Franklin Graham has joined several other Protestant and evangelical leaders in saying that if the federal government passes a law saying he must hire employees who do not share his faith, he will break that law. According to LifeSite News and an interview with NewsMax, Graham said his biggest concern is that he will be “forced to hire people that…don’t have the same values I have.”
“Frankly, I think every Christian out there should be concerned that we will be forced to bring people into our organizations and put them on our payrolls when we know that they are opposed to everything that we stand for and believe,” said Graham. “I guess at that point, I would just have to break the law and take it all the way to the Supreme Court and fight it if I have to.”
Although the government has provided for religious exemptions, Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse does not qualify for one under the their rules, since it is a parachurch organization and not a church. Others who have said they will support non-compliance with the mandate include Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Rick Warren, best-selling author and megachurch pastor in Lake Forest, California.
