Stop listening to Tucker Carlson

OPINION:

Last week, Tucker Carlson made some very strange claims about the Bible and Christianity.

More specifically, he took to the internet via his podcast to claim that America’s Protestant leaders are “spiritually corrupt,” and he cited a recent prayer by the Rev. Franklin Graham as proof of such apostasy.

Before we get into Mr. Carlson’s specific comments, let’s review the actual prayer that has him so exercised. Here are the exact words Mr. Graham said as he petitioned God on behalf of President Trump, America, Israel and the Iranian people:

“Father, you tell us in the book of Esther that the Persians, the Iranians, wanted to kill every Jew … and do it all in one day. But you raised up Esther to save the Jewish people. Father, we thank you. Today, the wicked regime of [the Iranian] government wants to kill every Jew and destroy them with an atomic fire. But you have raised up President Trump. You’ve raised him up for such a time as this. And Father, we pray that you’ll give him victory.”

Mr. Graham then went on to pray for the United States military and all those who serve. He also prayed for freedom for the Iranian people, and he closed by thanking God for the death and resurrection of Jesus and his atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

This is what led to Tucker Carlson’s meltdown. Here is more of what he said: “Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, showed up at the White House yesterday … to endorse the murder of civilians, which is a war crime, but more importantly, it’s a moral crime. You can’t kill people who committed no crime, who did nothing wrong. … And yet Franklin Graham is up there, standing at the podium, praying for that!

“How do you do that? Well, by quoting something called the Book of Esther, which is in the Christian Old Testament — a controversial book for a long time. Martin Luther thought it shouldn’t have been there, but it is there, and it’s the story, among other things, of a genocide of Persians, 75,000 Persians! Not just people who had committed crimes, but people who were Persian, and that’s why they were killed. It’s in the Book of Esther, which you should read because it’s interesting.”

After reading this, you might be scratching your head and asking yourself a couple of questions. For example, you might be thinking: “Where did Franklin Graham ever endorse the murder of innocent people?” Or “Where did the reverend ever promote war crimes as he prayed for the president?”

Or, you might be asking, “Is Mr. Carlson right about the Book of Esther? Does it really tell the story of the Jews committing a genocide against 75,000 Persians? Did Esther’s people really just butcher tens of thousands of Iranians simply because of who they were?” And what about Mr. Carlson’s implication that this entire Book of Esther doesn’t belong in the Bible in the first place? Is that all true?”

Well, let’s deal with the last question first. The answer is, frankly, quite simple. The inclusion of the Book of Esther in the Bible is not as “controversial” as Mr. Carlson claims. In fact, this book has been part of the Tanach (i.e., the Old Testament) at least since about 400 B.C. It was therefore included in the canon of Scripture that Jesus and all his disciples would have read, memorized and quoted.

Mr. Carlson’s implication that this book wasn’t accepted as part of the Bible until the days of Martin Luther is just terrible history. He clearly doesn’t know what he is talking about.

What of Mr. Carlson’s claim that the entire theme of Esther is about the Jews committing genocide against the Persians and killing at least 75,000 men, women and children who had done nothing wrong? Is this true? Is the Book of Esther really about a genocide committed by the Jews against the Iranians and not the other way around?

The answer is an emphatic no! Frankly, anyone who has an elementary Sunday School understanding of the Bible knows it.

Put simply, Esther clearly describes the exact opposite of what Mr. Carlson suggests. The book of Esther is about a Persian (i.e., Iranian) named Haman and his plot to kill all the Jews, and how a queen named Esther intervened to stop him. This book also describes how, after Haman’s manipulation and deception were exposed, the Persian King Xerxes granted the Jews the right to defend themselves against the genocide Haman had planned against them.

The “75,000 Persians killed” is a report of self-defense, not genocide. The entire story is the exact opposite of what Mr. Carlson implies.

Tucker Carlson is either terribly confused or a blatant liar, but he is right about one thing: You should “read the Book of Esther for yourself. It is very interesting.”

While you’re at it, you should stop listening to antisemitic tropes from the likes of Mr. Carlson. What he is saying is nonsense.

• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.