Bob Gray, a major leader of southern
Fundamentalism, died Sunday of an unspecified
cause. A picture of Bob Gray preaching against
the sensuality of Elvis Presley�s music appears
in a 1956 edition of Life magazine. Elvis marked
a �new low in spiritual degeneracy� according to
Gray. Gray died one week before he was to stand
trial for molesting several girls while he was a
pastor.
This is what Elvis said about him: When Elvis
rolled into Jacksonville, Florida, on August 10,
1956, Judge Marion Gooding had prepared an
arrest warrant for Presley charging him with
impairing the morals of minors in the event that
Elvis swivelled his hips.
Young people at the Murray Hill Methodist Church
heard Elvis denounced in a sermon entitled,
"Hotrods, Reefers, and Rock and Roll." Elsewhere
in town, the Rev. Robert Gray, pastor of Trinity
Baptist Church, offered up prayers for Presley's
salvation after declaring that the singer had
"achieved a new low in spiritual degeneracy."
The Rev. Gray gained national notoriety after
being featured in Life magazine. Elvis later
confessed frustration at the Baptist preacher's
actions. "I think that hurt me more than
anything else at first. This man was supposed to
be a religious leader, yet he acted that way
without ever knowing who I was or what I was
like," said Presley. "I believe in the Bible. I
believe that all good things come from God.�I
don't believe I'd sing the way I do if God
hadn't wanted me to. My voice is God's will, not
mine."
Source: Elvisnews
Posted: 17th. November 2007