, and there's also the possibility of action against some of the original facilities.

"This is a religious freedom issue and it's also a free speech issue. It doesn't just affect me. There are churches that meet in public arenas for Sunday services; schools and so forth. If a small group of people can force a cancellation of an event where thousands of Christians are participating, I think there is no question about the danger in the future to others.

"We did have a contract signed with these venues and they have breached that contract. I haven't broken any laws and I'm not guilty of anything. We just have to look at what our options are but even though we can assign other venues, which we will do, I'm thinking of the church in the future," he said.

Premier reported he believes Christians should be concerned about freedom of speech.

"We are at a pivotal moment as it comes to free speech – and free speech, remember, is for all of us. It's one of our most cherished freedoms, so I would certainly encourage people to push back and to guard and protect your right to free speech and then also for our religious beliefs. I hold firm to my religious beliefs and to be discriminated against because of those religious beliefs – we need to be very careful and protect what we can," he said.

The Christian Institute said Graham was clear about the Bible. "I believe the Bible teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman."

He continued, "I care enough about gay people just to tell them the truth. I’m not going to lie to them. I want them to know that homosexuality, that God sees it as sin. But at the same time, we welcome those that are opposing us. We don’t reject them, we welcome them and invite them to come in and be a part of it."

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, for which Franklin Graham serves as president and CEO, earlier confirmed legal action was possible.

"Since the original venues have broken our legal contract with them, we are pursuing appropriate actions based on grounds of religious discrimination and freedom of speech," the organization said in a statement.