by , @d_yetter –

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(Photo: Philip Scott Andrews, Special to the CJ)

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Calling on Christians to get God back in government, Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham and successor to his international ministry, held a rally on the steps of the state Capitol Wednesday, urging the faithful to elect more people of God to public office.

“We need Christian men and women at every level,” Graham thundered to a crowd his organizers estimated at 5,800. “We’re losing our country.”

Graham said his father, 97, retired from active ministry, “sends his greetings,” drawing cheers from his audience.

Among Kentucky officials who attended were Gov. Matt Bevin and Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton, whom Graham said he met just before his noon rally.

“They are good people,” Graham told the crowd. “They love God.”

Graham visited Kentucky as part of his Decision America Tour 2016 in which he plans to visit all 50 states. He used the occasion to condemn sins he said are afflicting the nation, including abortion and same-sex marriage.

While his message appealed to the flag-waving, largely older crowd, it drew criticism from others, including Chris Hartman, executive director of the Louisville-based Fairness Campaign, who took exception to Graham’s condemnation of same-sex marriage as “shameful” and “a sin.”

“It is disappointing and not representative of the many faith communities across Kentucky who have come together for many years to organize for fairness,” Hartman said.

The Rev. Joe Phelps, pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Louisville – which broke ties with the conservative Southern Baptist Convention over doctrinal disputes – said he is disturbed by Graham’s assertion that the nation should adhere to Christian values to the exclusion of all others.

At a news conference after his talk, Graham said that Christianity is the bedrock of the nation rather than other faiths such as Islam.

“This is not a Muslim nation,” he said. “We were built on the Christian faith.”

Phelps disagreed with that viewpoint.

“I’m embarrassed and appalled,” Phelps said. “What Graham says is not consistent with the message of Jesus. He did not come to tell us that we’re right and everyone else is wrong.”

Still, Graham’s message clearly resonated with the enthusiastic crowd, which gathered under a light drizzle to hear him speak. Kentucky was his 21st stop of the tour he expects to conclude by October.

His goal, Graham said, is to get more evangelical Christians to the polls, saying too many stay home at elections.

Graham, who left the Republican party last year to register as an Independent, said he is nonpartisan and has “zero hope” in the Republican or Democratic parties. Rather, he is calling people to elect candidates who will uphold Christian principles and who will consider running for office themselves, starting at the local level.

“We need Christians on the school boards, Christian men and women,” Graham said. “They decide the curriculum, they decide the books our students read.”

At one point, he asked people who agreed with his message to pull out their phones and send a text to his ministry, which many in the crowd appeared to do.

“I’ll have someone text you right back and we’ll get some information to you,” Graham promised.

Bevin, a conservative Christian who attended with his wife, Glenna, said afterward he was impressed with Graham’s message and enjoyed the chance to meet him.

“I’m grateful for the fact that he came here,” Bevin said. “It certainly was an honor to have him here and it means a lot to the people of Kentucky.”

Those who attended came from throughout Kentucky, many arriving in church buses or vans that lined the streets around the Capitol. Most said they learned of the event through social media, by radio, from their churches or through communications from Graham’s ministry.

Pam Dean came from Lawrenceburg, saying she supports Graham’s message.

“I just know he’s a strong Christian man of God,” she said. “I just believe our country’s at a turning point right now. We need to put God back in our schools and our lives and our government.”

Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at (502)582-4228 or at dyetter@courier-journal.