Is it conceivable that Pope Francis would send Billy Graham, who turns 96 on November 7, a birthday card? It is. But one also imagines that Billy's son, Franklin, who manages his father's affairs in these final days, would be unimpressed.
Over the last decade, Franklin has retrenched Billy's reputation, away from the great strides his dad took toward an embracing of all expressions of Christian faith. Only two months ago, Franklin wrote on the website of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association that the Ebola outbreak may be instrumental to God's plan for the end of the world. Beware and foreboding are the tools of a Christian fundamentalist; they were never Billy's. For all his faults - and he had plenty - Billy never used the Gospel to threaten.
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