As a conservative, both theologically and politically, I admit that I don’t care much for Glenn Beck.\u00a0 It’s not that I dislike him.\u00a0 I just don’t connect with him.\u00a0 Is it because he is Mormon?\u00a0 To be honest, that is a huge part of my problem with Beck.\u00a0 However, just like with Sarah Palin, there is something that I just can’t quite put my finger on that is off-putting (at least for me) when it comes to Beck (and Palin).\u00a0 Maybe it’s a personality thing.\u00a0 Maybe it’s something deeper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I can say that I have never watched an entire episode of the Glenn Beck Show on Fox News.\u00a0 I do watch O’Reilly, Hannity, On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, and Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld <\/a>(perhaps the funniest and most informative “news” shows on any of the major 24-hour news channels).\u00a0 However, for me, very small doses of Glenn Beck seem to be just fine.\u00a0 Anything longer than five minutes is pushing the limit.<\/p>\n Last Saturday, Beck hosted a “Restoring Honor” rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.\u00a0 As an alumnus of The George Washington University, I have fond memories of time spent at the Memorial and of playing intramural football in the fields off Constitution Avenue, within sight of that grand monument to freedom and liberty for all Americans.\u00a0 With hundreds of thousands\u00a0of ordinary Americans exercising their First Amendment rights\u00a0at last week’s rally, there is certainly much to cheer about.\u00a0 But, with Glenn Beck as the head cheer-leader, I personally can’t get all that excited.<\/p>\n Beck, a convert to Mormonism,\u00a0was the master of\u00a0ceremonies for what Jonah Goldberg, of National Review Online,\u00a0described as\u00a0“Glenn Beck’s Ecumenical Moment.”\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Goldberg, observing the religious flavor of the rally, wrote:<\/p>\n One striking feature of Saturday\u2019s rally was how deeply religious and ecumenical it was. It seems like just yesterday that everyone was talking about how Christian evangelicals were too bigoted to vote for upright and uptight Mormon Mitt Romney. Yet Christian activists saw no problem cheering for \u2014 and praying with \u2014 the equally Mormon but far less uptight Beck, who asked citizens to go to \u201cyour churches, synagogues, and mosques!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I think Christian activists, particularly of the Southern Baptist variety, should exercise more discernment when “partnering” with Beck, especially when it comes to his conflation of religion and politics.\u00a0 That Richard Land, the President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1988, could say this about Beck is astounding:<\/p>\n This guy’s on secular radio and television,” Land said Saturday, “but his shows sound like you’re listening to the Trinity Broadcasting Network, only it’s more orthodox and there’s no appeal for money … and today he sounded like Billy Graham. (read full article here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n First, to\u00a0say that Beck’s programs are like the less\u00a0“orthodox” Trinity Broadcasting Network shouldn’t be seen as a\u00a0compliment.\u00a0 Secondly, regardless of the context, for Richard Land to compare Glenn Beck with the Rev. Billy Graham, in any sense, illustrates the mainstreaming of Mormonism into Evangelical Christianity, but also shows how far Christian leaders are willing to go to enter into political\/religious alliances with those of different faiths.\u00a0<\/p>\n