Amplify’d from www.stltoday.com

Feds mine Facebook for info

By Robert Snell | The Detroit News STLtoday.com

DETROIT — Federal investigators in Detroit have taken the rare step of obtaining search warrants that give them access to Facebook accounts of suspected criminals.

The warrants let investigators view photographs, email addresses, cell phone numbers, lists of friends who might double as partners in crime, and see GPS locations that could help disprove alibis.

There have been a few dozen search warrants for Facebook accounts nationwide since May 2009, including three approved recently by a federal magistrate judge in Detroit, according to a Detroit News analysis of publicly available federal court records.

The trend raises privacy and evidentiary concerns in a rapidly evolving digital age and illustrates the potential law-enforcement value of social media, experts said.

Locally, Facebook accounts have been seized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI to investigate more than a dozen gang members and accused bank robber Anthony Wilson of Detroit.

“To be honest with you, it bothers me,” said Wilson, 25, who was indicted Tuesday on bank robbery charges after the FBI compared Facebook photos with images taken from a bank surveillance video. “Facebook could have let me know what was going on. Instead, I got my door kicked down, and all of a sudden I’m in handcuffs.”

Federal investigators defend the practice. “With technology today, we would be crazy not to look at every avenue,” said Special Agent Donald Dawkins, spokesman with the ATF in Detroit.

The FBI suspected Wilson was behind a string of bank robberies across Metro Detroit that netted more than $6,300. Special Agent Juan Herrera said an informant told the FBI about Wilson’s Facebook account. It was registered under the name “Anthony Mrshowoff Wilson.”

In several photos on Facebook, Wilson was wearing a blue baseball hat and blue hooded sweatshirt, both featuring a Polo emblem. That’s the same outfit the FBI said the suspect wore when he stole $390 from a Bank of America Branch in Grosse Pointe Woods on Nov. 26, according to federal court records.

His Facebook photos also included one in which Wilson wore a red Philadelphia Phillies baseball hat, which the FBI said Wilson donned while robbing $1,363 from a PNC Bank branch in St. Clair Shores on Dec. 21, according to court records.

On Jan. 26, U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia Morgan gave approval for the FBI to seize information from Wilson’s Facebook account. The warrant was executed within four hours.

Facebook gave the FBI Wilson’s contact information, including birth date, cell phone number, friends, incoming and outgoing messages, and photos.

Wilson was charged in a criminal complaint Feb. 7 and indicted Tuesday on five bank robbery charges. He is free on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

“I’m innocent until proven guilty,” Wilson told The Detroit News. “They’re basically going off my clothes. Ralph Lauren is a popular clothing line.”

He’s since updated his Facebook photo. Wilson swapped the blue Polo hat and blue Polo sweatshirt for white ones featuring the iconic Polo horse.

Despite the search warrants, his Facebook information page was still public Thursday.

Technology challenging

Morgan, the federal magistrate judge, also approved two search warrant requests from the ATF late last year and in February to search the accounts of at least 16 people suspected of belonging to a Detroit area gang. The affidavit justifying the search remains sealed in federal court.

Even with the access, investigators are having a hard time keeping up with high-tech crooks. In February, an FBI official testified before a House subcommittee about the difficulty accessing electronic communications on social media sites and email even with court approval.

“The FBI and other government agencies are facing a potentially widening gap between our legal authority to intercept electronic communications pursuant to court order and our practical ability to actually intercept those communications,” FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni testified.

Monitoring real-time Web-based conversations is particularly difficult, she said.

The FBI uses the term “Going Dark” to label the gap between having the authority to access electronic communications and the Internet service providers’ capability to gather the information. “This gap poses a growing threat to public safety,” Caproni testified.

Concerns over privacy

Information gleaned from the Internet raises constitutional and evidentiary issues that must be considered, including privacy and the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, said Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen, who also is an evidence professor at Wayne State University. Evidence obtained from the Internet and social media sites also raises issues about whether the information can be authenticated, he said.

“The Internet is the next frontier for the development of Fourth Amendment law,” Rosen said, referring to the amendment protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.

A Facebook spokesman said the company receives a “significant volume of third-party data requests” that are reviewed individually for “legal sufficiency.”

“We do not comment publicly on data requests, even when we disclose the request to the user. We have this policy to respect privacy and avoid the risk that even acknowledging the existence of a request could wrongly harm the reputation of an individual,” said Andrew Noyes, Facebook manager of public policy communications. “We never turn over ’content’ records in response to U.S. legal process unless that process is a search warrant reviewed by a judge. We are required to regularly push back against overbroad requests for user records, but in most cases we are able to convince the party issuing legal process to withdraw the overbroad request, but if they do not, we fight the matter in court (and have a history of success in those cases.)”

Spokeswomen for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI declined to discuss techniques used by investigators.

It is unclear exactly how many search warrants have been executed for Facebook accounts. But requests - in Maryland , New York , North Carolina , Virginia , California , Pennsylvania , Montana and Alabama - come amid a backlash from users who complained too much of their personal information was being disclosed .

The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation , a digital civil liberties organization based in San Francisco, launched a campaign recently to encourage Facebook and others to disclose when and how often law-enforcement agencies request user account information. Read more at www.stltoday.com

 

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Police seeking citizen spies & snitches

York County police departments seeking citizen volunteers

Amplify’d from www.ydr.com

York County police departments seeking citizen volunteers

Carroll Township Police saw a positive response when they asked the community to help. Other departments are following the trend.

By REBECCA LeFEVER Daily Record/Sunday News

York, PA - Carroll Township Police Chief Sean Kapfhammer was looking for more than a community watch when he asked for volunteers to serve alongside police officers. He wanted willing men and women to be trained, wear uniforms and act as the "eyes and ears" of the police department. The response was exactly what the department hoped, he said. Eleven people -- including college students, a married couple and other concerned citizens -- have started their basic law, traffic enforcement and communication training. By summer, Kapfhammer hopes to have the volunteers out on the streets of the department's coverage area in Carroll and Monaghan townships and Dillsburg. As Carroll Township Police moves forward with its auxiliary unit, other departments have been looking to adopt similar programs. York Area Regional Police Department said last month they were seeking community members to assist the department. "The people who have attended the citizen academy would be good volunteer candidates," Officer Peter Montgomery said shortly after the academy's graduation last month. The graduates have already gone through background checks, he said, and are familiar with officers and the department's functions. Montgomery, York Area Regional's crime prevention coordinator, is organizing the department's Volunteers in Police Service program -- a federal program that doesn't offer grants, but gives suggestions and guides for how police and citizens can work together. Montgomery is looking for volunteers to help with desk duties, noncriminal fingerprints, child-car-seat installation, meeting and event assistance, and department tours. "Each task would help keep officers on the street," he said. The department is waiting to hear from its insurance company on the liability risks involved with volunteers handling equipment and potentially working with private documents. "There has to be a trust there with whoever would come in," Montgomery said. Implementing citizen volunteers might be new for some area departments, but Hellam Township Police Department Commissioner Terry Inch has seen how someone without the power to arrest can put a troubled citizen at ease. Before moving to Pennsylvania, Inch worked with Scotland Yard and saw how England's 49 police forces worked together to bring in volunteer police officers. Most volunteers had an interest in joining the police service or another aspect of community service, Inch said, and were used throughout the department. "One sect of volunteers called the 'police specials' are unpaid, uniformed volunteers who complete police training," Inch said. "They will no doubt be used during the upcoming royal wedding." Most of England's volunteer officers make home welfare checks, respond to automatic alarms and take basic police reports. Why does it work so well? "These volunteers have a relationship with their fellow citizens that officers don't always have," Inch said. "It creates this path of communication that doesn't exist (in Pennsylvania)." But Inch is looking to change that. "We have absolutely nothing to hide, but most people don't know what we do," Inch said. "The only contact we have with people is when something goes wrong." While the department has been successful in reaching schools, adults have lost connection with the department. About 18 people completed a five-week citizen academy organized by the department, but Inch hopes to do more. LikeYork Area Regional, Hellam Township Police will be ready to take on volunteers once they smooth out liability concerns. "It's easier to do nothing than it is to do something," Inch said. "But I'm happy to know this is becoming more popular." How to get involved York Area Regional Police are looking for residents of its jurisdiction to volunteer. Duties include desk work, noncriminal fingerprinting, child-care-seat installation, data support, help with meetings and community events, giving department tours, and equipment maintenance. The department would provide all training, and volunteers will be supervised. Those interested are asked to contact Officer Peter Montogmery at 741-1259 or pmontgomery@yapd.org. York Area Regional's coverage area includes York, Windsor and North Hopewell townships; and Jacobus, Dallastown, Felton, Windsor, Yoe and Red Lion boroughs. Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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Vatican may resist judge's order

Amplify’d from ncronline.org

Vatican may resist judge's order for documents

by John L Allen Jr

PDF version

A ruling on Thursday from a federal judge in Oregon marks the first time that an American court has ever issued an order requiring the Vatican to hand over documents in a sex abuse case.

Whether that actually happens, however, depends on how the Vatican responds, including whether it tries to persuade either the Oregon judge or an appeals court that it shouldn’t have to comply.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman on Thursday granted a limited number of requests for discovery put forward by attorney Jeffrey Anderson, representing a man who says he was abused by Andrew Ronan, a former Servite priest who was laicized in 1966 and who died in 1992.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the main advocacy group in the United States for victims of clerical abuse, hailed the order as a “historic achievement.”

“Many clergy sex abuse victims are distraught that thousands of Catholic officials who ignore and conceal heinous crimes escape any consequences for their corruption,” said a statement from Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, California, the western regional director of SNAP.

“We are confident that this court ruling will give many victims some sorely-needed hope,” she said.

Since the core issue in the Oregon case is whether Ronan was an “employee” or “agent” of the Vatican, Mosman limited the requests to documents related to the Vatican’s laicization process, its policies regarding sexual abuse and its regulation of priests’ conduct, as they relate specifically to Ronan.

By granting only those requests, Mosman effectively rejected other requests from Anderson, including the idea of taking depositions from senior Vatican personnel, up to and including Pope Benedict XVI.

Attorney Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Holy See in American civil litigation, released a brief statement Thursday night in response to Mosman’s order.

“As a factual matter, Ronan was not a Holy See employee, and the Holy See was not aware of Ronan's misconduct until after Ronan had abused the plaintiff,” Lena said.

Beyond that, Lena declined to comment on what the Vatican’s strategy might be. In general, the Vatican has resisted such demands for discovery, both on First Amendment grounds and because of its status under international law as a sovereign state. Mosman’s ruling on Thursday didn’t directly address those arguments.

In that light, most observers believe it’s unlikely that the Vatican will simply hand over the requested documents. Instead, it’s likely that the Vatican will either file an objection with Mosman, or perhaps appeal the ruling to a higher court.

In the past, Vatican spokespersons have insisted that their reluctance to turn over documents is a matter of principle. In reality, they say, any documents in their possession would show that Ronan was never supervised by the Vatican and that Rome became aware of the charges against him only after the fact.

In comments to the Associated Press, Anderson nevertheless insisted the ruling is a breakthrough.

“It’s the first time anyone's laid a glove on them to the extent they had to turn documents over,” Anderson said. Read more at ncronline.org

 

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Catholic head 'shocked' by confession

Amplify’d from www.google.com

Belgian Catholic head 'shocked' by ex-bishop's confession

(AFP) – 13 hours ago

BRUSSELS — The head of the Catholic Church in Belgium, Andre-Joseph Leonard, described as "shocking" Sunday an ex-bishop's televised confession that he had sexually abused two of his nephews.

"It is inappropriate and shocking," Leonard told Belgium television RTBF of Roger Vangheluwe's "detached and vacant tone" during the interview, in which he had described "a kind of game" with one of the youngsters.

Leonard said Vangheluwe "should not have spoken".

Vangheluwe, 74, resigned as Bishop of Bruges last year after admitting to having had sex with his underage nephew, but could not be prosecuted as the statute of limitations, the legal period within which a crime can be punished, had expired.

Last week, he again caused outraged when he gave a television interview in which he also admitted to molesting a second nephew but insisted he did not consider himself a paedophile nor a threat to children.

After the first scandal, the Vatican ordered him to seek "spiritual and psychological treatment" at a church community at La Ferte-Imbault in France, and to stay out of the public eye.

Following the interview, which outraged many in Belgium and drew a sharp denunciation from the Council of Bishops, there have been calls for him to be prosecuted.

He then disappeared from his French religious community.

Asked about calls for tough penalties against Vangheluwe, Leonard said "he has already been punished" in 2010, but did not exclude the possibility of his being excommunicated.

This was "a possible choice, but not the only one," Leonard said, adding that Vangheluwe would then become a "free agent over whom we can longer exercise any control".

The case has plunged the Belgian Catholic Church into new turmoil, with several bishops asking the Vatican to act quickly to punish Vangheluwe.

In September 2010, the church was rocked by nearly 500 cases of abuse by priests since the 1950s, including 13 victims who committed suicide.

Belgian archbishop: Ex bishop's interview shocking San Francisco Chronicle - 14 hours ago

24/04/2011Belgian Catholic head 'shocked' by ex-bishop's confession Expatica Belguim - 13 hours ago

More coverage (1) » Read more at www.google.com

 

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Vatican police clash with gipsies

Amplify’d from www.telegraph.co.uk

Vatican police clash with gipsies on steps of basilica

Vatican police were on Sunday criticised over a scheme to pay gipsies that had congregated on the steps of Rome's second-largest basilica 1,000 euros to clear away before Easter services.

A Roma girl walks past priests at St Paul's Outside the Walls Basilica in Rome, on Friday this week

By Josephine McKenna in Rome

Vatican police clashed with the Roma gipsies who had gathered at one of Rome's four papal basilicas on Saturday night in protest at efforts to stop dozens from the community participating in the Easter vigil.

Amid cries of "shame, shame" from local and foreign pilgrims, the gipsies were blocked from entering St Paul's Outside the Walls. They had sought refuge in the grounds after the city's illegal gipsy camps were dismantled.

"If they are here they need help," said a pilgrim queuing to join prayers. "Shame! Let them go in."

Police had offered the gipsies payments of €1,000 (£880)– €500 from Rome city council and €500 from the Roman Catholic charity Caritas – to leave the area in front of the church.

About 150 Roma gipsies, including women and babies, had pitched tents in front of the basilica on Good Friday after they were forced out of illegal camps.

They were protesting over city plans to send women and children – not men – to shelters in a move that would temporarily break up families.

After lengthy negotiations with city officials on Saturday, fewer than 20 gipsies – many Romanian nationals – accepted the payments and offer of a free trip home.

Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome, is committed to dismantling gipsy camps dotted around the city. Seventy-five of the 200 camps have been destroyed. Read more at www.telegraph.co.uk

 

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Suit Forces Vatican To Open Records

Amplify’d from www.npr.org

Ore. Suit Forces Vatican To Finally Open Records

by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

April 23, 2011 Listen to the Story Weekend Edition Saturday [2 min 6 sec] Add to Playlist Download

A federal judge in Oregon has opened the door for sex abuse victims to sue the Vatican.

SCOTT SIMON, host:

In Oregon, a federal judge has opened the door for priest sex abuse victims to sue the Vatican. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty has the story.

BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY: Father Andrew Ronan admitted he abused boys. When his superiors found out, he was transferred from Ireland to Chicago and finally to Portland, Oregon. There, says attorney Jeffrey Anderson, he abused again.

Mr. JEFFREY ANDERSON (Attorney): He was clearly a serial predator that couldn't control himself. And in the final analysis the one that could control was the pope.

BRADLEY HAGERTY: Anderson contends that Ronan, who died in 1992, was an employee of the Vatican, not just the religious order or diocese he served in, and that the Vatican can be sued.

It's a tough argument, since the Vatican is protected under sovereign immunity. But this week a federal judge ruled that Anderson has shown evidence there may be a direct tie between the Vatican and Ronan.

Mr. ANDERSON: And it is thus the Vatican and the pope that is making the decision to keep predator priests in ministry and has the ability to remove them.

BRADLEY HAGERTY: That's a leap, says Jeffrey Lena, an attorney for the Vatican. He says the Vatican knew nothing of Ronan's abuse, and once it found out, it defrocked him. He says the judge did not rule that Ronan was an employee of the Vatican.

Mr. JEFFREY LENA (Attorney): This was a priest of a religious order in the United States who simply had no employment relationship whatsoever with the Holy See. And if there's no employment relationship there is no case.

BRADLEY HAGERTY: Charles Zech at Villanova University agrees. He says the dioceses and the religious orders are like franchises, and under the judge's ruling, the plaintiffs would have to show that the Vatican was, for example, directing Ronan's transfers around the world.

Professor CHARLES ZECH (Economics, Villanova University): They'd have to show the Vatican's fingerprints all over this.

BRADLEY HAGERTY: Zech says that will be very difficult to do. And yet, he says, this ruling is a big deal.

Prof. ZECH: For the first time, the Vatican is being required to open its records. They've resisted that for years, and this is really precedent setting.

BRADLEY HAGERTY: The Catholic Church is fighting this vigorously, because if the plaintiffs win this case, countless other alleged victims may themselves try to sue the Vatican directly.

Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News. Read more at www.npr.org

 

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Book uncovers sex in Vatican City

Amplify’d from www.irishcentral.com

New book uncovers sex secrets from within The Vatican City

Award-winning investigator sheds light on Vatican secrets

By ANTOINETTE KELLY , IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

It's been an open secret for centuries, but the lid may have finally come off the forbidden sex life of Catholic priests.

A new book alleges that thousands of Catholic priests are conducting secret relationships with men or women - many of them long term - in direct contravention of the Vatican's teachings on celibacy, be it either heterosexual and homosexual.

Italian award-winning investigator Carmelo Abbate spent months documenting the hidden world where heterosexual priests father children with women who can never be their wives - and gay priests of many different nationalities conduct affairs or one night stands in Rome.

Abbate's book, entitled 'Sex and the Vatican: A Secret Journey in the Reign of the Chaste,' was published in Italy on Wednesday and two British publishers are reportedly interested in buying the rights.

"The purpose of the book is not to shame Catholic clergy, it is to expose the hypocrisy and double standards of the church," Abbate, an award-winning investigative reporter, told the press.

"There are priests with children, but the kids cannot talk to their fathers in public for fear of their situation being discovered.

"There is a culture of 'omerta' (silence) in which the church pretends not to know about any of this. If the authorities do find out, they just cover it up so as to avoid any scandal."

Abbate used hidden cameras to film three priests attending gay nightclubs in Rome and even having sex, before donning their cassocks the next day and holding church services.

"At the time the church said that these were just isolated incidents. I wanted to explore whether that was true and what I found was that the phenomenon is much, much wider," he said.

Women who become pregnant by priests reportedly told him of being forced to have abortions - or of having to put their children up for adoption to keep their relationships secret.

"For a lot of priests, the church's teachings on sexual relations are a prison," Abbate said.   Read more at www.irishcentral.com

 

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Welcome to the War on....Easter?

Amplify’d from www.care2.com

Welcome to the War on....Easter?

by: Robin Marty

Much like the slippery slope of stores stretching out holiday seasons for maximum profit potential, conservative talk show host Sean Hannity is helping extend the "war on..." holiday season by adding a new target into the mix: the War on Easter. Apparently Lady Gaga is the general in charge.  And Ricky Gervais is her foot soldier. Oh, the horrors.

(Hat tip Raw Story) Read more at www.care2.com

 

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Houses of worship work to keep flocks

Amplify’d from www.santacruzsentinel.com

Local houses of worship work to keep their flocks

By ISAIAH GUZMAN

Today, like most Christian houses of worship on Easter, Twin Lakes Church in Aptos will pull out all the stops for its 7,000 expected guests.

Bounce houses and balloons will be set out for the kids, breakfast will be served, a former "American Idol" contestant will sing and two parking teams will try to bring order to it all.

"We ask for hundreds of extra volunteers on this weekend," Twin Lakes Pastor Rene Schlaepfer said. "And the funny thing is people are really happy to do it because it's so fun."

With all the extra frills or perhaps because they were dragged along by a friend or family member, people flock to church on Easter like no other Sunday.

But, as some studies suggest a declining participation in organized religion, local churches are trying harder to keep people in the congregation long after the empty plastic eggs are cleaned up and the pink bunny suits are sent to the cleaners.

"What I'm trying to expose people to when they come to church on Christmas and Easter," Schlaepfer said, "is the multiple dimensions of a healthy church."

A 2007 study -- the most recent data available -- by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that the category of people who are unaffiliated with any particular religion has grown faster than any religious group in recent decades. About 7 percent of people said they were unaffiliated with any religion when they were children, but that number has more than doubled to 16 percent among

adults. The study also found that more than one in four people have left the religion in which they were raised. And the General Social Survey shows that the percentage of people who never attend religious services rose from 13 percent to 22 percent from 1990-2008. Pastors see these studies and others and know something about the church formula hasn't worked. So they look for new ways of doing things. Vintage Faith Church on High Street tries to draw its members, many of whom are younger and involved in the arts, with things like mixing live painting on stage with worship or a sermon. The church also has the Abbey, a coffee, art and music lounge. "The fact that churches are shrinking in attendance nationally does gravely concern me and other leaders," Vintage Faith Pastor Josh Fox said. "We need to wake up to the reality that the way we've done church, the way we've tried to share Jesus with our world is not working. ... Ultimately, God is in control of all things, but when something like that happens it should shake us to the core." Farther up High Street, First Congregational Church openly welcomes the gay and lesbian community and encourages green practices like worm compost bins. "This is one of those cool places in Santa Cruz where all folks are welcome," said First Congregational Senior Minister Dave Grishaw-Jones. "I didn't have that growing up. I grew up in churches that were more homophobic and racist." Schlaepfer said Twin Lakes uses Easter services to draw people in for the long haul. The church promotes year-round events like teachings from renowned speakers and a sermon series immediately following Easter called "Trusting God in Troubled Times." "The thing is, you can never guilt people into anything," Schlaepfer said. "I think the thing to do is explain what can make church attractive the rest of the year." Whatever these local churches are doing, it may be working. While religious affiliation is down nationally, these three churches have seen an increase in regular attendance. First Congregational has gone from about 300 members to 350 over the past five years, Grishaw-Jones said. Twin Lakes saw about a 7-percent increase over five years, Schlaepfer said, while Fox said Vintage Faith has gone from 150 members when it opened in 2004 to about 600 now. St. Patrick's Parish in Watsonville, meanwhile, has seen steady attendance, while the Pew Forum study shows that the amount of people who have left Catholicism outnumber the amount who have joined by almost four to one. "During the year, we have several youth retreats, adult retreats and also marriage retreats," St. Patrick's Father Miguel Grajeda said. "It's a surprise that in other places people aren't going to church, but in this town people are faithful." Yet Greg Smith, a senior researcher with the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, was quick to point out that attendance doesn't necessarily mean a lot about where people stand in their faith. "It's certainly not the case that 100 percent of the unaffiliated group never attends services," he said. And, as pastors like Fox know, the opposite is also true. "People, especially younger generations, have been burned out on church," Fox said. "So, at Vintage Faith we're trying to come back to what vintage Christianity is all about. ... We want to be a life-giving type of people to show those who have been burned or wounded that often fallible people have messed things up in churches because churches are run by fallible people." Of course, attendance "is only the beginning for a church," Schlaepfer said, be it Easter or any other Sunday. "Our goal is to produce disciples of Christ," he said, "who are loving, kind, nonjudgmental." Read more at www.santacruzsentinel.com

 

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You'll see Jesus' return on YouTube

Amplify’d from content.usatoday.com

Franklin Graham: You'll see Jesus' return on Twitter, YouTube

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

Like his father Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, shown here at the dedication of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., in 2007, is a great believer in modern media for evangelism. Today, he says, social media will record the Second Coming of Christ. CAPTION By Chuck Burton, AP Charge your batteries, folks. You won't want to miss the Second Coming of Christ, arriving on the clouds, on Twitter or YouTube.

Evangelist Franklin Graham tells ABC's This Week host Christiane Amanpour:

The Bible says that every eye is going to see (the second coming). How is the whole world going to see (Jesus Christ) all at one time? I don't know, unless all of a sudden everybody's taking pictures and it's on the media worldwide. I don't know. Social media could have a big part in that...

Everybody's got their phone up and everybody's taking recordings and posting it on YouTube and whatever and sending it to you, and it gets shown around the world."

Maybe this is not a surprising conclusion by the son of Billy Graham, the now-retired world-traveling evangelist who made a global mark using every medium available to spread the Good News.

However, unlike his Daddy, who got out of politics pretty quickly after an early brush with being too outspoken, Franklin is not shy about endorsing. Indeed, he may be out early with a "candidate of choice" -- Donald Trump, who, On Politics reports, is the GOP front runner in the 2012 presidential race.

Now, Trump is not exactly noted as a voice of faith although he recently boasted in an interview with CBN that he goes to church...

as much as I can. Always on Christmas. Always on Easter... I'm a Sunday church person. I'll go when I can."

Perhaps Graham heard the interview on The 700 Club, where Trump elaborated:

I believe in God. I am Christian. I think The Bible is certainly, it is THE book. ... I'm a protestant, I'm a Presbyterian. And you know I've had a good relationship with the church over the years. I think religion is a wonderful thing. I think my religion is a wonderful religion.

Maybe that's what attracted Graham. He tells Amanpour:

Donald Trump, when I first saw that he was getting in, I thought, well, this has got to be a joke. But the more you listen to him, the more you say to yourself, you know, maybe this guy's right.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, right, listens to the Rev. Franklin Graham, who runs the aid group Samaritan's Purse, talk to the press during a visit to Haiti last year. CAPTION By Dieu Nalio Chery, AP But what about overtly religious Sarah Palin? He's gotten to know her faith first hand as he's squired her about -- flying her to meet his retired and frail father and showing her Samaritan's Purse aid projects in Haiti.

Earlier this year, Graham defended Palin vigorously from critics who said her violent imagery during the 2010 elections helped set the mood that led to the Tucson, Ariz., shooting rampage. In a statement from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association he now heads, he called her ...

a kind and compassionate, God-fearing woman who believes with all her heart that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Now, he tells Amanpour, Palin would prefer speaking to issues than putting herself into a race again.

And what about Romney? Amanpour lets him get by with calling him capable and leaving it at that. What? No question about whether a Baptist evangelist is going to okay a Mormon candidate? Evidently not.

WHICH OF GRAHAM'S FORECASTS... would you believe in? The Second Coming on YouTube? Trump for president?

You might also be interested in: Hawaii governor slams Trump, saying he first met infant Obama days after birth (USATODAY.com in On Deadline) Christian singer Jennifer Knapp says she felt pressure to choose between her faith, being gay (USATODAY.com in Faith & Reason) Hell no? Rob Bell's question prompts 'Time' Holy Week cover (USATODAY.com in Faith & Reason) Paul Reiser's show pulled after two episodes (USATODAY.com in LifeLine Live) Selected for you by a sponsor: Judith Johnson: What Do You Think Happens When We Die? (The Huffington Post) Read more at content.usatoday.com

 

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