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The sniping comments about Graham demonstrate that the Canada of the 1950s that embraced him no longer exists, as Canada is now more irreligious than the United States. I should have known better to ask you about him.
Don't mistake Canadian anti-evangelism for irreligionism. Canada has ALWAYS been a more secular country than USA but it is not a more irreligious country. Canada has its devout and faithful followers in many, many religions, I think maybe more religions and spiritual styles than what are accepted in USA.
Back in the 50's Graham was still a relatively new face to the evangelism game of that era and he was one of the first to introduce American style evangelism into Canada. He was an entertaining novelty at first and then by the 60's he had gained a certain type of rabid following. But his condemning and threatening evangelistic style was never as popular in Canada as it became with American evangelists and most people here weren't taken in by his forceful charismatic style. Many Canadians who were at first neutral became disgusted with him for the fear he engendered in so many of his evangelist followers in America, and for the same kind of fear he tried to instill in Canadians.
If you want to ask people for their honest opinions about Billy Graham you should be getting the view points of people in all the other countries he took his crusades to and not only from Canada and America.
And don't get mad at Canadians or anyone in other countries either for not responding with the worshipful tears and condolences you were expecting for Graham. Not everyone was hood-winked by that man nor did they agree with his politics, capitalism and war mongering ways.
I am sorry but most Canadians don’t care about Christianity. Canada has always been a fairly secular country with small pockets of Christianity and Catholism. Arguably Islam is the fasted growing religion in Canada. Billy Graham is not a figure we hold in appreciation.
It’s incredible how some Americans can not accept we are different from them in many regards.
He was not anti-Catholic, and he was not tainted by the scandals that other televangelists had.
Didn't the message of being born-again instantly conflict with Catholic teaching? I would have thought that the call to come to the altar would by definition have conflicted with traditional Roman Catholicism.
Mennonites had a mixed response to Billy Graham. Traditionalists wouldn't have cared for the born-again part but would have liked the anti-communist part, although I do remember some shocked disapproval when he preached in the Soviet Union, since every Russian Mennonite understood that there was no compromise with the Soviet Union which staged some events or allowed them to happen to give the impression of freedom.
The Mennonite tradition includes many varieties and the Mennonite Brethren are the full immersion born-again evangelical types and they did support Billy Graham and were a part of his crusades. https://books.google.ca/books?id=OOy...onites&f=false
But I think you have to remember that he is an American great man and it shouldn't be that surprising if other nationalities have a mixed viewpoint. Every nation has a "great man" somewhere who is nationally great, but not necessarily perceived as such internationally. But the other thing is that from skimming the article I was sent and which I posted earlier, it appears to me that he was a man of his times and of his culture. I don't think it is altogether fair to solely judge their opinions or actions entirely based on what general opinions are now. We are all children of our times and some of our current views will not survive the next generation's scrutiny. He probably did the best he knew how to do just like the rest of us.
I am not a fan of biographies that are basically fan fiction or those that just crap all over someone but maybe if I hear about a good biography of him, that takes a critical look at what he did and who he was, I'll read it.
And the synonym for "great" is not "good." "Great" to me means someone who left an impression and so by that I suppose he was a great American man.
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I am sorry but most Canadians don’t care about Christianity. Canada has always been a fairly secular country with small pockets of Christianity and Catholism. Arguably Islam is the fasted growing religion in Canada. Billy Graham is not a figure we hold in appreciation.
It’s incredible how some Americans can not accept we are different from them in many regards.
Actually immigrants are more likely to go to to church than people born in Canada. In addition it seems that 27% of Canadians go to church at least once a month and that was several years ago. Canada I would not call Canada to have small pockets of Christians. Of course the US is more religious than the US esp in the US bible belt, yet the US is not as religious as it portrays to be and Canada is not as atheist as it portrays it to be.
Interestingly, the gospel singer who accompanied Graham on his missions, George Beverly Shea, was from Canada.
Who shives a git? My father said the guy was nothing but a huckster and a charlatan pretending to espouse christian beliefs while never once putting himself at risk by espousing repugnance for slavery or it's lingering effects.
The man was a fake of the first order.
Last edited by BruSan; 02-22-2018 at 04:48 PM..
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