Stand Firm

[T]ime and age don't change some things.

For Franklin Graham, that includes his opposition to gay marriage and the religion of Islam.

The former is contrary to God's law, he said. And though many gay and lesbian couples believe their love is genuine, Franklin told the [Los Angeles] Times, "there were people who for centuries swore up and down the Earth was flat too.

"God says [homosexuality is] a sin," he continued. "Yet God loves sinners." And God, he stressed, is willing to forgive.

As to Islam, right after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Franklin was quoted on "NBC Nightly News" as saying it was "an evil and wicked religion."

And he still feels that way.

"I haven't changed my mind," he told the paper. "When people's heads get chopped off and throats are cut and innocent people are murdered and slaughtered, my mind hasn't changed" (www.newsmax.com, November 29, 2004).