Franklin Graham Makes Religion Look Worse in Violence Over Video Games Debate

Generally, avoiding FOX News (along with most major news networks) is always a good decision, but a guy named John Stossel (Stossel Show with John Stossel on FOX Business) had a "debate" with religious dude Franklin Graham, who runs his father's (Billy Graham) evangelist group. It was anything but an argument as Graham looked incredibly foolish because (suprisingly) he doesn't know anything about video games.

The video clip basically surmounts to Stossel listing facts about how video games haven't statistically caused any violence by themselves, and in fact that number has gone down, while Graham talks about how we need to pray to God for this "disease" of "murder simulators" and that there "needs to be more research."

There's so many things that Graham got wrong in the debate, but the biggest hole is contradicting himself. When Stossel gives out facts, that's research from video game violence. When Graham is touting about how video games make people kill each other and then adds that there needs more research, then he in fact is admitting that video games may or may not actually kill people.

Instead of pointing the finger toward video games, maybe Graham can actually read when he's thumbing through the Bible and take a gander at these verses (special thanks to Yahoo! Answers):

Ezekiel 9:6 "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women . . . "
Isaiah 13:16 "Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished."
Deuteronomy 13:15 "Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly . . . "
Leviticus 20:9 "For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death . . . "
Exodus 32:27 ". . . Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour."
Deut 21:10-12 "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; "
Exodus 31:15 " . . . whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death."
Deut 21:21 "And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die . . . "

That crap's all right in the bible for everybody to see while video games at least put up ratings and descriptors about what's actually in the game. Then parents who raise children the right way can consider what their child is able to handle and make a smart decision.

Religion already has a bad rap when some followers won't even accept gay marriage, or believe that's slapping God in the face. Graham's making it look worse when he obviously knows nothing about the subject and looked to simply agree to a TV appearance to get some recognition.

[Sources: Stossel Show, Yahoo! Answers]
[Image credit: Flickr/Rachel James]