Grahams’ ties tighten with Romney

CHARLOTTE, N. C.— The election- year embrace ofMitt Romney by evangelical Christians borders on a hug, given a series of moves by the Rev. Billy Graham and his family that appear to say it’s OK to vote for aMormon.

Last week, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed Mormonism from its list of religious cults.

The reclassification follows Romney’s visit to Graham’s mountain home Oct. 11, ameeting that also included Graham’s son Franklin, who runs the association for his 93- year- old father.

Mormons consider themselves Christians and say their faith follows the teachings of Jesus. But they give equal stature to the Book ofMormon and the Bible. Several of their beliefs— including that God the Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus are separate deities and not part of the divine Trinity — further separate them from mainstream Christian teachings.

An article on the Graham website had classifiedMormons, along with Jehovah’sWitnesses, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, among others, as cults. No longer. “Our primary focus at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has always been promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Ken Barun, the evangelical association’s chief of staff, said in a statement. “We removed the ( cult) information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”

Political veterans

But the Grahams long ago waded into the politics of the presidential campaign. In the current issue of the association’s “Decision” magazine, Franklin Graham poses the question: “Can an Evangelical Christian Vote for aMormon?”

He answers it with a rousing yes.

“We are at a profound crossroads. Our secularized society has shaken its fist in God’s face and rejected his very name,” Franklin Graham writes. “Wemust not silence our voices when government clashes with the worship of God.

“I pray that all Christians and God- fearing Americans will put aside labels and vote for principles— God’s principles.”

Billy Graham has never formally endorsed a candidate, but the ties between the family and Romney have grown tighter, starting with Franklin’s call before the South Carolina presidential primary for conservative Christians to not hold Romney’s religion against him.

“We are not electing a pastor- in- chief,” he said.

Mark DeMoss, the younger Graham’s longtime spokesman, is now a Romney adviser.

DeMoss told the Associated Press that Franklin Graham “is doing everything he can to encourage churches to encourage their people to get out and vote.”

The younger Graham also has had his run- ins with President Barack Obama.

In 2010, the Army withdrew an invitation for Franklin Graham to speak at a Pentagon prayer breakfast because of his criticism of Islam.

In February, Graham questioned Obama’s Christianity while raising the possibility the president is aMuslim.

Religious divide

The Grahams’ actions could cement conservative Christian support for Romney in the Nov. 6 election, even though most evangelicals don’t consider him a Christian.

That religious divide cost Romney heavily in the South Carolina primary, when he finished a distant second to New Gingrich, a Catholic but twice divorced.

“Romney’sMormonism will be more a cause of concern than Gingrich’s infidelity,” the Rev. Brad Atkins, president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, said at the time.

Mark Harris, pastor of First Baptist Church of Charlotte and president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, says evangelicals have a clear choice.

“While certainly we differ and have deep theological issues with Governor Romney’s religion and faith, we do share similar values,” Harris said.

On topics such as same- sex marriage and abortion, “Our values are far more similar than nonsimilar.”

Throughout his sixdecade career, Billy Graham made several moves thatmade evangelicals uncomfortable— from preaching for integration to including Catholics and more moderate denominations on his crusades.

For their part, Mormons have movedmore to the cultural, economic and political mainstream, said Bill Leonard, professor of Baptist studies, church history and religion atWake Forest University.

“Up until the 1950s, you either were aMormon or you despised theMormons, because they were considered so weird in the minds of the evangelical majority that there was an almost demonic quality to them,” Leonard said.

Since then, Mormons such as Michigan Gov. and former presidential candidate George Romney, Mitt Romney’s father, and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch broke public barriers.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints also broke with its long tradition of polygamy.

TheMormon Tabernacle Choir became a cultural icon. Today, Mormons make up about 2 percent of the U. S. population.

A Pew Research Center survey this year found that 66 percent ofMormons consider themselves conservative, and almost 75 percent described themselves as Republican or leaning toward Republican.