It's so weird to me that so many christians will make up all these stories about "being oppressed" and how awful it is for them but then immediately turn around and actually mistreat other religions in real terrible ways.
So many American Christians hear it from literal birth from the pulpit, that they’re special, not just apart from but above the “sinful rabble” Of the rest of society. They’re taught that hate for others is love. It’s deeply disturbing and frightening how brainwashed so many American Christians are.
In church ppl used to say like, "if I'm wrong about God, then nothing bad happens when I die. But if YOU'RE wrong, then you go to hell when you die, so the risk is worse for you." But I want to ask them, "what if God is real, but you're wrong about his character? Then you'll have to stand before him and explain why you let Pharisees and moneylenders twist his word and lead you to abuse and exploit His children while actively driving them further away from his perfect love. And you're going to have to answer for that."
I've made a similar argument in the past. I've told Christians that 100 years ago, your god may have forgiven your homophobia, but given what modern science and psychology has taught us, you would absolutely not be forgiven for your homophobia/transphobia now.
So, not related to Billy Graham, but church in general. I wasn't baptized because my parents aren't religious, but they wanted my brother and I to make our own choices, so they took me to church some when I was young. My mom picked me up from Sunday school one day and I was crying. She asked why, and I told her that the Sunday school teacher had told me I was going to hell because I wasn't baptized. My mom was WILD. She tore a strip off that woman, using language that would make even the most foul-mouthed person proud, ending with something along the lines of "if you EVER speak to my daughter like that again, I will send you straight to the hell you threatened her with". We never went back. Have I mentioned that I love my mom? 😂
As a satanist, I need a shirt that says "I'm Not A Part Of Your Book Club" SO BAD -- great video as always, lots of good information, and learned a bit! :D
It is so cathartic hearing you shit all over this evil man. I grew up around people who PRAISED him, my school went to the Billy graham library for field trips, and I still drive by the sign that says it’s “Charlotte’s #1 attraction” all the time. This man needs to be exposed to everyone as the horror that he is. I’m not religious anymore but it brings be an awful satisfaction thinking of people like him coming face to face with God and being told “Depart from me, I never knew you.” Like they LOVE to throw around to threaten others.
i was a bridesmaid eleven times. only two were Catholic, as am I. boy did i get some shit from moms of the bride! one told me to my face not to be surprised if i had burns on the soles of my feet afterward - apparently walking down their wedding carpet…. it was a great wedding, my feet didn’t burn up lol.
My mom went down a fundie rabbit-hole (Independent Fundamental Baptist) when I was in my formative years. The idea that Catholics are really pagans and not Christians is still super weird to me. Those comments truly suck and I'm glad you got through those weddings without a full-blown altar call targeting you.
@melissacooper8724 Their purported logic is that Catholics pray to saints and the Virgin Mary, ergo they pray to false gods and idols. (At least that's the version I was told.) Really it's just: I don't understand it, I don't want to understand it, it's different from me so it's bad.
I went to a bible college, and I remember one time that one of the professors was going to be giving me and a couple other students a ride to an off-campus event. I was the first one there and hopped in the back seat, said hi, and he pretty much immediately asked me to get back out of the car and wait for other students to show up because he didn't allow himself to be alone with any women besides his wife. I thought it was the weirdest, stupidest thing. We were out front of one of the busiest buildings on campus, on a Saturday with nice weather, there were people everywhere, and it was well known that he and was one of the people offering rides. What did he think was going to happen. And just-- as a professor, how's he supposed to be doing office hours or meetings with students if he refuses to be alone with half of them? Do all the guy students get to have private conversations about their grades and the gals have to have another person there or leave the door open or what? So weird.
In my country we have an "open door policy" which prevents sexual harassment, unproductive or absentee workers and other forms of workplace misconduct. Keeping the door open in offices isn't a bad thing unless discussing sensitive issues.
@@availanila I think Open door policies are great, and have been in different places with them-- (and due to the nature of the business I work in, my current workplace has 24/7 surveillance and cameras pretty much everywhere in the building, including one in my office and another I can see through my doorway, so I definitely understand policies and stuff like that as a general preventative measure!) If I recall correctly, there were many of the other professors who had open door policies as well, but he was the only one who had it just with female students, or who took it to such an extreme, which really stuck out to me.
@@KaelasReadingAgain oh yeah. Not to mention it's a good answer to open office plan since you can shut the door whenever needed. But doing it only for students of the opposite sex or something feels like a microaggression honestly. And I'm certain mirroring his behaviour wouldn't be taken nicely; in fact I wouldn't be surprised if he felt she was suggesting he was immoral.
That's the problem. We put pastors on a pedestal. They are only human beings like the rest of us. We end up worshipping them instead of Jesus that they preach about.
Watching this helps me understand my Mom so much better. My Granny had a lot of his books, I mean a LOT, even though she was very Methodist. (I can recite The Apostles' Creed, the benediction, and Glory Be because of going to church with her.) My Mom's fall into fundie-land (IFB) makes so much more sense now. I always thought Billy Graham was creepy, tbh.
My mom and grandparents have his books! Grandma loves going to massive church revivals. Ugh I admit the singing at the revivals was fun. I loved it when they sing too much and there's no time for a sermon
There's a psychological explanation to that, singing in a big group or even at a concert has a huge effect on your body and makes you feel really alive, try going to concerts or maybe even just a group with around a bunch of music it will have the same effect as choir and singing in church without the problems.
I grew up Christian (I'm a practicing Witch now) and I used to be okay with Billy Graham (kinda always thought he was creepy) but as I got older and my parents became more radical and told me things like *"When I get to heaven, I won't even think of you or remember who you are. I'll be to busy worshipping God. And when you get there, you won't be you anymore either, but someone God remade to worship him forever."* I started to deeply analyze people in Christianity - especially Billy Graham who everyone loved. I saw the hatred, cruelty and the things he and others did in the name of their God and decided that I was done with it. Billy Graham was a person with evil intentions who wore a mask of a good man.
Whenever I talk about Lutheran /Christian stuff I also accidently say "we" as well even tho I haven't believed in 17 years. The brain washing just takes over sometimes.
please please make "I'm not part of your book club" merch fantastic video as always, rachel. thank you for challenging these violent and insidious people, especially with everything happening with legislation in Florida and Texas. appreciate all you do 💙
Ooooh yes I am familiar with Billy Graham and his "ministry". 😅 I used to be a member of a Southern Baptist church (am now an atheist and working through my religious trauma woohoo) and met Franklin Graham (briefly). He came to preach at our church against Harry Potter (this was circa 2007/2008 so not even at the height of HP? But around when the last movies came out. Still WITCHRAFT=BAD). My then-fiance (now ex) forced me to get rid of all my first edition hardcover HP books and DVDs, threatening to break off our engagement if I didn't. I'm not too sad about that, now that we know how awful JK is, but it was more the fact that they were preaching about how AWFUL these FICTION BOOKS were and completely ignored real abuse and trauma in their community (which happened to me and many others) at the time.
Was she awful because of her opinion about transgender people? I remember earlier this year that she and actor Harry Melling, aka Dudley Dursley, had a disagreement about the transgender thing.
@@melissacooper8724 Yeah, mostly that but her conduct around that issue has frankly been embarassing for a long time. At first she pretended liking terf tweets and such were just oopsies and "middle-aged moments". Then she ended up getting involved in the media circus around a court case where a woman working with disadvantaged people didn't have her contract renewed for consistently misgendering them and treating them like dirt and proceeded to sue the workplace for infringing upon protected believes just because her contract wasn't renewed. JK twisted this into "A woman being fired for saying biological sex is real". She wrote a manifesto fear-mongering about trans people using examples of things that "could happen" when those things are already illegal (think people flashing others in bathrooms), trans or not. On top of that though if you look at her books more closely they also contain a lot of kind of iffy stuff like a making lycanthropy an analogy to HIV (something that disproportionally affected gay men in the past) and making the banks be run entirely by antisemetic stereotypes.
He used have a column in a local newspaper. I used to read it. One column upset me. A woman wrote In with a problem. Her teenaged daughter got pregnant out of wedlock. Her husband, the girl’s stepfather, shunned her and forbid his wife to help her. She wanted to help. Graham advised her to respect her husband’s wishes.
I remember that was from the episode where their mom Maude died in a freak accident and Bart was trying to spend some time with them. I thought the video game was funny seeing Neanderthals getting turned into men in Sunday suits with halos around their heads!
My parents have so many of Graham’s books. Which is weird because my mom identified as Catholic until about 10-15 years ago, _long_ after she got those books. I only just realized how odd it is that she has so many books by a man that _at best_ didn’t consider her a “real” Christian and possibly thought she was evil. (And my mom is _not_ the type to read books she disagrees with. She doesn’t have many books due to moving often so the books she _does_ have are the ones she feels great sentimental attachment to.)
@@ReadswithRachel She’s never been the type to be very knowledgeable about her own religion. All I can figure is that it’s a lot of cognitive dissonance, compartmentalization, and ignorance. (Side note, she also gave me _The Purpose Driven Life_ when I moved in with my at-the-time boyfriend (now husband). I’m pretty sure that’s an evangelical book and that the author cites Billy Graham as an inspiration? She pushed me to read it for a long time, lol But I never did and I finally threw it away a few years ago.)
@ReadswithRachel Billy Graham wasn't the only person who didn't like Catholics. There was this guy named Jack Chick who was a religious extremist who drew these cartoons that are supposed to get people converted to his way of thinking. His cartoons had Catholics sent to Hell because they didn't worship the way he did. He also felt that way about Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
@@ReadswithRachel Oh yes PLEASE! That would be a great video! I love freaking out my normie friends who’ve never heard of Chick tracts. Also, for several years my kid would get at least 3 Chick Tracts in his Halloween haul every year. But now hardly anyone trick-or-treats in the neighborhood anymore because they all go to church trunk-or-treats instead, so the tract-givers (and also the MLM sample givers) stopped turning their lights on since less than a quarter of the neighborhood has lights on anyway. But yeah, I used to have to go through my kid’s candy before he could have it, not looking for adulterated candy, but for religious tracts telling him that I’m going to Hell for taking him trick-or-treating or his dad is for playing DND.
cw: csa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . if you don't know, csa means childhood sexual assault . . . , , When I was a teenager, Billy Graham told me to my face that God allowed me to be s/a as a toddler for the "sins" I hadn't committed yet because I'm queer. When I saw him a few years later after being "cured" he told me I was still going to hell for it because God doesn't like sinners. I asked if he was a sinner. He said yes. I said wouldn't he go to hell too since God doesn't like sinners. He said no because queerness isn't forgivable. I said there's only one unforgivable sin and queerness is more forgivable than thinking a toddler deserved s/a. He spouted some homophobic verses and told me I was going to hell. No accountability for him thinking a child deserved that.
that's why I don't believe in karma, divine justice, or whatever, This POS lived a long life, his descendants are well provided, and like him, there's a lot of bad people living the same life
jacek dukaj can be read jack doocay, jack = jacek. usually it's better to keep the polish version of first name but no one will judge you if you respectfully swap it, like francis instead of franciszek. also in general polish j is read like english y, like yay is phonetically jej in polish. not that he deserves respect but i was taken aback by you mentioning him lmao polish surnames are ~special~
Thank you SO MUCH for bringing up Jacek Dukaj - even though he's not the worst offender, he is an example of a broader problem. Polish sphere of popular fantasy writers such as Andrzej Pilipiuk, Andrzej Ziemiański or Jacek Piekara bring so much misogyny, homophobia and overall harmful beliefs to thousand of writers as they are Polish bestsellers. Luckily, very few of them got any type of translations, but its still sad for these kind of statements being made in popular media and its treated as the reality.
Leviticus? But I'm a queer in mixed fiber clothes with tattoos. What is a bitch to do? Also: if we're talking about scientific research that would kill a Graham, the book Bitch: The Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke would've done it.
Funny, my parents (catholic) watched a few of his big shows way back when, so like, when he died my Mom was like "oh that's so sad he seemed like he did such good work" and I actually could not hold back from just...about half an hour of evidence refuting that (they are not really strict catholics anymore because they have an actual moral code and you can't have that and be a "good catholic"...for various reasons.
Hearing you say Southern Baptists were Fundy set off alarm bells in my head since I didn't realize my cousin was raised Southern Baptist until she got married recently. I had always assumed she was raised Roman Catholic like my mom and uncle were, but I guess my aunt "converted" him. A lot of their views make more sense now, and I fear for their future children.
Oooh I’m ready for this … I grew up evangelical in NC and had to go to that stupid “museum” dedicated to him (that somehow wasn’t idolatry) as a kid. All that was good there was the hot chocolate and carriage rides during Christmas.
Franklin is far worse than his father. He could have seen the mistakes his father made and if not corrected them or at least seen that they were not repeated. Instead, he became an even bigger hypocrite than his father!
I AM SO TIRED OF YT UN-SUBBING ME FROM MY FAVE BOOKTUBER!!!!! LOVE YOU BEAUTIFUL, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, YOU HAVE CHANGED MY MIND (OPENED MY MIND) TO A LOT OF THINGS!
I feel so vindicated and justified for disliking Graham and the Stanleys whenever these videos come out. I could never explain what exactly about them rubbed me the wrong way, but these videos help out that icky feeling into words
God, as a PK from a Pentecostal church, just hearing the name Billy Graham makes my skin crawl. Idk if this guy wrote books but I’d love to hear you tear apart Benny Hinn too, if you haven’t yet
I appreciate you doing this video and hope to watch it when i'm in a better headspace to consume it -- just wanted to give you the engagement though bc you deserve it 💓 I fucking HATE this man though, like a lot of fundies bother me but this man just awakens something so visceral in me that I can't deal.
This video has reignited the urge to pick up my favorite hobby from my time as an angry, closeted bisexual teen- deep readings of the Bible and theological theory to then use when I picked fights with my father. I come from a background of “haha holy shit my family had a literal family run religious cult that I didn’t know about until I was in college and my divorced mother told me like this should have been common knowledge.” Things had shifted into the more stereotypical fundie shit by the time I was born, but GOD, even just hearing the last name Graham sends me into an eye twitching spiral.
I'm almost certain we went to the same Crusade, because I went to one at RJ stadium around that time and I HATED it so much!! It was stupidly long, over 3 maybe 4 hours on a school night (never thought I would be mad about being up on a school night but only Billy Graham could do that!), and Billy talked for MAYBE 10 minutes, tops.
I was in this bible class when I was 5-6 and I didn't understand a single thing lol I just thought it was a singing and dancing class. But when I got older I felt really pressured into believing in all of that stuff when I didn't want to. I used to get so angry and one of the reasons was because I really struggle to stick to tasks and activities without getting bored or frustrated (adhd) so when my family would bring me to church or try to get me to read the bible or say things like, 'You will believe in it eventually,' when I would try to tell them I didn't I felt very suffocated. My grandma probably has a lot of this guys books.
My church used to be quite involved with his foundation but they've stopped thank God💀I didn't even know he was fundie but I always had a bad feeling abt him so thank you so much for this as always Rachel!
My exposure to Billy Graham was blessedly minimal, but only because he was too liberal for my fundie sect! But he did far more harm than any of my former fundie peers simply because of his reach. Even in my reprobate era of life, I have a bit of a soft spot for the Grahamson (Billy Graham grandson) who started Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, which trains churches, Christian schools, daycares, etc. how to establish priorities that prevent abuse and performs independent investigations of abuse claims. I can't say for certain that GRACE isn't another example of what you were talking about with Billy Graham doing the right thing on integration, but only because he thought doing so would get him god approval. Still, so many of Billy Graham's surviving relatives are so vocally hateful, and even as an atheist I can appreciate the guy who seems to be more focused on making Christian places safer for vulnerable people.
@@ReadswithRachel I wouldn't. They're mostly Franklin Graham lite. But I learned about GRACE when it conducted an investigation of BJU's handling of sexual assault (how the school counseled victims; I don't think assault on campus was the issue). Anyway, that one grandson seems cool in a black sheep way.
I grew up Mennonite, (German-Mennonite on both sides) but my dad's side of the family for some reason had a fascination with evangelism, and sort of self-hatred for Mennonites, and they idolized Billy Graham. Being raised by these types of people affected me through the media I was allowed to consume (NO fantasy at all--I couldn't read the Harry Potter books like my friends) the ideas that I had about people (I remember a friend coming out to me, And when she asked how he felt, I told her I believed "as other Christians do" 🤮 even though I sympathized, and later realized I was pan) and it led me to believe that I was right to be judgmental all of the time (Because that's what Christian do, right? "We" judge in love, and love conditionally.) It took me a long time to find my personality outside of those extreme beliefs, especially after I went to college at ORU... Where they REALLY idolized Billy Graham. I still find myself thinking things and realizing the thought is based in Christianity, and not my actual beliefs, just a result of 20 years of conditioning. I'm frequently realizing my "common sense" thoughts are just weird assumptions created from being raised fundie. Also, idolizing martyrs--WOW, that affected my relationship with life itself.
I love this! Can you please do more on Christian authors? I recently left the faith and you have no idea how much this helped me today. We NEED more people doing what you’re doing about these pieces of shit. Thank you for this❤
I always hated when religious people mix religion and politics together as a way to make themselves look good. Separation of church and state needs to be taken seriously
This video BROUGHT ME LIFE. I had to go to the Billy graham museum (while he was still alive? Dunno why that existed). We also had tons of his books and they all sucked.
My grandma had some of his books. I don't know what became of them after she died in 2003, but she did love to listen to him speak whenever he had his crusades. I also want to mention that he died before his 100th birthday. So technically, he was 99 years old when he passed away.
DUDE I forgot about this guy. My mother used to watch TBN or something when I was younger and I remember him. Ahhh, takes me back. Those were the dark ages 😂
He retired in 2005: i was born in 2005. I have to assume that my sheer, impressive gayness (Im genderfluid and pansexual) coming into the world is what pushed him to retire. You're all welcome
I knew billy gross was bad, but this added a whole mariana trench level of depth to that knowledge base. Holy fuck. May he rest in pieces, and his legacy and line die out of human memory and relavence.
Thank you SO MUCH for pointing out how awful Billy Graham was. It’s not surprising evangelicals like him but I’m always shocked when normal people think he’s fine because of his reputation. He was such a hateful person who pretended to be nice to all.
i've been trying for ages to figure out what the black book with a pink section on the top of its spine is. because it look a lot like Once and Future to me but i compared it with my own copy and it doesn't match 😭
SHIRT: awarewolfapparel.com/products/pride-resort-shirt
(Not a sponsor i just really frickin love this business)
It's so weird to me that so many christians will make up all these stories about "being oppressed" and how awful it is for them but then immediately turn around and actually mistreat other religions in real terrible ways.
So many American Christians hear it from literal birth from the pulpit, that they’re special, not just apart from but above the “sinful rabble” Of the rest of society. They’re taught that hate for others is love. It’s deeply disturbing and frightening how brainwashed so many American Christians are.
In church ppl used to say like, "if I'm wrong about God, then nothing bad happens when I die. But if YOU'RE wrong, then you go to hell when you die, so the risk is worse for you." But I want to ask them, "what if God is real, but you're wrong about his character? Then you'll have to stand before him and explain why you let Pharisees and moneylenders twist his word and lead you to abuse and exploit His children while actively driving them further away from his perfect love. And you're going to have to answer for that."
I've made a similar argument in the past. I've told Christians that 100 years ago, your god may have forgiven your homophobia, but given what modern science and psychology has taught us, you would absolutely not be forgiven for your homophobia/transphobia now.
So, not related to Billy Graham, but church in general. I wasn't baptized because my parents aren't religious, but they wanted my brother and I to make our own choices, so they took me to church some when I was young. My mom picked me up from Sunday school one day and I was crying. She asked why, and I told her that the Sunday school teacher had told me I was going to hell because I wasn't baptized. My mom was WILD. She tore a strip off that woman, using language that would make even the most foul-mouthed person proud, ending with something along the lines of "if you EVER speak to my daughter like that again, I will send you straight to the hell you threatened her with". We never went back. Have I mentioned that I love my mom? 😂
Can your mom adopt me?
@@ReadswithRachel She would, no questions asked, in a heartbeat. Lol.
Your mom rules. My mother gave me a shitton of religious trauma. 🫠
@@ashannaredwolf8485 I'm so sorry. ☹️ My mom and I have our issues, as I'm sure most do, but religion has never been a source of them.
same @@ReadswithRachel
As a satanist, I need a shirt that says "I'm Not A Part Of Your Book Club" SO BAD -- great video as always, lots of good information, and learned a bit! :D
As a TST member, I second this need. Can we have "I'm not a part of your book club!" shirts?
It is so cathartic hearing you shit all over this evil man. I grew up around people who PRAISED him, my school went to the Billy graham library for field trips, and I still drive by the sign that says it’s “Charlotte’s #1 attraction” all the time.
This man needs to be exposed to everyone as the horror that he is. I’m not religious anymore but it brings be an awful satisfaction thinking of people like him coming face to face with God and being told “Depart from me, I never knew you.” Like they LOVE to throw around to threaten others.
i was a bridesmaid eleven times. only two were Catholic, as am I. boy did i get some shit from moms of the bride! one told me to my face not to be surprised if i had burns on the soles of my feet afterward - apparently walking down their wedding carpet…. it was a great wedding, my feet didn’t burn up lol.
My mom went down a fundie rabbit-hole (Independent Fundamental Baptist) when I was in my formative years. The idea that Catholics are really pagans and not Christians is still super weird to me. Those comments truly suck and I'm glad you got through those weddings without a full-blown altar call targeting you.
BURNS ON THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET?!!!
I don't understand why some Protestants think that Catholics are pagans. They worship the same God as they do!
@melissacooper8724 Their purported logic is that Catholics pray to saints and the Virgin Mary, ergo they pray to false gods and idols. (At least that's the version I was told.) Really it's just: I don't understand it, I don't want to understand it, it's different from me so it's bad.
That’s what I was told too! That the saints are “false gods”
I went to a bible college, and I remember one time that one of the professors was going to be giving me and a couple other students a ride to an off-campus event. I was the first one there and hopped in the back seat, said hi, and he pretty much immediately asked me to get back out of the car and wait for other students to show up because he didn't allow himself to be alone with any women besides his wife. I thought it was the weirdest, stupidest thing. We were out front of one of the busiest buildings on campus, on a Saturday with nice weather, there were people everywhere, and it was well known that he and was one of the people offering rides. What did he think was going to happen. And just-- as a professor, how's he supposed to be doing office hours or meetings with students if he refuses to be alone with half of them? Do all the guy students get to have private conversations about their grades and the gals have to have another person there or leave the door open or what? So weird.
In my country we have an "open door policy" which prevents sexual harassment, unproductive or absentee workers and other forms of workplace misconduct. Keeping the door open in offices isn't a bad thing unless discussing sensitive issues.
@@availanila I think Open door policies are great, and have been in different places with them-- (and due to the nature of the business I work in, my current workplace has 24/7 surveillance and cameras pretty much everywhere in the building, including one in my office and another I can see through my doorway, so I definitely understand policies and stuff like that as a general preventative measure!) If I recall correctly, there were many of the other professors who had open door policies as well, but he was the only one who had it just with female students, or who took it to such an extreme, which really stuck out to me.
@@KaelasReadingAgain oh yeah. Not to mention it's a good answer to open office plan since you can shut the door whenever needed. But doing it only for students of the opposite sex or something feels like a microaggression honestly. And I'm certain mirroring his behaviour wouldn't be taken nicely; in fact I wouldn't be surprised if he felt she was suggesting he was immoral.
This man was so admired in the churches I grew up in. After a while, I grew to hate his name
I didn’t know he was shit until I was an adult. He was put on such a pedestal like I’ve never seen before.
That's the problem. We put pastors on a pedestal. They are only human beings like the rest of us. We end up worshipping them instead of Jesus that they preach about.
Watching this helps me understand my Mom so much better. My Granny had a lot of his books, I mean a LOT, even though she was very Methodist. (I can recite The Apostles' Creed, the benediction, and Glory Be because of going to church with her.) My Mom's fall into fundie-land (IFB) makes so much more sense now. I always thought Billy Graham was creepy, tbh.
@@AsrielGaming1997 Glad I wasn't the only one that did that. LOL
😂 Y'all, these comments made my day.
My grandma had some of his books, too. Only she was more of a Baptist.
My mom and grandparents have his books! Grandma loves going to massive church revivals. Ugh I admit the singing at the revivals was fun. I loved it when they sing too much and there's no time for a sermon
same I'll take singing over sermon, sermons make me fall asleep
There's a psychological explanation to that, singing in a big group or even at a concert has a huge effect on your body and makes you feel really alive, try going to concerts or maybe even just a group with around a bunch of music it will have the same effect as choir and singing in church without the problems.
Calling God "Sky Daddy" just took me OUT.
I can’t take credit for that, whoever originally came up with it is a genius
I think it's a little disrespectful honestly.
To whom?
@@ReadswithRachelright? It's not like sky daddy's gonna come down to spank us for it lol
@@Darbsterooo kinky 😂
I grew up Christian (I'm a practicing Witch now) and I used to be okay with Billy Graham (kinda always thought he was creepy) but as I got older and my parents became more radical and told me things like
*"When I get to heaven, I won't even think of you or remember who you are. I'll be to busy worshipping God. And when you get there, you won't be you anymore either, but someone God remade to worship him forever."*
I started to deeply analyze people in Christianity - especially Billy Graham who everyone loved. I saw the hatred, cruelty and the things he and others did in the name of their God and decided that I was done with it. Billy Graham was a person with evil intentions who wore a mask of a good man.
Sky Daddy needs to prioritize making it rain not intimidating his children.
Whenever I talk about Lutheran /Christian stuff I also accidently say "we" as well even tho I haven't believed in 17 years. The brain washing just takes over sometimes.
I wish you were here making this content on UA-cam when I was growing up.
It’s fucking cathartic.
Thank you. 🙏🏻
I feel you ❤️❤️❤️
Very cathartic!!!!❤❤❤
I'm not part of your bookclub 😂
I wish I had the strength to say this to my parents lol
Took me a long time to say it to mine
same
I was aware of Billy Graham, but I grew up Episcopalian. We have TWO gay bishops.
please please make "I'm not part of your book club" merch
fantastic video as always, rachel. thank you for challenging these violent and insidious people, especially with everything happening with legislation in Florida and Texas. appreciate all you do 💙
So I can't take credit for that joke, this genius over on tiktok is the one behind it: www.tiktok.com/@legacyemma/video/7093674854188141867
Ooooh yes I am familiar with Billy Graham and his "ministry". 😅 I used to be a member of a Southern Baptist church (am now an atheist and working through my religious trauma woohoo) and met Franklin Graham (briefly). He came to preach at our church against Harry Potter (this was circa 2007/2008 so not even at the height of HP? But around when the last movies came out. Still WITCHRAFT=BAD). My then-fiance (now ex) forced me to get rid of all my first edition hardcover HP books and DVDs, threatening to break off our engagement if I didn't. I'm not too sad about that, now that we know how awful JK is, but it was more the fact that they were preaching about how AWFUL these FICTION BOOKS were and completely ignored real abuse and trauma in their community (which happened to me and many others) at the time.
Was she awful because of her opinion about transgender people? I remember earlier this year that she and actor Harry Melling, aka Dudley Dursley, had a disagreement about the transgender thing.
@@melissacooper8724 Yeah, mostly that but her conduct around that issue has frankly been embarassing for a long time. At first she pretended liking terf tweets and such were just oopsies and "middle-aged moments".
Then she ended up getting involved in the media circus around a court case where a woman working with disadvantaged people didn't have her contract renewed for consistently misgendering them and treating them like dirt and proceeded to sue the workplace for infringing upon protected believes just because her contract wasn't renewed. JK twisted this into "A woman being fired for saying biological sex is real".
She wrote a manifesto fear-mongering about trans people using examples of things that "could happen" when those things are already illegal (think people flashing others in bathrooms), trans or not.
On top of that though if you look at her books more closely they also contain a lot of kind of iffy stuff like a making lycanthropy an analogy to HIV (something that disproportionally affected gay men in the past) and making the banks be run entirely by antisemetic stereotypes.
More Golden Grahams, less Billy Grahams. Cereal is good, assholes are not.
Totally agree 👍
A+ comment and Golden Grahams are an A+ snack
He used have a column in a local newspaper. I used to read it. One column upset me. A woman wrote In with a problem. Her teenaged daughter got pregnant out of wedlock. Her husband, the girl’s stepfather, shunned her and forbid his wife to help her. She wanted to help. Graham advised her to respect her husband’s wishes.
You referring to Christianity as a book club had me laughing so hard 😂😂😂 A+ Rachel
I still hate that Charlotte is known as the "birth place of Billy Graham" it's just, ugh
I'm disillusioned as to why they commemorated a museum to him! We're making him an idol to worship!
He's one of the reasons I'm sad Hell isn't real :'(
😂
Pat Robertson can be another reason!
I knew of Mr. Graham from a simpsons joke about Rodd and Todd Flanders having a video game called Billy Graham Bible Blaster.
I remember that was from the episode where their mom Maude died in a freak accident and Bart was trying to spend some time with them. I thought the video game was funny seeing Neanderthals getting turned into men in Sunday suits with halos around their heads!
I misread the thumbnail as “Billy Graham was a wh*re” and got very excited 🤣
lmaooo i'd have liked him better in that case
My parents have so many of Graham’s books. Which is weird because my mom identified as Catholic until about 10-15 years ago, _long_ after she got those books.
I only just realized how odd it is that she has so many books by a man that _at best_ didn’t consider her a “real” Christian and possibly thought she was evil.
(And my mom is _not_ the type to read books she disagrees with. She doesn’t have many books due to moving often so the books she _does_ have are the ones she feels great sentimental attachment to.)
That’s wild! Billy was such a dick to Catholics! I wonder what she saw in him
@@ReadswithRachel She’s never been the type to be very knowledgeable about her own religion.
All I can figure is that it’s a lot of cognitive dissonance, compartmentalization, and ignorance.
(Side note, she also gave me _The Purpose Driven Life_ when I moved in with my at-the-time boyfriend (now husband).
I’m pretty sure that’s an evangelical book and that the author cites Billy Graham as an inspiration?
She pushed me to read it for a long time, lol
But I never did and I finally threw it away a few years ago.)
@ReadswithRachel Billy Graham wasn't the only person who didn't like Catholics. There was this guy named Jack Chick who was a religious extremist who drew these cartoons that are supposed to get people converted to his way of thinking. His cartoons had Catholics sent to Hell because they didn't worship the way he did. He also felt that way about Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
Oh Jack chick is on my list too
@@ReadswithRachel Oh yes PLEASE! That would be a great video!
I love freaking out my normie friends who’ve never heard of Chick tracts.
Also, for several years my kid would get at least 3 Chick Tracts in his Halloween haul every year.
But now hardly anyone trick-or-treats in the neighborhood anymore because they all go to church trunk-or-treats instead, so the tract-givers (and also the MLM sample givers) stopped turning their lights on since less than a quarter of the neighborhood has lights on anyway.
But yeah, I used to have to go through my kid’s candy before he could have it, not looking for adulterated candy, but for religious tracts telling him that I’m going to Hell for taking him trick-or-treating or his dad is for playing DND.
cw: csa
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if you don't know, csa means childhood sexual assault
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When I was a teenager, Billy Graham told me to my face that God allowed me to be s/a as a toddler for the "sins" I hadn't committed yet because I'm queer. When I saw him a few years later after being "cured" he told me I was still going to hell for it because God doesn't like sinners. I asked if he was a sinner. He said yes. I said wouldn't he go to hell too since God doesn't like sinners. He said no because queerness isn't forgivable. I said there's only one unforgivable sin and queerness is more forgivable than thinking a toddler deserved s/a. He spouted some homophobic verses and told me I was going to hell. No accountability for him thinking a child deserved that.
What?! He is a monster.
that's why I don't believe in karma, divine justice, or whatever, This POS lived a long life, his descendants are well provided, and like him, there's a lot of bad people living the same life
It is wildly unfair!
jacek dukaj can be read jack doocay, jack = jacek. usually it's better to keep the polish version of first name but no one will judge you if you respectfully swap it, like francis instead of franciszek. also in general polish j is read like english y, like yay is phonetically jej in polish. not that he deserves respect but i was taken aback by you mentioning him lmao polish surnames are ~special~
Oh shoot thanks for telling me! I’ll make a note of this
"I'm not part of your book club" TOOK ME TF OUT JSFDFFJGFSJGKS
"I'M NOT PART OF YOUR BOOK CLUB" LMFAO
Haven't even watched the full video yet but wow your makeup 😍
thank you so much!
Thank you SO MUCH for bringing up Jacek Dukaj - even though he's not the worst offender, he is an example of a broader problem. Polish sphere of popular fantasy writers such as Andrzej Pilipiuk, Andrzej Ziemiański or Jacek Piekara bring so much misogyny, homophobia and overall harmful beliefs to thousand of writers as they are Polish bestsellers. Luckily, very few of them got any type of translations, but its still sad for these kind of statements being made in popular media and its treated as the reality.
I'm glad I never picked up any of their books
Leviticus? But I'm a queer in mixed fiber clothes with tattoos. What is a bitch to do?
Also: if we're talking about scientific research that would kill a Graham, the book Bitch: The Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke would've done it.
Thrive!
I need a tshirt that says "I'm not a part of your book club."
I live in TN, and I can see the head tilts now.😂
I lost everything to religion and cults. 20 years of life and a lifetime of unpacking the psychological confusion
Funny, my parents (catholic) watched a few of his big shows way back when, so like, when he died my Mom was like "oh that's so sad he seemed like he did such good work" and I actually could not hold back from just...about half an hour of evidence refuting that (they are not really strict catholics anymore because they have an actual moral code and you can't have that and be a "good catholic"...for various reasons.
Someone I went to school with is currently on a mission trip in Italy to convert catholics to christianity 😂
WOOF
I hope, they use the word "christianity" the way, you are using it here. I'm sure, they will be welcomed with open arms.
😂
Hearing you say Southern Baptists were Fundy set off alarm bells in my head since I didn't realize my cousin was raised Southern Baptist until she got married recently. I had always assumed she was raised Roman Catholic like my mom and uncle were, but I guess my aunt "converted" him. A lot of their views make more sense now, and I fear for their future children.
Jesus H. Christ, I had no idea he was older than several States.
My grandma was a year older than him! But she died in 2003 at the age of 86.
Oooh I’m ready for this … I grew up evangelical in NC and had to go to that stupid “museum” dedicated to him (that somehow wasn’t idolatry) as a kid. All that was good there was the hot chocolate and carriage rides during Christmas.
i fucking forgot all about that
Today's eye makeup is *chef's kiss* 💋
Franklin is far worse than his father. He could have seen the mistakes his father made and if not corrected them or at least seen that they were not repeated. Instead, he became an even bigger hypocrite than his father!
I AM SO TIRED OF YT UN-SUBBING ME FROM MY FAVE BOOKTUBER!!!!!
LOVE YOU BEAUTIFUL, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, YOU HAVE CHANGED MY MIND (OPENED MY MIND) TO A LOT OF THINGS!
I am very thankful for Good Omens, a gay angel loving a gay demon is my religion.
God bless good omens
I feel so vindicated and justified for disliking Graham and the Stanleys whenever these videos come out. I could never explain what exactly about them rubbed me the wrong way, but these videos help out that icky feeling into words
God, as a PK from a Pentecostal church, just hearing the name Billy Graham makes my skin crawl. Idk if this guy wrote books but I’d love to hear you tear apart Benny Hinn too, if you haven’t yet
I was literally just earlier this week wondering when the next ABB: Fundie Edition was gonna be, so this is perfect timing lol
2:54 "just because he's more palatable...does not mean he didn't do harm" 👏
7:28: "only when Jesus returns will racism end" is uh...quite a take there Billy 😬
I appreciate you doing this video and hope to watch it when i'm in a better headspace to consume it -- just wanted to give you the engagement though bc you deserve it 💓 I fucking HATE this man though, like a lot of fundies bother me but this man just awakens something so visceral in me that I can't deal.
This video has reignited the urge to pick up my favorite hobby from my time as an angry, closeted bisexual teen- deep readings of the Bible and theological theory to then use when I picked fights with my father.
I come from a background of “haha holy shit my family had a literal family run religious cult that I didn’t know about until I was in college and my divorced mother told me like this should have been common knowledge.” Things had shifted into the more stereotypical fundie shit by the time I was born, but GOD, even just hearing the last name Graham sends me into an eye twitching spiral.
I'm almost certain we went to the same Crusade, because I went to one at RJ stadium around that time and I HATED it so much!! It was stupidly long, over 3 maybe 4 hours on a school night (never thought I would be mad about being up on a school night but only Billy Graham could do that!), and Billy talked for MAYBE 10 minutes, tops.
I was in this bible class when I was 5-6 and I didn't understand a single thing lol I just thought it was a singing and dancing class. But when I got older I felt really pressured into believing in all of that stuff when I didn't want to. I used to get so angry and one of the reasons was because I really struggle to stick to tasks and activities without getting bored or frustrated (adhd) so when my family would bring me to church or try to get me to read the bible or say things like, 'You will believe in it eventually,' when I would try to tell them I didn't I felt very suffocated. My grandma probably has a lot of this guys books.
i really appreciate the level of work you put into all of your videos. i knew this guy by name and some of his famous cadences, but that's about it.
My church used to be quite involved with his foundation but they've stopped thank God💀I didn't even know he was fundie but I always had a bad feeling abt him so thank you so much for this as always Rachel!
My exposure to Billy Graham was blessedly minimal, but only because he was too liberal for my fundie sect! But he did far more harm than any of my former fundie peers simply because of his reach.
Even in my reprobate era of life, I have a bit of a soft spot for the Grahamson (Billy Graham grandson) who started Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, which trains churches, Christian schools, daycares, etc. how to establish priorities that prevent abuse and performs independent investigations of abuse claims. I can't say for certain that GRACE isn't another example of what you were talking about with Billy Graham doing the right thing on integration, but only because he thought doing so would get him god approval. Still, so many of Billy Graham's surviving relatives are so vocally hateful, and even as an atheist I can appreciate the guy who seems to be more focused on making Christian places safer for vulnerable people.
I haven’t looked into his grandkids! I’ll have to check them out
@@ReadswithRachel I wouldn't. They're mostly Franklin Graham lite. But I learned about GRACE when it conducted an investigation of BJU's handling of sexual assault (how the school counseled victims; I don't think assault on campus was the issue). Anyway, that one grandson seems cool in a black sheep way.
This is so raw. I love it.
Omg I can't wait to watch! My parents made my brother and I go to Billy Graham library when it opened. They love him lol
If my family finds out I did this video they’re going to be pretttttty upset with me
@ReadswithRachel Can you do one about Pat Robertson? He did a lot of cringeworthy things too! By the way, does your family like Pat Robertson too?
I love your choice of photo for Graham throughout the video lol. It gives villainous sourpuss energy.
Love the video. I definitely heard about this guy in my fundie church
Also I cant find the link to the shirt ^^;
SHIT I knew i forgot to do something
Here's the link: awarewolfapparel.com/products/pride-resort-shirt
I love "I'm not part of your book club" as a way of saying you don't follow the Bible
Oooo this is a good one. Watching crazy fundamentalist men fall is low key a major sport that I’m willing to go to hell to watch. 😂
hard same lol thats my superbowl
22:02 So beautifully said. Tears in my eyes.
As a former fundie, that "I said we again, ugh" moment was so relatable
As always, thanks for all the work you put into these videos 💜💜💜
Billy Graham was truly a horrible man
I grew up Mennonite, (German-Mennonite on both sides) but my dad's side of the family for some reason had a fascination with evangelism, and sort of self-hatred for Mennonites, and they idolized Billy Graham. Being raised by these types of people affected me through the media I was allowed to consume (NO fantasy at all--I couldn't read the Harry Potter books like my friends) the ideas that I had about people (I remember a friend coming out to me, And when she asked how he felt, I told her I believed "as other Christians do" 🤮 even though I sympathized, and later realized I was pan) and it led me to believe that I was right to be judgmental all of the time (Because that's what Christian do, right? "We" judge in love, and love conditionally.)
It took me a long time to find my personality outside of those extreme beliefs, especially after I went to college at ORU... Where they REALLY idolized Billy Graham.
I still find myself thinking things and realizing the thought is based in Christianity, and not my actual beliefs, just a result of 20 years of conditioning. I'm frequently realizing my "common sense" thoughts are just weird assumptions created from being raised fundie.
Also, idolizing martyrs--WOW, that affected my relationship with life itself.
I love this! Can you please do more on Christian authors? I recently left the faith and you have no idea how much this helped me today. We NEED more people doing what you’re doing about these pieces of shit. Thank you for this❤
I always hated when religious people mix religion and politics together as a way to make themselves look good. Separation of church and state needs to be taken seriously
I love your energy in this video!
"the danger of me kicking you repeatedly in the balls" had me CACKLING
Me too! I lost all respect for Mike Pence after what happened at the White House in January 2021.
Why does he look like a bad guy from Murder She Wrote?
😅😅😅
true lmao
You ate this video queen 🤞🏼💗
I appreciate you
I'm a gay Jew. I guess I'm going to hell twice.
Hell is where all of us cool kids are going
The sheer amount of GFYs in this piece warms my heart. Excellent analysis of a truly disgusting POS.
This video BROUGHT ME LIFE. I had to go to the Billy graham museum (while he was still alive? Dunno why that existed). We also had tons of his books and they all sucked.
Thanks
Thank you so much!!!
Not UA-cam putting a dude in a "I will not co-parent with the government" t-shirt shilling Tuttle Twins crap before this video. READ THE ROOM UA-cam.
I heard there’s a way for me not to get ads from fascists on my videos anymore and I need to figure it out
I always report as spam or false/misleading, because it's fanfiction dressed up as history.
My grandma had some of his books. I don't know what became of them after she died in 2003, but she did love to listen to him speak whenever he had his crusades. I also want to mention that he died before his 100th birthday. So technically, he was 99 years old when he passed away.
DUDE I forgot about this guy. My mother used to watch TBN or something when I was younger and I remember him.
Ahhh, takes me back. Those were the dark ages 😂
He retired in 2005: i was born in 2005. I have to assume that my sheer, impressive gayness (Im genderfluid and pansexual) coming into the world is what pushed him to retire. You're all welcome
He felt a disturbance in the Force
I knew billy gross was bad, but this added a whole mariana trench level of depth to that knowledge base. Holy fuck.
May he rest in pieces, and his legacy and line die out of human memory and relavence.
Fundie editions are my favorite
Mine too 😂
Thank you SO MUCH for pointing out how awful Billy Graham was. It’s not surprising evangelicals like him but I’m always shocked when normal people think he’s fine because of his reputation. He was such a hateful person who pretended to be nice to all.
100 years was too good for this man. >:(
Your makeup is awesome
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Well said!
I'm so lucky being a third generation atheist.
My parents just started volunteering at the BG library 💔
Fun Fact: Did you know that crime author Pat Cornell was raised a foster daughter of sorts to the Graham's in particular Mrs. Graham
Frank Zappa would love you.
I'm not seeing the link to your shirt in the description!! I'd love to know where you got it from :3
Hi! Here's the link: awarewolfapparel.com/products/pride-resort-shirt
@@ReadswithRachel £24 shipping 😭 absolutely beautiful shirt though and I'll be sure to link it to my american friends!! Thank you!!
"Fuck Paul! who the fuck cares about Paul?"
Fanatics like Paul care about Paul. Citing Paul is a red flag.
I'm so happy to hear someone say "fuck your religion" when people use their religion to justify horrific, anti-human bullshit.
He was in with Nixon? 😮
VERY much so.
14:22 Wait, I thought pansexual meant you were attracted to goats.
Ok I'm very late to the game here... But why is Billy Graham actually Frasier??
Whoa, curious how much his org believes God's plan has lost control of this "broken" world 👀🧐
i've been trying for ages to figure out what the black book with a pink section on the top of its spine is. because it look a lot like Once and Future to me but i compared it with my own copy and it doesn't match 😭
also, i'm so glad i had no fucking idea who this dude was before today
If you mean the one that is two books over from Read This To Get Smarter, it's The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
I think what you're pointing out is the stars and the blackness between them, specifically the book of the month version
@@ReadswithRachel tysm