Evangelist Franklin Graham was criticized over his request to pray for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As reported by The Christian Post, Graham shared his plea on Facebook, asking people to pray that God will "work" on Putin's heart.
"Pray for President Putin. This may sound like a strange request, and I might get some angry comments, but we need to pray that God would work in his heart so that war-and the loss of thousands of lives-could be avoided at all cost. May God give wisdom to the leaders involved in these talks and negotiations, as well as those advising them. Our prayers might make the difference between life and death," the evangelist wrote.
The critics, however, misunderstood the post.
Some Democrats, such as Jon Cooper and Scott Huffman, criticized the preacher as if the latter supports the Russian president. They even tried to connect him to former President Donald Trump.
"Trump-loving evangelist Franklin Graham just told his followers: 'Pray for President Putin today,'" Cooper tweeted.
"Franklin Graham asks his followers to pray for Putin. Guess he forgot about the Ukrainians and our NATO allies. It's almost like he supports the enemy who is about to declare war and kill people," Huffman said.
But others reacted to the criticism and defended the evangelist.
Though Jeff Sharlet's statement implies that he is another Rightist critic, the Vanity Fair's contributing editor tweeted in defense of Graham and said that his request to pray for Putin was taken out of context.
"I'm the last one to defend Franklin Graham - I report on Christian nationalism - but taking his 'pray for Putin' post out of context replicates fascist misinformation. Graham asks followers to pray that God turn Putin from war. There's enough nasty on the Right; no need to manufacture," Sharlet wrote.
Even Martha Kelly, who confessed that she dislikes the evangelist, stated that she does not approve the "dishonest[y]" behind the criticism.
"I don't like this guy either but what he's saying is to pray for God to change Putin's heart so that he won't attack Ukraine. It's fine to dismiss that as a dumb plan but it's dishonest to frame it as Graham telling people to pray for Putin's success or something," Kelly said.
In spite of Russia's claim last Tuesday that some of its forces were pulled back from Ukraine, the American ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Michael Carpenter, revealed that the number of Russian troops deployed in the Ukrainian borders has actually increased. On Friday, OSCE estimated that there were already about 169,000 to 190,000 Russian soldiers in the region, a huge surge from only 100,000 on Jan. 30.
On Feb. 17, Biden expressed his belief that Russia will invade Ukraine in the next few days, dismissing the former's claim on withdrawal of forces. He also believes that Russia was trying to create a reason to start the war through "false flag operation."
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Biden's concern, saying that Russia plans for a "biggest war in Europe since 1945." He warned though that if the invasion pushes through, Putin will face "bloodshed and misery" for many years.
Seeking Israel's alliance will be crucial to the victory of either of the two countries, given the Israelis' exceptional knowledge in strategizing warfare as evidenced by its success in subduing its many enemies despite being "outnumbered" and "outgunned ."
However, Israel is considering to maintain its neutrality on the Ukraine-Russia crisis due to several reasons, including the significant number of Jewish populations in both countries.
