'Evil Does Exist': Franklin Graham Responds to Murder of Couple That Thought Evil is 'Make-Believe Concept' - CBN News Emily Jones

'Evil Does Exist': Franklin Graham Responds to Murder of 

Couple That Thought Evil is 'Make-Believe Concept'

08-20-2018

CBN News Emily Jones

A young American couple was brutally murdered by alleged ISIS terrorists while biking along the 

Afghan border.

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan quit their jobs last year and commenced a journey to see the world 

by bike. Austin wrote in his personal blog that he was tired of his ordinary life and wanted to see the 

beauty of the outdoors.

"I've grown tired of spending the best hours of my day in front of a glowing rectangle, of coloring the 

best years of my life in swaths of grey and beige. I've missed too many sunsets while my back was 

turned. Too many thunderstorms went unwatched, too many gentle breezes unnoticed." he wrote. 

"There's magic out there, in this great big beautiful world."

Related

Islamic Headscarf and Burqa: Signs of Growing Muslim Power in a Society?


Multiple Muslim Gangs Brutally Beat Christian Teen over Arm-Wrestling Match, 'Left Him for Dead'


Chinese Police Raid Christian Summer Camp Full of Kids as Wave of Persecution Rages On

The couple went on a 369-day trip that took them from Cape Town, South Africa, all the way to 

Tajikistan. While in Morocco, Austin wrote on his blog that evil does not exist.

"You watch the news and you read the papers and you're led to believe that the world is a big, scary 

place. People, the narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil. People are axe 

murderers and monsters and worse...I don't buy it. Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to 

deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different 

than our own," he wrote.

Tragically, on July 29, the couple and two other cyclists were stabbed to death by terrorists on the Tajikistan/Afghanistan border.

CBS News reported that, "ISIS followed an initial claim of responsibility in print with a video showing 

the five purported attackers pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi."

The New York Post released a grainy video of the incident.

A Daewoo sedan passes the cyclists, circles back around and runs them over. Then, men get out of the 

cars and stab them. Two days later, the Islamic State released a video of the attackers sitting before an 

ISIS flag vowing to murder "disbelievers."

Evangelist Franklin Graham believes this couple's tragic death is an important lesson for everyone – 

there is in fact evil in the world and it is alive and well.

"This is evil. Be assured, evil does exist in this world; God warns us in His word that Satan is prowling 

like a roaring lion and we are to be on guard. My deepest sympathy to the families of those who were 

so tragically slain," he wrote in a Facebook post.