A pro-Trump evangelical advised getting the COVID-19 vaccine. His fans revolted.
Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and a prominent evangelical himself, published a Facebook post Wednesday on the COVID-19 vaccines. He's "been asked if Jesus were physically walking on earth now, would He be an advocate for vaccines," Graham wrote. His answer was "yes." Graham said he and his wife have been vaccinated and advised followers to consult their doctor about the best plan for their health.
Graham's fans mostly weren't having it. Top comments with thousands of likes told Graham, who runs a charitable organization that operated pandemic field hospitals to relieve strain on medical facilities, he should do more research. One reply chastised Graham, 68, for saying he wants to continue living. It doesn't matter "how many shots you get," the commenter said, "when its [sic] your time no vaccine will save you." Others questioned his faith.
It's not surprising to find vaccine skepticism among Graham's fan base; polling shows white evangelicals are unusually hesitant about the vaccines. Hesitancy is also high among Republicans, and Graham has been a reliable booster of former President Donald Trump. What's interesting here isn't that Graham's followers rejected his pro-vaccine message; it's that he issued it at all, and perhaps did so with an expectation of more positive reception.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On that note, here's an interesting tidbit for Graham or anyone attempting to overcome unwarranted vaccine hesitancy: A contributing factor may be the overwhelming negativity of U.S. national news coverage of all pandemic stories, including positive developments like the vaccines. As The New York Times reported Wednesday, a recent study found our national media is more negative than "scientific journals, major international publications, and regional U.S. media." (The Week is a notable exception.) That negativity persists across ideological lines, and though it may well be a response to news consumers' demand, it must also shape their perspective in turn.
Did it shape the response Graham got? It certainly seems plausible. Wherever his followers are getting their views, it obviously outranks the counsel of a voice they once trusted.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Liz Truss to save the West: is a political comeback really on the cards?
Talking Point The former prime minister is back with a new tell-all memoir
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Fallout: one of the 'most faithful – and best – video game adaptations'
The Week Recommends This 'genre-bending' new Amazon series is set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness where survivors shelter below ground
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'Test of faith for Trump Media's investors'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Covid inquiry: the most important questions for Boris Johnson
Talking Point Former PM has faced weeks of heavy criticism from former colleagues at the public hearing
By The Week Staff Published
-
No, it's not over
Talking Point New Omicron subvariants are headed our way
By William Falk Published
-
Acceptable casualties
Talking Point Freedom from COVID mandates won’t be free. How many deaths should we tolerate?
By William Falk Published
-
When the latest COVID wave arrives, do nothing
Talking Point
By Damon Linker Published
-
Poor sleep has huge costs for the workplace. But that isn't why we should care.
Talking Point
By Joel Mathis Published
-
A new COVID wave might be coming. Somehow we're not prepared.
Talking Point
By Joel Mathis Published
-
The fundamentally irrational American response to COVID-19
Talking Point
By Damon Linker Published
-
The coronavirus vaccines are safer than aspirin or Tylenol
Talking Point
By Ryan Cooper Published