4 highlights from Rededicate 250: 'We pray mercy upon our land'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Monday, May 18, 2026

1. Franklin Graham: 'America has become morally rotten'

Samaritan's Purse CEO Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, offered a sobering assessment of the moral condition of the U.S. in a recorded video message.

"Our nation was born in a struggle 250 years ago, and we're still in a struggle today. Our struggle then was to be free from British rule, but our struggle today is to be free from the rule of sins that are weakening the foundations of our great republic," Graham said.

Echoing his father, who said at the end of his life that he had "wept" over his country, Graham noted that much of the behavior that has become rampant in American society echoes the violence of the world in the days of Noah and the description of evil men in the latter days, according to 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Franklin Graham delivers remarks at Rededicate 250 on the National Mall:

"Our nation was born in a struggle 250 years ago, and we're still in a struggle today. Our struggle then was to be free from British rule, but our struggle today is to be free from the rule of sins that are… pic.twitter.com/rJvUAu1QTq

— Freedom 250 (@Freedom250) May 17, 2026

Graham warned that while the average American at the time of the Revolution had some semblance of biblical literacy, such a common spiritual heritage has largely withered over the centuries.

"The spiritual climate of 2026 is vastly different than the country that our Founding Fathers established in 1776," he said. "The vast majority of Americans then had at least a basic understanding of the Bible. Today, the vast majority have little to no understanding of biblical truth."

"America has become morally rotten, completely sick with sin," Graham later said, offering widespread violence, sexual immorality and gender confusion as "just the tip of the iceberg." He said faith in Jesus Christ and personal repentance are the only solution to such deep-seated brokenness.

"We have an insatiable appetite for violence, and I believe this grieves the heart of God, and will bring His judgment if we don't repent as a nation. I'm asked all the time if I believe there will be revival in America. I would love to see that, but there can be no revival without prayer and repentance," he said.

He played a clip of his father offering the invocation and issuing a similar warning at former President Richard Nixon's inauguration in 1969.

"My prayer for a miracle on [America's] 250th birthday is the same as my father's prayer over 57 years ago," Graham said. "I pray that we, as individuals and as a nation, will humble ourselves before God, confess our sins to Him and turn back to the God of our fathers in repentance."

He exhorted his listeners to accept the gift of salvation and repentance, warning that such a decision cannot be put off indefinitely.