WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Rev. Franklin Graham lamented America’s “downward moral decline” Sunday at an event commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary, calling for Americans to rededicate themselves to God to overcome sin.
Rededicate 250 was held May 17 on the National Mall in the nation’s capital for “giving thanks for God’s presence in our national life throughout 250 years of American history and asking for his guidance for the next 250.”
Among the speakers was Graham, head of the charity Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and an enthusiastic supporter and defender of President Donald Trump. He addressed the crowd with a video message offering a grim assessment of the moral state of the United States in 2026.
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
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. The Bible warned us about this. Second Timothy says, ‘But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.’
‘It seems this could have been written to describe America today. People have become lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God. The spiritual climate of 2026 is vastly different than the country that our Founding Fathers established in 1776. 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.”
250 years ago, the Bible was taught in schools. For many, it was their sole textbook. That doesn’t mean everybody had faith, but they had a basic understanding and respect and knowledge of God’s Word. Today, the Bible has been removed from our schools and, for the most part, the public square, and there is a downward moral decline spiraling ever deeper into the mire.
Things that never would have been talked about publicly just 30 years ago, sinful behavior that should make us blush, is now celebrated and flaunted on Main Street America. America has become morally rotten, completely sick with sin. Transgenderism, same-sex marriage, opening women’s locker rooms to men are just the tip of the iceberg.
Why do we need to rededicate ourselves? When God sent the flood and destroyed the earth, it was because man’s heart had become so evil and violent. In the news, we see unimaginable violence, rapes, murders, mass shootings. On YouTube, there is so much violence. Movies, video games are full of violence.
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. That’s how revival starts.
In Acts 3 it says, ‘Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out and that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.’ We need to return to the God of the Bible. My father Bill Graham called the nation to repentance during the presidential inauguration in 1969. It’s a prayer that is needed just as much today as it was then.
Graham then played archival footage of his father’s prayer at the inauguration of President Richard Nixon, during which he lamented that “we have sown to the wind and are now reaping a whirlwind of crime, division, and rebellion,” and called for turning to God in humility and repentance to pray “as we enter a new era, that we as a nation may experience a moral and spiritual restoration.”
“My prayer for America on our 250th birthday is the same as my father’s prayer over 57 years ago,” Franklin Graham added. “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. The Bible says today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow, not someday, today. As we prepare to observe this important milestone in our nation’s history, there is no better moment than right now for each of us to look deep into our own hearts and quietly repent of our sins and call upon the name of Almighty God.
“As David prayed, ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’ There’s only one who can save America, there’s only one who can save you, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, ‘For by grace you have been through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ If you’ve never invited Christ into your heart there’s no better moment than right now to put your faith and trust in God’s son Jesus Christ, who can give you true freedom and forgiveness of sins. He came to Earth on a salvation mission to save you. And right now, if you’ll confess your sins and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, your soul will be secure for eternity in the hands of the loving God. Put your trust in Him today. God bless you.”
A number of recent surveys have given cause for concern about the state of religiosity and corresponding moral questions in the minds of the general public.
Last November, Gallup released the results of a survey finding that 49 percent of Americans call religion an important part of their daily life, down 17 points from 66 percent in 2015. Moreover, that is a larger drop than all but 14 of the world’s 160-plus nations have allegedly registered since 2007. The month before, Axios reported that some 15,000 churches were projected to close by the end of 2025, noting a Pew survey that found a record number of Americans (29 percent) identifying as religiously unaffiliated.
Polling on contemporary issues shows mixed results on the public’s adoption of moral and social values commonly associated with religiosity. Over the past decade, Gallup, Pew, and Marist have all found attitudes on abortion trending in an overall more “pro-choice” direction (though pro-life voters are more strongly politically motivated than pro-abortion ones). Sixty-eight percent of Americans support recognizing same-sex “marriage,” according to Gallup.
On the other hand, polls also show the transgender agenda remains a bridge too far. Sixty-six percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for “gender transitions,” according to an April 2025 Cygnal poll, and Pew found that 66 percent support limiting athletic participation to actual members of a team’s designated sex, 56 percent support prohibiting “transition” procedures on minors, and 53 percent oppose forcing insurance companies to cover “transition” services. Another June 2025 Gallup poll found that not even half of Democrats support letting males compete in female sports. A month later, the same polling outfit found 54 percent of Americans go so far as to call attempting to “transition” genders “morally wrong.”