ASHEVILLE (AP) — The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said Wednesday that it removed language from its website referring to Mormonism as a cult following a visit by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the minister’s home.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported (http://avlne.ws/QX55mV) that the association’s website has deleted an article from its website which listed as cults “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, and others.”
“We removed the information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign,” said Ken Barun, chief of staff for the association.
Romney visited the 93-year-old evangelist and his son, Franklin Graham, last week in Montreat prior to holding a campaign rally in nearby Asheville. The younger Graham has previously refused to say whether he thinks Romney is a Christian.
Pressed during an interview on MSNBC, Graham would not say Romney is a Christian.
“He is a Mormon,” Franklin Graham said in February. “Most Christians would not recognize Mormonism … but he would be a good president if he won the nomination.”