Rev. Franklin Graham and Pastor Perry Noble from NewSpring Church, South Carolina have weighed in on the controversy surrounding the killing of Harambe, the silverback gorilla who was shot to death in Cincinnati Zoo to save the life of a three-year-old boy who fell into its enclosure last Saturday.
The two expressed sadness at the loss of the animal but agreed that zoo authorities made the right call in killing Harambe and not risking the boy's life.
At the same time, both Christian leaders could not understand why animal activists are causing such a ruckus concerning Harambe's death.
"Someone commented on the page that 'Shooting an endangered animal is worse than murder.' People are grieving and leaving flowers at a gorilla statue. Excuse me? Human life should be more highly valued, and a decision had to be made to protect a child's life," Graham writes on his Facebook page.
Instead of working themselves up over Harambe's death, people should be more upset over the 125,000 abortions performed around the world the day Harambe was killed, Graham says.
"Where's the justice for these lives?" he asks. "God created men and women in His image, and He made humans to rule over the animals. I'm thankful that zoo officials made the right decision—to protect human life! I wish the Supreme Court and our politicians would understand the value of human life and realize that one day they will stand and be accountable before the Supreme Judge, Almighty God."
Meanwhile, Noble criticised those people, now numbering over 470,000, who have signed an online petition called "Justice For Harambe," which seeks to hold the parents of the three-year-old boy responsible for the death of the gorilla.
"We the undersigned want the parents to be held accountable for the lack of supervision and negligence that caused Harambe to lose his life. We the undersigned feel the child's safety is paramount in this situation," the petition states.
Noble says people have "lost their freakin' minds" for signing that petition, and even thinks they are hypocrites because they profess to care for the life of Harambe but give little regard to the senseless deaths being carried out all over the world.
"I wonder if [these] people have been equally bothered by Christians being beheaded/tortured in the Middle East?" Noble writes on his blog. "I wonder if [these] people were as upset when all of the dirt was exposed on Planned Parenthood? I wonder if [these] people were as upset when Dr. Kermitt Gosnell murdered a child after a botched abortion? I feel bad for the gorilla, but I would argue that human life simply has more value."
