Franklin Graham Objects to $250K Muslim Prayer Room at Orlando Int'l Airport

Evangelical leader Franklin Graham has spoken out in objection to plans to build a $250,000 prayer room for Muslims at the Orlando International Airport.

The well-known pastor argued in a recent Facebook post that the alleged "prayer room" planned for the Orlando International Airport is in reality a mosque.

"Let's call this what it is — a mosque. The airport already had an interfaith prayer room since 1983 (with prayer rugs available in it) — but that wasn't enough. How loud do you think the objections would be today if they spent $250,000 in taxpayer money to build a new prayer room exclusively for Evangelical Christians? Or for Jews or Mormons or any other group? Why do Muslims get preference?" Graham questioned in a Facebook post over the weekend.

Organizers of the new Muslim prayer room have said that although the room will be catered to Muslims, the area is open for anyone who wishes to come prayer or have a moment of silence before they travel.

"These rooms provide travelers an opportunity to pray in their own way and have peace before they take on a long flight," Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, said in a statement.

Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell told Raw Story in a statement that taxpayer money will not be used to build the new Reflection Room, adding that the airport receives its funds from passenger tickets and retaurants located in the facility.

 "We do use passenger facility charges that are built into ticket fees, as virtually all airports do, but there are no tax dollars provided at all for the operation of the airport," Fennell said.