Secularism followed on the heels of communism after the Berlin Wall came down, and the two ideologies are essentially the “same thing” because they are “godless” and “anti-Christ,” said Reverend Franklin Graham, adding that the secularists have “taken control of our country” and “taken control of Washington.”

“We live in a secular society led by people that call themselves progressives," said Rev. Graham, son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, at the Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference on Jan. 26. "When communism, the Berlin Wall came down, everybody said, ‘we won,’ and [then] secularism came.”

“Secularism and communism are the same thing,” he said. “They’re godless. They’re anti-Christ. So now we have the secularists who’ve taken control of our country. They’ve taken control of Washington. They’ve taken control our city governments, our local governments, our school boards all across the country, and we have just sat back. It’s happened and we haven’t even realized it’s happened.”

He continued, “Now, you say, Franklin, your father [Billy Graham] wouldn’t get on to these subjects. Wait a second. My father, when he was going to school, they had a Bible in school. When he was going to school, they had the Ten Commandments on the wall. When he was going to school, you could pray in school, and the teachers would lead in those prayers.”

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (AP)

“Our country has changed.,” said Franklin Graham. “ We’ve got to take a stand. We cannot back up, we cannot retreat.”

The reverend, who oversees the organization his father founded, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and the international relief group Samaritan’s Purse, went on to say that Christian men and women must enter the political arena to turn America in the right direction.

“Let me tell you something, the church needs to get involved in politics,” he said. “Now I’m not talking about Baptist or Republicans and Tea Party – I don’t even know who they are – but I have no confidence that any of these politicians or any party is going to turn this country around. The only hope for this country is for men and women of God to stand up and take a stand.”

“We need men and women of God who take these local elections serious, so we can take back these various offices and have men and women of God who believe in the Bible, who stand on the word of God,” said Rev. Graham. “And let’s send to Washington men and women who believe in God and stand on the word of God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, who are not afraid.”

(AP Photo)

“America has changed and it’s not coming back unless the church takes a stand,” he said. “There are storms that are coming, and we find ourselves in these storms and many times, we as a church, we run. And we run to the wrong place. You see, Jesus is in the boat [with us]. All we have to do is call Him.”

“Call on His name,” said Rev. Graham. “But the secularist and the humanist, no. You mention the name of Christ and they jump all over you. I get jumped on all the time. I don’t care. I really don’t. I gave my life to Christ.”

Rev. Franklin Graham, 62, is married, has five children and lives in Boone, N.C. He is the oldest son of Pastor Billy Graham, the most influential evangelical preachers of the last 60 years, whose Christian message has reached an estimated worldwide audience of more than 2 billion people.