Christians are being bullied into silence by certain groups, Rev. Franklin Graham claimed after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) called for the court martial of an Air Force General who credited God for his success at a National Day of Prayer Task Force event.
Based on a report by The Air Force Times, Maj. Gen. Craig Olson, who serves as program executive officer for C3I and Networks at Hanscom Air Force Base, received heavy criticism from the MRFF for his pronouncements. The group asked that he be "aggressively and very visibly brought to justice for his unforgivable crimes and transgressions" through court-martial proceedings.
In his speech, Olson said he owed his success to God and asked the audience to "humbly depend on Christ." He also asked for prayers for the safety of the troops being prepared for deployment.
In the complaint, MRFF head Mikey Weinstein said that airmen are not supposed to endorse any specific faith, the Christian Post reported.
"Olson's highly publicised, sectarian speech is nothing less than a brutal disgrace to the very uniform he was wearing and the solemn oath he took to support and defend the United States Constitution," Weinstein wrote.
In an interview with Fox News, Graham said that Christians are being targeted by groups because they have the courage to proclaim their faith.
"I guess this group would've tried to court martial George Washington when he prayed at Valley Forge! Come on —whose civil liberties are really being infringed on here? They want to bully Christians into silence," he said.
He further decried: "Are Christians the only group of people who cannot identify themselves publicly in this country? Are we the only voices who cannot speak?"
Graham has been vocal about what he deems an "anti Christian bias" in the United States. He most recently spoken out about the issue during his Easter message and said intolerance was growing in America.
