Baptists in Puerto Rico have withdrawn support for Franklin Graham’s Feb. 10–12 Festival of Hope evangelistic rally in San Juan in protest of the evangelist’s endorsement of anti-immigration policies espoused by President Donald Trump.
The executive minister and the president of the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico issued a statement Feb. 4 saying Graham’s endorsement of Trump’s policies are “contrary to the values of the Kingdom.”
The Baptist leaders said Trump’s immigration policies “attack the life of our neighbor.” Therefore the organization’s board of directors decided to withdraw their support “for reasons of conscience.” Individual churches and pastors remain free to make up their own mind about whether to participate.
Graham recently defended Trump’s executive order blocking refugees from Syria and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim nations deemed high risk from entering the country, saying for him it is “not a Bible issue.”
“We want to love people … [but] a country should have order and there are laws that relate to immigration and I think we should follow those laws,” Graham said in a Huffington Post article published Jan. 25. “We need to be very careful.” (BNG)
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