Graham apologizes for 1972 remarks on Jews
Evangelist Billy Graham's apology for a 1972 Oval Office conversation with President Richard Nixon is receiving more press attention than the remarks did. Late Friday, Billy Graham issued a statement:

Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon and Mr. Haldeman some 30 years ago. They do not reflect my views, and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks. Throughout my ministry I have sought to build bridges between Jews and Christians. I will continue to strongly support all future efforts to advance understanding and mutual respect between our communities.

The Chicago Tribune was the first newspaper to report the remarks Friday (though a few electronic media commented Thursday), and Graham's publicist, A. Larry Ross, issued Graham's statement late that day. It apparently stanched the damage. Almost all the papers reporting the comments emphasize the apology instead of the comments themselves, and most are content simply to run the Associated Press report. Other reports, like that in Graham's hometown paper, The Charlotte Observer, are sympathetic to the evangelist. The only published commentary on the remarks Weblog has been able to turn up (thanks to Yahoo's religion news page) is a rambling, odd column on a liberal commentary Web site. CommonDreams.org's Bill Davis does, however, find a relevant Bible verse in Luke 12:3: "What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs."

Other Graham gets praisedSan Francisco Chronicle columnist Stephanie Salter, who hasn't exactly ...