To the Editor,

As the church lady on SNL would say, “Isn’t that special?” — or in this case, “Isn’t that convenient?”

Just in time for the election, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has decided to remove Mormonism from its list of cults after a visit by Mitt Romney with Billy and Franklin Graham. This is really sad. Graham is apparently willing to sacrifice long-held beliefs merely to accommodate the fact that the Republican presidential candidate is a Mormon. It really appears to me that Billy Graham is being swayed in his older years by his son Franklin. The elder Graham has a history of consulting with presidents of both parties but refraining from endorsements or direct political involvement. I have long admired Billy Graham for his focus on winning souls for Christ. Franklin Graham, on the other hand, seems intent on building an earthly empire and making himself relevant by being a political player.

A few months ago, Franklin said that he “wasn’t sure” if President Obama was Christian. Now, in effort to justify his support of Romney, he is willing to abandon the teaching of his father and simply ignore the beliefs of the Mormon Church. Although the BGEA has removed the Mormon Church from its list of cults, it has not totally purged its website of language regarding what exactly constitutes a cult. In a portion of the site called “My Answer”, Graham responds to an email from someone who ask how to recognized a cult. It states that a cult would make a claim that God gave its founders a new revelation that corrects the error of others. It also states that a cult would add books to the Bible. Sounds a lot like Mormonism to me. There are many other Mormon beliefs that aren’t compatible with Christianity.

Billy Graham truly deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest religious figures of our time. But this act deserves to be remember as a sad moment of an otherwise saintly life.

Les Noble

Lumberton