In an attempt to aide New York City during the coronavirus outbreak that has been plaguing the city, Christian pastor Franklin Graham has been recruiting volunteers to provide in the vital relief work. Unfortunately, it seems at least one LGBT lobby group was not happy about the help.
The group, Accountable for Equality has lashed out at Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, even while the humanitarian organization has up a 68-bed field hospital in Central Park staffed with 60 to 70 volunteers to help patients battling COVID-19.
According to Breitbart News, Accountable for Equality accused Rev. Graham and the Christian charity of “putting New Yorkers’ lives on the line” in a press release issued as part of the lobby group’s “No Time for Nonsense” campaign. It is unclear how New Yorkers’ lives are being “put on the line” by Graham recruiting volunteers to the Samaritan’s Purse who share common Christian values, such as marriage being between one man and one woman.
As Breitbart notes:
The many Christian volunteers working for Samaritan’s Purse adhere to a statement of Christian principles, including on the nature of matrimony, which basically sums up the traditional view of marriage that reigned in the United States and the rest of the Western world until roughly 2015, and which is still a core teaching of the Catholic Church as well as many other Christian denominations.
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The gay lobby wants Graham’s money but they do not want the Christian worldview that inspires people to give money to his organization or to volunteer their time to serve others. Accountable for Equality and other LGBT advocacy groups have expressed their revulsion at the idea that a Christian charitable organization should openly appeal for Christian volunteers as Franklin Graham does.
On the FAQ page on its website, Samaritan’s Purse includes the question, “Do I have to be a Christian to volunteer?” The response is as follows:
“The primary mission of Samaritan’s Purse is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we seek volunteers who have the same mindset. We ask that volunteers review our Statement of Faith and agree to support the ministry guidelines of Samaritan’s Purse.”
As Breitbart points out:
In other words, as an overtly Christian association, Samaritan’s Purse requires that volunteers share the same values and ideals that inspire the group. Groups like PETA and Greenpeace do the same thing, looking only for volunteers who share their commitment to animal rights and the protection of the environment. Apparently, this commonsense principle does not apply to Christians.
Chris Fleming, a spokesman for Accountable for Equality, stated that recruiting like-minded volunteers is “despicable and flat out blasphemous.”
Other LGBT groups have also piled on the attack, falsely claiming that because Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian organization, volunteers will “turn away” gays, lesbians, and other LGBT-identifying people infected with the virus, “leaving them on their own to find care elsewhere.”
“Graham has long fought for religious hospitals, or even individual staff members, to be able to do just that,” wrote Ross Murray, senior director for GLAAD, despite there being no actual evidence of his claim.
Gay Star News also incorrectly wrote that Samaritan’s Purse may be able to force volunteers “to refuse treatment to LGBT+ people.”
In response to these baseless accusations, Graham said in a statement to NBC News that “Samaritan’s Purse treats everyone we help the same.”
“We do not make distinctions about an individual’s religion, race, sexual orientation, or economic status. We certainly do not discriminate, and we have a decades-long track record that confirms just that,” Graham stated.
It’s truly unfortunate that LGBT activists refuse to set aside their disdain for Christian traditions and values even during this trying time for our country. Not only are they falsely accusing Graham and his charity of discriminating against LGBT identifying people but they are actually the ones discriminating on the basis of religion.
Now is truly the time to put agendas and politics aside and focus on loving thy neighbor.
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