Posted: 09/03/10  


I Tried To Warn My Critics That The Stage Was Set By Glenn Beck For Rev. Jim Wallis and Him To Start A Dialogue Based on Shared Humanism and Paganism?



By Brannon S. Howse



On my radio program on 8-30 and 31, 2010, I predicted that Rev. Jim Wallis and Glenn Beck could actually find common ground because they share many of the same philosophies whether they knew it or not. However, I never expected that Wallis would release an open letter to Glenn Beck in less than a week that would acknowledge how close these two really are in their worldviews.

 

I told my radio audience that the thesis and antithesis of the Hegelian Dialectic Process had been set up between Beck and Wallis and all we need is for the two to synthesis their two worldviews together through the shared ideas of paganism, humanism and good-works, among other ideas, and then a new thesis would be created. I never thought it would only take five days for Wallis to admit how much he and Beck agree and to request that a dialogue begin.

 

Even if Beck and Wallis do not get together for a formal meeting, the bridge that is possible has been acknowledged and many will jump on this idea in their own minds because of their hunger for unity. This also confirms my prediction that in the coming days this merger will occur with or without Beck and Wallis.

Here is part of what Wallis said in his open letter to Beck:

I think we got off on the wrong foot. I listened to your speech last Saturday and heard a lot of things that we agree on. In fact, I have used some of the same language of our need to turn to God, and the values of "faith, hope, and charity" (love). What I would like to find out, and others would too, is what you mean by that language. Until last weekend, you have consistently described yourself primarily as an entertainer, and the public has known you as a talk show host. But last Saturday, you sounded more like an evangelist or revivalist on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I know we disagree significantly on many issues of public policy, but you said that people can disagree on politics and still agree on basic values and try to come together. Maybe we should test that. Instead of my being up on your blackboard and a regular target of your show's rhetoric, why don't we finally have that civil dialogue I invited you to months ago? Your speech on the Mall suggested and even promised a change of heart on your part, so why don't we talk? Here are a few things I think we could talk about.

First, I've been asked by people in the media if it matters that you are a Mormon. I unequivocally answer, no, it does not. We don't want more anti-Mormon bigotry any more than we want the anti-Muslim bigotry now rising up across the country. By the way, you should speak to that (against it). On Saturday you talked about the fact that our nation has some scars in our past. I think one of those scars is the historical persecution and bigotry that many Mormons have faced, as well as Catholics, Jєωs, and Muslims. But, as you said, instead of dwelling on the bad things of the past, we need to learn from them and look to the future. The best way to do that is to make sure we all stand for religious liberty and tolerance, and are careful not to denigrate anybody else's faith tradition, experience, or language. If you are ever in need of an evangelical Christian to speak out against anti-Mormon sentiment directed at you or others, I am here to help.

And let's talk about salvation. You have emphasized that you believe strongly in personal salvation, as opposed to "collective salvation." As an evangelical Christian, I also believe deeply in personal salvation-it is the foundation of my faith. But we need to ask ourselves, what are we saved for? Is salvation just about getting a pass into heaven? Is it just for us? Or is it also for the world, and being a part of God's work and purposes in the world today?

Before, I thought you were just another cable news talk show host. But now, you are using the language of a spiritual and even a religious leader. You acted as though you now want people to look to you for that kind of spiritual leadership…
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100902/an-open-letter-to-glenn-beck-from-jim-wallis/index.html
(You should really read the entire letter from Wallis to Beck at the link above.)  

Don't tell me that a one-world religion and a one-world government under a one-world leader are not possible and that many "conservatives" and "religious" leaders and pastors will not go along. The Bible predicted these things would happen and we are now watching the pieces fall into place. It may be months, it may be years, but the pieces are falling into place.

I wrote an article on Saturday, 8-28-10 after watching Glenn Beck's "spiritual" revival on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The article was titled: "Glenn Beck and Jim Wallis Are Both Pushing Social Justice and an Earthly Kingdom". In that article I wrote:

These next few statements will be shocking to some and many will not have the Biblical knowledge and discernment to accept the truth of what I am about to present. Social justice is a man-centered attempt to create heaven on earth.

Reverend Jim Wallis is pushing a liberal, leftist, man- centered, Godless, good works, social justice and Beck is pushing a conservative, right-wing, Godless, man-centered, good works, social justice. Both Wallis and Beck want a revolution in America and they both are basing their revolution on humanistic thinking. One is coming from the left and one is coming from the right. Both Wallis and Beck are both pushing for an earthly kingdom based on humanism and paganism mixed with their individual versions of social justice. I believe that Wallis and Beck both reject the God of the Bible and the salvation that is only found through the Jesus Christ of the Bible. In the end Beck and Wallis are on the same team as Jesus Christ Himself declared in John 8:42-47.

Eventually a world leader will appear that will acknowledge that the Becks and Wallis of the right and left are really not that far apart. In an article I released on August 30, 210 I wrote:

 

Perhaps sooner, rather than latter, the world will be in massive economic, political, and spiritual chaos and a leader will step on to the world stage and this anti-Christ will call for the religions of the world to unite and embrace spirituality. He will declare that he is not about politics but about bringing peace, unity, faith, hope, charity, stability, freedom, and prosperity under the common god of all religions. This world leader will perform counterfeit miracles signs and wonders and those who reject Biblical truth will follow him [2 Thessalonians 2:9-12] and embrace his plan for restoring honor.  

 

 

Please understand, I am not a prophet, nor am I boasting because my predictions are now becoming real possibilities. I can only boast in the Cross of Jesus Christ [Galatians 6:14] and every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above [James 1:17].

I have prayed for months that the Lord would give me wisdom and knowledge to understand the times as I study His Word. I pray for this because I want to know what God would have me to do and how to respond as did the Tribe of Issachar in I Chronicles 12:32. Several years ago, God placed it on my heart to prepare and warn the true members of the Bride of Christ about the unholy alliances that are being created so they are not deceived and do not take part.




As Christians, we are commanded to expose that which is contrary to the Word of God; [2 Corinthians 10:5], including false teachers and prophets.

 

Calling out of false teachers is preformed many times in the scriptures. In Romans 16:17-18--Paul writes, "I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own body, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the innocent."

 

My goal is for you to read this article and join me in studying your Bible, praying for knowledge, and wisdom, and then join me up on the wall as watchmen that are seeking to warn and protect God's people from the spiritual deception that is coming from "conservative" talk show hosts, false teachers and even "Christian" leaders.

 

 

Distributed by www.worldviewweekend.com

By Brannon Howse

Email: Brannon@worldviewweekend.com

Click here for bio and archived articles    
 


Posted: 09/02/10  


Glenn Beck Blasphemes God on His September 2nd TV Program?
By Brannon S. Howse

 

Are America's Christian leaders proud of themselves yet for making Beck the leader of America's next spiritual "revival"?

Glenn Beck continues to prove that America's Christian leaders should not have given away their credibility to Beck. On his September 2, 2010 television program Beck said the following:

"America's religion. This is it gang, this is all you need to know.  There is a God, He's going to judge us, we should be good to each other, cause daddy's gonna be pissed in the end if we're not. That's it. That's called a big principle."


You can see this clip at this link. Start at the 10:40 mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_975664&feature=iv&v=G6BLl45Ul30

 
This is America's modern-day Moses? Good luck with that Christian leaders! That for sure is not what I read in my Bible. Then again, my God was not a man of flesh and bone that evolved to become God and is having eternal sex with his goddess wives. My God is a spirit (John 4:24) and does not appreciate being described in such a vulgar way nor being the punch line of a joke.

 

On his September 2, 2010 TV program Beck said, "We need a Jesus or a Buddha."
See this statement at this link at the 5:00 mark:


 

Where is Biblical repentance, the depravity of man, the Biblical Gospel? Beck's religion is one of good works based on a false Jesus and a false gospel. If Christian leaders continue endorsing Glenn then more people are going to follow his "spirituality" and they are going to die and go to hell. I beg these Christian leaders to acknowledge what they have done and reconsider their position on Glenn Beck unless reclaiming America is more important than the people who are dying and going to hell.  

 

Distributed by www.worldviewweekend.com

By Brannon Howse

Email: Brannon@worldviewweekend.com

Click here for bio and archived articles    
 

Wow, I thought Beck had more class than that. I guess I was wrong.

•   How Mormonism Built Glenn Beck
•   By JOANNA BROOKS
••   
Mr. Beck mugs for the camera.
•   http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/1885/
•   Joanna Brooks
Joanna Brooks grew up in a conservative Mormon home in the orange groves of Orange County, California. Now, she's an award winning American religion scholar and writer. Find her books here.

•   Glenn Beck leans forward on his elbows. His voice hushes. His eyes grow red at the corners. He presses his lips together and clears his throat. He cannot speak. The tears fall, and just for a moment the brashest voice in American conservatism today falls silent.

This is what happens when Beck tells the story of his 1999 conversion to Mormonism.

“I was friendless, working in the smallest radio market I had ever worked in... a hopeless alcoholic, abusing drugs every day,” Beck said in an interview taped last fall. “I was trying to find a job and nobody would hire me... couldn’t get an agent to represent me.”

That’s when Beck’s wife-to-be Tania suggested that the family go on a “church tour,” which finally led (after some prodding from Beck’s longtime on-air partner Pat Gray, a Mormon) to his local Mormon wardhouse. Six months later, the Beck family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
“I was baptized on a Sunday, and on Monday”—Beck’s throat tightens again; he wipes tears from his eyes with his index fingers—“an agent called me out of the blue.” Three days later, Beck was offered his own political talk radio show at WFLA-AM in Tampa, Florida, the job that put him on the road from “morning zoo” radio prankster to conservative media heavyweight.

Spiritual narratives of the I-once-was-lost-now-I-am-financially-sound variety are commonplace within Mormonism, which, like most of American Protestantism, has never been allergic to wealth. The institutional culture of the Mormon Church is strongly corporate, down to the dark suits, white shirts, and red or blue ties church leaders wear instead of vestments; Mormonism’s most powerful public figures like Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman Jr., and Bill Marriott Jr., come from the business world.

But whether or not one believes that God rewards baptism with fortune, it is clear that Glenn Beck’s conversion to and education in the Mormon faith after 1999 corresponds precisely with his rise as a media force.

Beck, who was raised Catholic in Washington state, has produced, with the help of Mormon Church-owned Deseret Book Company, the DVD An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck (2008); Mormon fansites invite visitors to learn more about Beck’s beliefs by clicking through to the official Web site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But what these fansites don’t reveal is the extent to which Mormonism has given Beck key elements of his on-air personality and messaging.

Teary Tirades and Mormon Masculinity

Before 1999, Glenn Beck told jokes and pulled on-air stunts for a living. He developed the content of his current conservative messaging (an amalgation of anti-communism, United States-founder worship, and connect-the-dots conspiracy theorizing) after his entree into the deeply insular world of Mormon thought and culture. A significant figure in this world is the late Cleon Skousen (1913–2006), the archconservative and fiercely anti-communist Brigham Young University professor, founder of the Freeman Society, and author of 15 books, including The Naked Capitalist, The Making of America, and Prophecy and Modern Times. Beck, who first cited Skousen in his 2003 book The Real America: Messages from the Heart and the Heartland, later started pitching Skousen’s 1981 book The 5,000 Year Leap on air in December, 2008. He wrote a preface for a new edition of the book issued a few months later and in his March 2009 kick-off of the 9/12 movement declared Skousen’s book to be “divinely inspired.” In a recent article for Salon.com, Alexander Zaitchik suggested that Beck “rescued [Skousen] from the remainder pile of history.” But Cleon Skousen was never remaindered among the most politically conservative Mormons, for whom he has been a household name since the 1960s.

It is likely that Beck owes his brand of Founding Father-worship to Mormonism, where reverence for the founders and the United States Constitution as divinely inspired are often-declared elements of orthodox belief. Mormon Church President Wilford Woodruff (1807–1898) declared that George Washington and the signers of the Declaration of Independence appeared to him in the Mormon Temple in St. George, Utah in 1877, and requested that he perform Mormon temple ordinances on their behalf. Many Mormons also believe that Joseph Smith prophesied in 1843 that the US Constitution would one day “hang by a thread” and be saved by faithful Mormons; this idea was given new life in the 1960s by former US Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson, who cited Smith’s 1843 prophecy from the pulpit while speaking as a member of the Church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles.

Many key elements of Beck’s on-the-fly messaging derive from a Mormon lexicon, such as his Twitter-issued September 19 call: “Sept 28. Lets make it a day of Fast and Prayer for the Republic. Spread the word. Let us walk in the founders steps.” This call to fasting and prayer may indeed have been an appropriation of the Jєωιѕн holy day of Yom Kippur, but it is also rooted in the traditional Mormon practice of holding individual, familial, and collective fasts to address spiritual challenges.

Even the overt sentimentality Beck now indulges from time to time was formed within the cradle of Mormon literary culture. Take, for example, his novel The Christmas Sweater (2008) (co-authored by Mormon writer Jason Wright) and its accompanying children’s picture book, which tell the story of an impoverished twelve-year-old boy who rejects a “handmade, ugly sweater” his widowed mother knits him for Christmas, only to watch his mother die in a fiery car crash hours later. This punishing sentimentality is a consistent feature of Mormon storytelling from Church-produced cinematic classics like Cipher in the Snow (1973) and The Mailbox (1977) to the New York Times-bestselling novel The Christmas Box (1995) by Mormon author Richard Paul Evans.

Finally, Beck’s oft-ridiculed penchant for punctuating his tirades with tears is the hallmark of a distinctly Mormon mode of masculinity. As sociologist David Knowlton has written, “Mormonism praises the man who is able to shed tears as a manifestation of spirituality.” Crying and choking up are understood by Mormons as manifestations of the Holy Spirit. For men at every rank of Mormon culture and visibility, appropriately-timed displays of tender emotion are displays of power.

Peace on the Religious Right between Mormons and Evangelicals?

Indeed, Beck, who grew up without a father, narrates his conversion and personal transformation around a series of tearful bonding moments with Mormon men, from the Sunday School teacher who first taught him about the Mormon concept of Zion—“Tears started to roll down his cheeks, and he said, ‘It can only happen if I truly love you and you love me’”—to his baptism by immersion by his longtime friend Pat Gray, who was so choked up, according to Beck, that “he couldn’t get the words out.”

Not typical of Mormon masculinity are Beck’s high-decibel swings between bombast and self-deprecation. Such demonstrative excesses are socialized out of most Mormon men during a regimented process of masculine formation that begins with entry into the lowest ranks of Mormonism’s lay priesthood at age 12, intensifies during compulsory missionary service from age 19 through 21, and continues throughout a lifetime of service within hierarchical priesthood quorums. A textbook example of the traditional Mormon “man of steel and velvet” is Mitt Romney, whose inability to connect with the Republican base may have as much to do with his lack of familiar jocularity and chest-thumping outrage as it does with the perceived weirdness of his Mormon beliefs. As a convert, Beck missed out on crucial early years of Mormon male socialization. Consequently, his renegade persona may endear him even more to his Mormon male fans who might like to comport themselves as he does, but feel they cannot.

It’s true that his Mormonism sometimes gets Beck into trouble with evangelical Christians, who have long antagonized Mormons by denying the authenticity of their belief in Jesus Christ and deriding the Mormon Church as a cult. Last December, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family Web site pulled a Beck column, citing concerns about his Mormon ties.

Still, Beck’s spectacular rise suggests that evangelical conservatives (especially those under 40 who may not remember the anti-Mormon cult crusades of the 1980s) are increasingly willing to set aside their reservations about Mormons when it suits their pragmatic and political interests.

Glenn Beck marks an unprecedented national mainstreaming of a peculiar strand of religious political conservatism rooted in, and once isolated to, the Mormon culture regions of the American West. That Mormons are capable of leveraging disproportionate political influence with decisive results was one of the great lessons of California’s 2008 election season, wherein readily-mobilized Mormons, who make up 2% of California’s population, contributed more than 50% of the individual donations to the successful anti-marriage equality Proposition 8 campaign, and a sizeable majority of its on-the-ground efforts.

How much traction Glenn Beck can muster remains to be seen. But if the American religious right has sometimes been imagined as a monolithic product of the evangelical Deep South and Bible Belt, the rise of Glenn Beck suggests that those who would understand American conservatism might also look West, toward Salt Lake City.

Myrna, still have you on hide, so not seeing your posts, but read and re-read the article and then ask yourself-if I listen and give Beck any credence, then why, when I quickly ignore and assume B16 is not a Pope....not listen to B16 at all, but Beck...why> ask yourself that double minded thinking...again, read articles......

thanks, God Bless!

Glenn Beck is about as worthless as a Bill Clinton Apology.....