Read Part One HERE
In this post I will continue to focus on Nagmeh Panahi, the ex-wife of American-Iranian pastor Saeed Abedini (her husband initated the divorce proceedings).
As mentioned in my first post on Naghmeh, men like Franklin Graham and Jay Sekulow refused to support her when she revealed her abuse at the hands of her husband. Instead, Franklin insisted they go for marital counseling, something that should never be done in the case of abuse, so that their marriage could be fixed. According to him, "If you, Naghmeh, want to make it work you have to move a bit." This despite the fact that Saeed never repented of his physical, spiritual as well emotional abuse by calling his wife "Jezebel,", "whore" etc during phone calls, had committed adultery, had watched pornography and had visited prostitutes.
In the case of Jay Sekulow, he had asked Naghmeh to lie, which she refused to do.
It is clear from the above that both Franklin Graham and Jay Sekulow behaved in a bullying manner towards Naghmeh.
Interestingly, Anne Graham Lotz, Franklin Graham's sister, supported Naghmeh and told her that "Franklin does not understand. And I can also tell you, Franklin is not a good listener." The bottom line is that Franklin did not want to understand. And he certainly did not want to listen to Naghmeh for she was not doing what he had in mind for her to do.
As for Naghmeh, she is doing well and is now helping abused women in the Middle East.
I'm very disappointed in Franklin Graham but not surprised. Christianity Today, the magazine founded by his father, is rabidly complementarian. Graham gave typical complementarian advice to this victim of adultery and domestic violence.
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