The Rev. Franklin Graham is challenging the outrage over plans to livestream the Fort Hood shooter’s execution, pointing to Hollywood’s willingness to package death and violence as entertainment.
“There are a lot of strong opinions out there about live-streaming the execution of a convicted mass killer. I don’t know where that debate will land, but some network news shows were saying how disgusted they were and how terrible it is. I found it ironic that many who embrace Hollywood and its culture of death that is constantly depicting murders, rapes, and all kinds of violence—all in the name of entertainment—are saying they’re so appalled at this,” Graham wrote in a recent Facebook post.
His comments come after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the execution of Nidal Hasan would be public. The Pentagon subsequently confirmed plans to livestream it.
Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded 32 others at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009. Sentenced to death in 2013, he is scheduled to face a firing squad at the Texas installation Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. Central time. President Donald Trump approved his death sentence Oct. 2.
“There are a lot of strong opinions out there about live-streaming the execution of a convicted mass killer,” Graham wrote. “I don’t know where that debate will land, but some network news shows were saying how disgusted they were and how terrible it is.”
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Whether the public will actually watch remains unsettled. ABC News reported Oct. 13 that President Trump and his advisers were reconsidering the broadcast amid concerns that extremist groups could use the footage as propaganda. A Pentagon official continued to affirm the livestream plan that day.
Graham pressed a deeper question about the steady stream of violence consumed in the name of entertainment.
“Have we become desensitized to death?” he asked.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
