Stephen Whitfield

[...]consider the full scale of the media empire that is called the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association--the nearly three dozen books, which have sold more than 30 million copies, the 1,600 sermons he has delivered, and the torrent of newspaper columns, films, and television programs. Religious programs on radio and TV, according to the Federal Communications Commission, satisfy the obligations of public service. Graham's own attributes nevertheless constituted distinctive assets that he could exploit--his lithe, 6-foot-2 frame, his piercing blue eyes set in a rock-jawed face, his sonorous voice, and his relentless energy, dedication, and work habits. The religious ideas that he has spent a lifetime promoting are nevertheless still ideas and therefore deserve to be examined with the same critical detachment as notions about the validity of race or the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.