Originally published May 24, 2023 2:20 pm PDT
Graham warned of a “coming storm” of digital persecution.
QUICK FACTS:
- Evangelist Franklin Graham warned that there is a “coming storm” of persecution that may affect Christian organizations’ digital data storage and finances.
- Graham addressed about 2,000 attendees at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, stating, “I believe there’s a coming storm that we’re all going to [have to] be ready for. It’s not going to be good. The world is deteriorating so quickly. It seems like every demon in Hell has been turned loose.”
- The evangelist noted that he has had to take measures to protect the organization he heads, Samaritan’s Purse, from being “canceled” due to rising “wokeness.”
- “Who owns the [data] cloud?” Graham asked. “Amazon.”
- Many organizations use Amazon Web Services as a cloud data platform, which may lead to difficulty if Amazon chooses to cancel the data or financial services due to its conflicting values against evangelical Christianity.
- “If you can’t store your data and you can’t retrieve your data, your organization is not going to last much longer,” Graham said.
HOW TO BE PREPARED AGAINST DATA CANCELLATION:
- Graham encouraged ministry organizations to establish their own data center to store content, using his own ministry as an example.
- Graham said, “We built it big enough so that we can help other organizations if they want to store their data there, too.”
- “Just don’t sit there on your hands and let the storm hit. And then have this look on your face like I didn’t know that was coming,” Graham implored, before adding, “The world hates us, and Jesus told us the world hated me first and they’re gonna hate you.”
- “Preach — don’t back up, don’t make excuses,” the preacher also said during the speech. “We cannot back up, we can’t retreat, don’t apologize for the gospel. Just declare it, just preach it.”
BACKGROUND:
- After JPMorgan Chase Bank shut down conservative, faith-based organizations, portfolio manager David Bahnsen challenged the bank over violations of Constitutionally-protected freedoms, American Faith reported earlier this month.
- “When companies engage in this kind of discrimination, they hinder the ability of individuals, groups, and businesses to access and equally participate in the marketplace and instead skew it to their own ends,” reads Bahnsen’s resolution to Chase.
- The resolution continues, “Moreover, they risk giving fringe activists and governments a foothold to demand that private financial institutions deny service under the sweeping, unfettered discretion that such policies provide.”
