Graham household launches $1.3M authorized protection fund for Christians in court docket

[ad_1] EXCLUSIVE: As Christians world wide face mounting authorized and cultural threats for expressing their religion, the Graham household is stepping up efforts to defend freedom of speech and faith by way of each monetary assist and public advocacy.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation (BGEA) has launched a brand new $1.3 million authorized protection fund to help Christians and church buildings throughout Europe who're being taken to court docket over their biblical beliefs.

On the similar time, Cissie Graham Lynch , daughter of Franklin Graham and granddaughter of the late Rev. Billy Graham, is urging believers to not keep silent within the face of rising hostility, together with in the USA.

"We preach a message of God’s love, however when a small group of activists within the U.Okay. referred to as it hate—we had been cancelled," Franklin Graham advised Fox Information Digital. "Our commercials had been faraway from buses and venues dropped our occasions. We stood our floor and challenged the selections in court docket. Although it took seven years, all 9 authorized disputes had been resolved in our favor."

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Cissie Graham Lynch and Franklin Graham take part within the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, 2023. (Courtesy: Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation)

Following these victories, BGEA created the Billy Graham Protection Fund, seeded with £500,000 (roughly $678,000) from court docket settlements. Samaritan’s Purse, which Graham additionally leads, contributed an extra £500,000, bringing the whole to £1 million, or about $1.3 million.

"We took the damages that we gained by way of BGEA’s court docket instances within the U.Okay., and put these funds into the Billy Graham Protection Fund — a brand new ‘battle chest’ to assist different Christians in Europe who're threatened or intimidated into silence and never expressing their religion," Graham mentioned.

However the concern, he added, shouldn't be confined to different nations.

"The silencing of Christians isn’t simply occurring in different nations," he mentioned. "BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse have additionally been concerned in many various authorized instances that have an effect on the freedom of believers to reside out their religion right here within the U.S."

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Cissie Graham Lynch talks with Finnish Parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen through the BGEA European Congress on Evangelism in Berlin, Germany, in Could 2025. (Courtesy: Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation)

Between 2017 and 2024, BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse filed 20 amicus briefs in spiritual liberty instances, together with Coach Joe Kennedy, Jack Phillips , and Baronelle Stutzman, all of which had been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court docket.

"We would like People who're standing up for biblical beliefs in court docket to know that we're with them — they aren't alone on this battle," Graham mentioned. "We should work to protect the best to proclaim the Gospel right here within the U.S. and within the U.Okay., in order that we will proceed to share the hope of Jesus Christ world wide. There isn't a human liberty extra treasured and vital than the liberty of speech and faith."

Cissie Graham Lynch mentioned she hopes the Protection Fund serves as a sensible and symbolic supply of power for believers dealing with public strain and authorized retaliation. "You may be canceled for talking the reality. It's possible you'll be referred to as names," she mentioned. "However each time you select to battle that battle, you assist construct a stronger basis for different folks of religion to face on."

"There isn't a human liberty extra treasured and vital than the liberty of speech and faith," she added. "We should work to protect the best to proclaim the Gospel right here within the U.S. and within the U.Okay.—as a result of the stakes are far too excessive to remain silent."

Lynch shared a sequence of interviews solely with Fox Information Digital recorded through the European Congress on Evangelism, a Berlin gathering hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation. The occasion introduced collectively greater than 1,000 Christian leaders from 55 nations and territories.

Cissie Graham Lynch speaks with Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing through the BGEA European Congress on Evangelism in Berlin, Germany, in Could 2025. (Courtesy: Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation)

She mentioned Christians world wide, together with in the USA, are more and more being pressured to suppress their beliefs.

"My household personally is aware of the backlash that comes whenever you take a stand for the Gospel," Lynch mentioned. "It might include a excessive price, however I would like folks to understand how highly effective their voice is after they fearlessly share the Good Information of Jesus Christ."

"We're seeing so many regarding instances in the USA the place Christians are dragged into the courtroom in the event that they share their beliefs within the office, at college, or on sports activities groups," she added. "In case you care about preserving spiritual liberty and free speech for the following technology, all of us want to concentrate."

Amongst these Lynch interviewed was Päivi Räsänen, a Finnish member of Parliament. Räsänen advised Lynch she is as soon as once more on trial for a 2019 tweet quoting Romans 1 from the Bible. She has been acquitted twice in decrease courts, however Finnish prosecutors have appealed, sending the case to the nation’s Supreme Court docket.

"The police gave me a chance to resign what I consider," Räsänen mentioned. "I mentioned, ‘I can't apologize for what Apostle Paul has said. It's the Phrase of God, it isn't solely my opinion.’"

She warned that even unsuccessful prosecutions can result in a broader impact. "If we begin to censor ourselves, the extra restricted turns into the house to make use of these rights," she mentioned. "The largest risk to those rights is self-censorship."

Kristen Waggoner , president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), additionally spoke with Lynch. ADF has represented shoppers in a number of U.S. Supreme Court docket instances associated to spiritual freedom, together with Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Fee. The group has additionally taken on worldwide instances involving silent prayer arrests within the U.Okay. and blasphemy costs in Nigeria.

"All over the world, we're seeing a rising tide of censorship," Waggoner mentioned. "These are God-given rights. It is upon us to defend them and to guard these rights — realizing that it results in human flourishing, and the flourishing of the Gospel."

British theologian Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing, who has taught at Oxford College, advised Lynch that she sees a starvation for fact amongst younger folks within the West regardless of rising pushback on public religion.

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"I have been in ministry for over 25 years and I have not identified a second just like the one we're in, within the West… for fact, for the Gospel," she mentioned. "Grievance and rage, sufferer tradition and id politics should not the reply to your rage — Jesus is."

Lynch mentioned her aim is to equip People with a broader understanding of worldwide threats to spiritual liberty and to encourage them to not retreat. She hosts the "Fearless with Cissie Graham Lynch" podcast.

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