March 15, 2016 02:01 PM UTC

GOP Cheers Huge Capitol Rally For Rev. Franklin Graham, Hater

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: A slew of Colorado GOP legislators join hands at Franklin Graham’s rally today:

From left: Sen. Kevin Lundberg, Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, Rep. Patrick Neville, Rep. Dan Nordberg, Rep. Clarice Navarro, Sen. Larry Crowder, (we think) Rep. Kim Ransom, Sen. Laura Waters Woods, a dude in sunglasses, Rep. Justin Everett, and Sen. Vicki Marble. We’re pretty sure Sen. Tim Neville and Rep. Jim Wilson are tucked in behind there too.

Standing proud for America–just not gay America, Muslim America, or grazing fee-paying America.

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Photo by Sen. Laura Waters Woods

Many thousands of religious conservatives turned out today at the Colorado Capitol for a rally featuring Rev. Franklin Graham, son of legendary Christian evangelist Billy Graham, who is touring across the nation as part of his “Decision America Tour 2016.”

Franklin Graham is traveling to all 50 states in 2016 to hold prayer rallies, to preach the Gospel, and to challenge believers to take a stand and take action. He’ll be urging Christians to vote, to live out their faith in every part of their lives, and to pray for our nation just as Nehemiah cried out to God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore hope to His people.

Franklin Graham has emerged in recent years as one of the most powerful figures on the religious right wing of American politics–much more so than his father, who was more concerned with winning souls than votes. Not so with Franklin Graham, who has eagerly joined in the contemporary “culture wars,” bitterly denouncing the movement for LGBT rights as the direct product of Satan:

This is a full-scale assault against Christianity and the followers of Christ. When prayer is banned from the public square, when our President fails to defend biblically defined marriage, and he openly and zealously advocates for gay rights; when legislators rush to overrule existing laws to promote gay marriage; when schools and courts consistently suppress religious freedoms; we know we are locked in a war against the Christian faith, not culture. The architect behind this offensive is none other than Satan himself.

Graham also seconds Donald Trump’s call to halt all immigration into the United States by adherents of the Muslim faith:

For some time I have been saying that Muslim immigration into the United States should be stopped until we can properly vet them or until the war with Islam is over. Donald J. Trump has been criticized by some for saying something similar. The new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said yesterday that he disagrees—saying that “such views are not what this party stands for and more importantly it’s not what this country stands for.” Politicians in Washington seem to be totally disconnected with reality.

Most recently, Franklin Graham made headlines as one of the principal intercessors on behalf of the militia members who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Militia members sought out Graham to negotiate on their behalf. All told, Franklin Graham has staked out his ground about as far right as 2016’s politics will allow–and as you know from the headlines today, that’s pretty damn far to the right.

With all of this in mind, you might think that Colorado Republicans, especially vulnerable legislators like Sen. Laura Woods (photo above), Rep. Clarice Navarro, and Rep. Kit Roupe would steer clear?

All we can say is, don’t check their Facebook pages.