According to Billy Graham's son Franklin, God is using the "fair and balanced" Fox "news" network to disseminate right wing propaganda spread his word. Thus, it's not surprising that Foxpriest Fr. Jonathan Morris, a very important cog in the Fox News religious propaganda division, would, during his weekly Fox & Friends Sunday sermon, not only sing Graham's praises but agree with his world view - a view which, 40 years ago, distrusted "barn burning Jesuits" and embraced the wealthy Catholic bishops. (Hmmm, sounds like the bible according to Roger Ailes). But according to Fr. Morris, who agrees with Graham that America is in need of renewal, Graham wasn't political. The cute little padre is either misinformed or he is, as Jon Stewart said of media outlets including Fox, lying like a motherf**ker!
Morris' homily was part of the patented Fox & Friends "Fight for Faith" series. Anna Kooiman reported that Graham, who is "known as America's pastor," just had a birthday. She played part of the Graham promotional DVD which had Graham speaking about how our country is "in need of a spiritual awakening" and how, in traveling around the country, he has "wept" about how "far people have gone from God." (Must have been a gusher in San Francisco!) Clayton Morris asked if "America can reconnect with its faith and regain its moral clarity in today's fast paced world." Famous "dick," Tucker Carlson, who hates the tolerant Episcopal Church, introduced Fr. Morris who is "joining us as he does every Sunday, thank God."
In attempting to bridge Catholicism with Graham, Carlson said that Graham's message is "ecumenical" a message for "every person of faith." Fr. Morris empathized with Graham's weeping about America's "falling from God." Fr. Morris referenced the top three enemies of the Christian right in claiming that, in the good old days, Hollywood, academia, and media "accepted" the "voice, the name of God" because "it was part of the fabric of our society." He claimed that Graham was amazingly able "to walk a very narrow, tight rope, getting involved in politics, speaking truth to power to politicians but at the same time, not being partisan." Fr. Morris' next sentence invoked the patented Fox & Friends anti "PC" meme: "And he did that not by being politically correct but, rather, by respecting people of different walks." Fr. Morris gushed "he's a hero, in my sight."
Fr. Morris is full of holy shit. Graham was very partisan. He was part of Pres. Nixon's "kitchen cabinet" and, when Nixon made anti-Semitic comments, he did not call him out on it. Prior to the 2012 election, he scrubbed his website's language which described Mormonism as a "cult." He also urged folks to "vote biblically." And if that isn't enough, he told Mitt Romney that he would "do all that I can do to help you." Graham did not respect people "of different walks" because if he did, he wouldn't have appeared in an ad which supported a ban on gay marriage in North Carolina. And Fr. Morris' hero, himself, said that he "should have steered clear of politics."
Kooiman asked how we get a "spiritual culture," spoke of social media and another favorite Fox & Friends propaganda meme - "the entitlement culture." Fr. Morris gushed that today's young people are "rebelling" against another one of Roger Ailes' objects of Fox fear and loathing - "secularism that is being shoved down their throat that's and [wait for it] coming from those same elite institutions, academia, Hollywood, the media..." Really? A recent Pew Poll shows that "young adults ages 18-29 are much more likely than those aged 70 and older to say that they are not affiliated with any particular religion (25% vs. 8%)." Morris blithered about how social media can help spread the good word. Clayton Morris gushed that "that's a great way to look at it."
Uh, when Fr. Morris talks about evil Hollywood, he's talking about a good chunk of the Murdoch empire. And funny, while he brays about evil academia, neither he nor the good Christian pals mention that he is part of Columbia University's Catholic Ministry. But he loves him his Billy Graham so it's all good....
NOTE TO MORRIS
Fox “News” needs renewal, don’t you agree?