Dangerously Mixing Religion With Politics
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My mother always warned her son that it was unwise to mix politics and religion in polite company, a bit of sound advice I've tried to follow. Glenn Beck, a holy roller/comic/right-wing commentator in the pay of Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, was surely not provided similar advice by his mother.
His "Restoring Honor" revival meeting recently held on the nation's mall was nothing but an amalgam of anti-Obama political rhetoric and pious rant clothed in a theological aura.
I was frankly surprised that the onetime Catholic, now professed Mormon, did not arrange for his faith's Tabernacle Choir to provide backup music.
"Beck" in German means "the slightest gesture reflecting someone's desire, especially a slight beckoning motion." There was nothing slight or subtle about Beck's message. He unctuously intoned the word "God" more often than Moses, David and John the Baptist combined.
Advertised heavily by Fox, his political circus claimed to "restore honor to America." Implicit in that theme is the assumption that our honor has been lost of late and indeed by President Obama. > It was promoted 24/7 on Fox by the same strident Neocon voices that endorsed George W. Bush's claim that he'd "restore honor to the White House." That should give viewers certain grounds for pause if they remember just how well that recommendation worked out.
Beck has pronounced that Obama's faith is "not Muslim but a perversion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as most Christians know it." That should come as a surprise to millions of mainstream Christians who favor a theology of social justice and a worship tradition free of ugly politics. >
If one reads bloggers' comments on Facebook and Google, thousands of them now call into -question not the legitimacy of Obama's Christian faith but the faith of Glenn Beck. Public reaction to his religious rant has ironically focused -attention on Mormonism and its legitimacy as a bona fide religion, hardly something that the still politically ambitious Mormon Mitt Romney -appreciates. >
Blogger raves for and against Beck and his faith contain predictably nasty attacks on Mormonism - its history of persecution, polygamy, anti-black policies, child brides, aggressive proselytizing and domination of Utah politics. Beck's cynical fusing of religion and politics to destroy Obama may cause the unintended undoing of Romney, a once-moderate Republican presidential hopeful.
Prominent among the front row of pastors fawning over Beck at the Washington extravaganza was the Rev. John Hagee. Beck embraces this TV evangelist, who has repeatedly defamed the Roman Catholic Church as "the whore of Babylon and a Godless theology." Hagee preaches that Hitler's anti-Semitism stemmed "directly from his Catholic faith." Beck's tie to Hagee will require his Roman Catholic viewers to question their embrace of Beck. Hagee also calls liberal Jews "poisoned spiritually" and blames Hurricane Katrina on "New Orleans' level of sin," and said its people "were recipients of God's judgment for that." Hagee repeatedly slurs the Islamic faith, and his anti-Semitic comments are legion. For the first time, Beck's Christian fundamentalist fans are discovering that their hero belongs to a faith many of them believe to be a false cult.
During Sen. John McCain's presidential bid, he sought Hagee's endorsement to win favor with fundamentalists who hang on every word of Hagee's hate-filled theology. McCain was soon shocked to learn he'd embraced a world-class bigot and fool and immediately abandoned the toxic Hagee. Now we see that Sarah Palin, his running mate and now a Fox Network employee, was proud to share the same venue with Hagee. >
By mixing religion and politics, Beck believes he's riding high. He's recently said with feigned modesty that he's "not interested in being president." (If you believe that, I've a bridge in Brooklyn you may wish to purchase.) I'm almost tempted to get on my knees and pray for Beck, but he may be too far gone.
Paul R. Dunn lives in Pinehurst. Contact him at paulandbj@nc.rr.com.
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Comments
teufelhunden 2 years, 8 months ago
Wright + Obama = contempt for America
dustyrhoades 2 years, 8 months ago
More fear mongering from Prom, who thinks verbosity makes bigotry sound important and brainy, rather than grubby and small.
lindy888 2 years, 8 months ago
I find it amusing that every liberal who posts comments...know everthing that happens on the Fox News......
Ross 2 years, 8 months ago
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Ross 2 years, 8 months ago
"cognitive dissonance" - hmmmmmmm........mental conflict? I wonder why you think that applies there?
me thinks you like big words and have little idea what they mean!
OLDhotrod69 2 years, 8 months ago
Dunn has finally crossed the line; aiding and abetting the enemy. Denegrating Mormons, an ordained ministry and a majority of Americans in the process. Your hate is now obvious to the entire world and your love of Muslims over our way of life, culture, traditions and, above all, besmerching the memory of all those brave Americans who died on 9/11 and those who have subsequently died while fighting radical Islam/Muslims here and abroad. You should be ashamed, but it is my bet that you are without remorse for those who have defended your right to be without intellect.
sgmartin 2 years, 8 months ago
Excellent article. Thank you Mr. Dunn. Scary posts though.
Ross 2 years, 8 months ago
mauiman.......you make the craziest statements with absolutely no fact! You must be a republican!
blessherheart 2 years, 8 months ago
I do not know a thing on fox news... i dont allow it on my tv
JER 2 years, 8 months ago
Thank you for an excellent article, Mr. Dunn. As you see, religion is a terribly divisive business that has torn our country apart. Folks should step back and remember two things: 1) President Obama was elected by the citizens of this country to make the changes necessary to return our country to greatness.
2) Glenn Beck was hired by News Corp (Faux News) to increase ratings and make money for the corporation (and a bunch for himself as well).
President Obama and his administration are faced with a myriad of problems that were inherited and are attempting to solve them without the help or cooperation of the other party.
Glenn Beck simply uses religion (accompanied by hate and fear) to accomplish his goal.
nothingspecial 2 years, 8 months ago
Totally liberal rant, Mr. Dunn, you're welcome to it, free country and all that.
kiki 2 years, 8 months ago
My opinion . . . anticdotal research . . . this country is more divided now than ever. Maybe even more that in civil war days. The division is more philosophical and not so geographic . . .
Most posters on this site try to convince others that they have the only correct political answer. Much of their information comes from a talking head whether it be a politician or a person that appears on the cable news stations. Which in my humble opinion are not really about true news (Walter Cronkite like) but are entertainment shows that are searching for profits based on the number of viewers. As Sienfield would say . . . "not that there is anything wrong with that", until they try to pass MSNBC, FOX, and even CNN as NEWS programs.
Most of us tend to watch a station that is aligned with our world view and are "fed" information that supports that view. We like that because it makes us feel good because it "proves" we are correct. The issue is that much, not all, but much, of the information "fed" to us is wrong, innaccurate, or maybe just misleading . . . from all the specific political perspectives.
I have two challenges . . . or missions (from the old show Mission Impossible) . . . if you choose to accept them.
One . . . watch your station with a critical eye, looking for inconsistancies, outlandish statements (Beck is god, Obama is the greatest president, etc.) and research the information realizing that much (dare I say most) of what is on the internet is not true and usually has an agenda behind it. In other words . . . make up your own mind and not just beleive the talking heads. You may come right back to were but you will have a sense of confidence rather than just that I heard it on the "news" or you, suprising enough, may slightly change your viewpoint.
Two . . . watch the "other" station and truely try to understand what is being postulated. Don't just discount it, research it! Again, you may come right back to your original view but you may have a better understanding of why "they" feel that way. You also may find some truth in the exercise.
It is obvious that some of the posters on this site do this or some variation of this exercise. It is also obvious some don't! You are your own judge . . . are you a talking head's mouth piece or an individual thinker that has a particular world view?
Some of you will dismiss this as hog wash and just go on watching your station. I would say to get out of your comfort zone because you may be missing a big world out there.
I struggle at this myself . . . it feels good to listen to someone that tells me all the reasons why I am correct in my world view. :)
Anyway . . . my thoughts . . . yours?
bald_dude 2 years, 8 months ago
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moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago
Of course I watch Fox News sometimes. It's stupidly funny ALL the time and I need to know what the "ENEMY" is talking about and what THEY look like. Geraldo's the only decent one on FOX, even though he's "lost" his touch so to speak. Gonna watch him tonite. I've worked to help "those people" who supposedly don't want to work, teaching them the skills needed to be more productive in this world. Most of the time they just need that helping hand, some compassion, commitment, and the knowledge that when they do get a job they will be paid a LIVING WAGE. This right wing hate, narrow mindedness and pure ignorance is sooooooo troubling. Getting behind a religion, any religion or cult to further the agenda of the state is very dangerous and anytime you see a "Religious" gathering with the flag of the Nation(as in Stars&Stripes)waving behind people on the podium....Run for the Hills! Nations flags have absolutly no reason to be there. They depict conflicting messages.
"Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a SOLITARY PLACE, where he prayed."
Those self-rightous wachos like Glenn Beck, who crave the roar of the crowd and the money in the hand, are nothing but old-fashioned carnival barkers. You mean to tell me that there are still people out there who believe them?! I must admit I thought we had actually come a long way and gotten much smarter as a country but I guess NOT.
JER 2 years, 8 months ago
James, while I disagree with you at almost every turn, I do agree with your analysis of the divide in this country. There have always been a small percentage of people who will not work for a living and either sponge off their family, rip off the government or sit at an intersection and expect you to drop money in their cup. There are probably some that do all three!! I know it always galls me when I'm in the grocery store check out line and the person in front of me is buying better stuff than I can afford and paying with their food stamp credit card. I am 100% behind eliminating fraud in the welfare arena. A couple of points: First, the health care situation: People who refuse to purchase health insurance simply use the hospital emergency room for their health care and the costs incurred are paid for by all the rest of us in higher rates when we use the hospitals, which makes our insurance premiums higher. We will always be paying for those who don't pay. Having universal health care will more evenly spread out the costs. Second, home ownership is a big part of the American Dream. When people get in over their head with too much debt, there are two groups at fault: The person who spent above their means and the company that loaned them the money to do it. Neither one of these two groups are the government. When many instances of this happen at the same time, the entire financial structure begins to implode. The choice is to let it all fail or try to do something about it. The current administration tried to do something about it. Lastly, I agree, most of the unemployed want to work. Most will be able to again find a job but at greatly reduced wages. We have too many people chasing too few jobs because big business sent them off to a cheaper labor market to increase profits and pay stockholder dividends. If you're a corporate executive or a stockholder, no worries. Unfortunately, most Americans are not.