Franklin Graham says 'secular' America has 'only taken place in the last few years'

Rev. Franklin Graham asserts that America was founded on biblical principles.(BGEA)

The year 2015 was a difficult one for Christians, even in America where same-sex marriage is now legal and those who oppose it are either maligned by society or even sent to jail.

For evangelist Franklin Graham, this sad development is quite a huge jump from the Christian foundation which America used to be proud of.

"You talk about us being a secular government, a secular society — that's only taken place in the last few years," Graham told CNN. "Our nation was founded on biblical principles. Our founding fathers recognized God. All you have to do is go to Washington and look at all of our monuments with the inscriptions and references to almighty God."

Unfortunately, however, not everybody shares the same view as Graham. The evangelist argued that he respects the law, but it is not right for people to make up laws now just to suit society.

"I respect the law of the land that has been approved by the Constitution," Graham said. "And I don't think the judges in Washington can just make law. That's not what they do, but that's what they've done as it relates to same-sex marriage. I think we need a nationwide referendum on this and let's see what the people say."

For now, Graham is going from state to state as part of his Decision America Tour as he seeks to inspire Christians to vote and get involved in politics.

He acknowledged that some presidential hopefuls have wonderful ideas on how to make America great again, but "those good ideas aren't going anywhere without the hand of almighty God."

"I believe that God has blessed this nation, that His hand has been on this nation, but we have taken God out of our country," he said. "We have taken him out of politics, we have taken him out of schools, out of the education system and we are a broken nation."