Glenn Beck is on a mission. This past Saturday, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his famous ” I Have A Dream Speech,” Glenn Beck spoke to a crowd of over 100,000 people to promote his show on Fox News – I mean, to “restore honor” to America. Unlike the man who stood on those steps 47 years ago to promote civil rights, Beck’s actions seem to be more about showmanship than substance.
When addressing the listeners of his wildly popular radio show, he proclaimed, “Your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year.” Really? As if the Supreme Court and the American public would ever let that happen.
But Beck didn’t stop there. Warning his followers about signs of the end times, he pleaded, “I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”
I’ve heard the words “social justice” here at ACU on several occasions. Perhaps I need to start thinking about transferring to a place that hasn’t fallen into the sinister plot of the “progressives.” I had always figured “social justice” was a code word for “helping the poor and aiding the oppressed.”
Beck does not hold any advanced degrees in theology, yet he speaks on matters of faith and spirituality as if he has authority. He holds no law degree nor does he have any experience in politics, yet he speaks as if he has the remedy for all that ails the American political process. All Glenn Beck has is a high school diploma and a flair for the dramatic. In the minds of many (including Beck), that somehow makes him an expert on everything from economics to religion.
The same man who told the crowd, “We must look to God and look to love. We must defend those we disagree with,” not too long ago called the president of the United States “a racist” and compared Al Gore’s efforts to stop global warming to what Hitler did when he had scientists justify the Holocaust using eugenics. The same man who brands himself a populist “everyman” earned $32 million in the past year alone and currently plans to sell his 8,000 square foot home for $4 million.
Beck should not be regarded as a spiritual leader, and he is certainly not a political expert. Beck is not a modern day Martin Luther King, Jr., who endured nights in jail, death threats against his family and severe criticism from his fellow preachers – all to bring about what is right and good. Beck is an entertainer. He is in the business of fear-mongering and preying on people’s emotions to gain higher ratings and sell more books. And unfortunately for many of us, it appears business is good.
