Franklin Graham has accused the LGBT community of continually targeting Christians "to try to get us to accept their lifestyle" -- a goal the evangelist says "ain't gonna happen."
"Why can't Christians have the freedom to say 'No' to what they want to say no to? The LGBT community continues to target Christians to try to get us to accept their lifestyle," the leader of Samaritan's Purse said in a recent Facebook post, emphasizing, "It ain't gonna happen."
"God calls homosexuality sin-take it up with Him if you don't like it," he continued. "He is the one who defines sin, not me."
Graham said that as a Christian, "of course I don't hate gays." Rather, he loves them and wants them to know the truth of the gospel.
"If they choose to live that lifestyle, they certainly have the freedom to do so in this country-but don't tell me what I have to believe or participate in," he said.
Billy Graham's son made his comments in reference to a recent case in California, where a judge ruled in favor of a Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple last August. On Wednesday, the judge denied a motion for a temporary restraining order filed by a same-sex couple against Cathy Miller, a devout Christian and the owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California.
According to KTNV, the order would have compelled "Miller to create wedding cakes for LGBT persons, even though doing so would violate her sincerely held religious beliefs."
Previously, Miller said her Christian beliefs prevented her from contributing to a same-sex wedding.
"Here at Tastries, we love everyone," she said. "My husband and I are Christians and we know that God created everyone and he created everyone equal," Miller said at the time. "It's not that we don't like people of certain groups ... there is just certain things that violate my conscience."
Graham said he "appreciates" the fact that Miller stood up for her beliefs and refused to go against her convictions.
"There will be another hearing on February 2, so we need to pray for Cathy and for our religious freedoms to be upheld," he said. "The courts should never be able to force Christians to go against what the Word of God teaches."
Earlier in December, The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case of Jack Phillips, a Colorado Christian baker who refused to make gay wedding cakes due to his religious beliefs.
Phillips sought to overturn his guilty verdict by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission in 2014, which accused him of discriminating against gay couple Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012 when he refused to make a cake for their wedding.
The court is expected to issue a ruling in 2018.
At the time, Graham urged Christians to pray, calling the case a "very significant" one that has" huge repercussions for freedom of expression and religious liberty in our country."
