Carlson took issue with Graham’s reference to Esther, calling it “controversial” and “the only book in the Christian Bible, Old and New Testaments, that doesn’t mention God.” Instead, the book seems to support the “genocide” of 75,000 Persians, Carlson told viewers.
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Some people “argue that the book of Esther implies the presence of God [and that] God’s plan unfolds in the book of Esther,” Carlson said. “But if you’re a Christian clergyman or call yourself one, and you’re giving spiritual counsel to a head of state, it really matters. And there’s no reference whatsoever to Jesus” in Esther.
‘You’re Not Preaching the Gospel,’ Warns Tucker Carlson
Continuing his argument, Tucker Carlson said of Franklin Graham, “You’re not preaching the gospel. You’re not speaking actual truth to actual power.”
Carlson asked:
Why would Franklin Graham refer to the book of Esther, the only book in the Bible that doesn’t mention God, when he talks about Christianity, with the president of the United States? Because you can’t mention Jesus. That’s why. Because there’s no evidence that Jesus was for genocide, killing civilians, murdering the innocent, murder at all.
Then Carlson talked about Jesus and Holy Week, when the “Christian Messiah…allows himself to be tortured to death by pagans.” Carlson said:
Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, not on a stallion. He’s not coming to overthrow the oppressor by force. He’s coming in total humility and accepting degradation and mocking and physical torture, getting spit in the face by soldiers, whipped. He’s allowing this to happen because he’s saying the real victory is bigger than any victory achieved by killing people. It’s a victory over death itself. That’s the Christian message. That’s the opposite of the message you heard from Christian leaders at the White House on the eve of the president’s speech about the war yesterday.
Carlson noted that “all human institutions,” including religious movements, “come to an end…because they’re devised by people who are silly and venal and lack foresight and they’re just limited.” But, as Christians remember during Holy Week, death is a “necessary step…to rebirth,” Carlson said.
