Having taken a few days off due to suffering through a rather painful chest infection, I'm ready to make a come-back and do my part for Blog Against Theocracy. I'm certainly pushing the deadline, but here we go anyway.
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In many ways, Glenn Beck is the fringe Right's new theological scholar, their preacher, their "savior" - in more ways than one, mind you.
It's almost as if he is seen as the "second coming" to many within the Tea Bagger movement. Sure, it can be stated that they aren't an official religion, but consider this - many of them ascribe to the 9 Principles and 12 Values that Beck brought down from his Fox"News" constructed Mt. Sinai he stands atop every evening at 5pm EST. One is more likely to see and hear people at Tea Bagger gatherings laud his accomplishments and his ideals. In reality, these alleged conservatives are practically violating the religious Commandment that states "Thou Shalt Have No Gods Before Me".
But what does Beck really know of values, principles, or even religion itself?
Recently, Beck has been speaking on his program about how Rev. Jim Wallace of Sojourners has attacked him, called him names, berated him because he told people to leave their churches if they preached "social" or "economic justice".
Since Beck links himself directly to the Tea Baggers, and has quite literally fostered much of the ignorance, hatred, and vitriol we are seeing from within that group, he seems to embrace this mantel of "conservative savior" with bravado and a sense of megalomania that would make Bill O'Reilly blush.
But let's consider how conservatives like Beck have contorted the stories within the Bible about Jesus, about his teachings, his philosophies. Certainly, this is not a new tactic for the fringe Right, as they did their best to use a portion of one sermon from Jeremiah Wright in order to create this illusion that he was actually some demonic figure.
Then again, isn't that how religion works? The Southern Baptists castigate the Catholics for their style of worship and connection with Jesus. And all traditional Christians see the Mormons ( of which Beck is a member ) as being people that have molested religion in order to justify their down ideology. So then, should anyone be surprised that Beck and his Tea Bagger followers not once mention the teachings of Christ, of his charity and promotion of good will when they are railing against healthcare reform? Has anyone else noticed that - a glorious absence of "Christ-like behavior" in literally every anti-Obama rally?
This is the new religion of conservatives. This is the new gospel to which they ascribe. Glenn Beck is attempting to distort the Bible and all the teachings of Jesus ( as most of us who grew up in a religious home were taught to see them ) in order to prove what? What is he attempting to show? How is assisting your fellow man so wrong?
Think about the story of the crowd that Jesus fed with one boys lunch of a loaf of bread and two fishes. Is that not a perfect example of redistribution?
I'm not a particularly religious person, but I do know when people use religion as a weapon against the greater good. Glenn Beck holds more power right now within conservative circles than the church - period. You are more likely to hear talk of his Alex Jones like theories regarding this country, our alleged values, and a blatantly revisionist portrayal of history than you are to how conservatives believe in how God and country are linked. This is a very dangerous concept.
Though they are not intrinsically linked, conservatives have literally began rewriting The Bible. Beck espouses the ideal that rewriting the history of a nation, of individuals, or religious scripture, is now a new pillar of conservative thought. He too is rewriting Biblical history. If one is to believe that teachings of Jesus Christ - of faith, hope, and charity - how can you call yourself conservatives and literally wave flags extolling your adoration for Glenn Beck.
This is the new theocracy within the conservative movement. Glenn Beck is their Jesus. Fox"News" is their Bible.
A Blog Version Of The Inside Of My Head. The place where politics, film, the media, music, pop culture, and random topics collide in an orgy of neo-philisophical randomness that would make your mother scream.
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5 comments:
if it was up to the tea baggers, beck and his twin cousins hannity and limbaugh (and malkin and coulter and a whole slew of other demigods) would actually rewrite the bible (along with all school text books) to suit the needs of their audience
in other words - keep their audiences big enough so corporations will continue to advertise on their shows, keep them on the air and making them millions
which most assuredly is not shared in the same way jesus did.
you have to wonder how the country go this way - never mind i know, when you make education the lowest priority-- you end up with dittoheads, 8 years of bush and john boehner in congress
It's been amusing to see some religious leaders (including at least one Mormon) correct Beck. A few years back, one conservative argued that Jesus had contempt for the poor. It was astounding. Oh well, Jesus' General's "Republican Jesus" series expounds the True Word to all, including Glenn Beck.
I was struggling with what to post for Blog Against Theocray. I've re-read this and think I could actually make it into fairly lengthy series. But if JG is already on this, I wouldn't want to copy him too closely. Thanks for the comment though. Feel free to drop by again.
Tried and failed to leave a comment earlier. I just wanted to say thank you for this. I've spent a good deal of time at my blog in the past year or so complaining about how Glenn Beck and other right-wing shouters have influenced my mother and other relatives (or, more correctly, how my otherwise bright relatives allowed themselves to be taken in by these fearmongers.)
You articulate very well what I find particularly disgusting and scary about Beck. I've always hated morning zoo radio hosts with a passion. Beck is a former morning zoo radio host and college dropout who learned that a professional communicator will never starve by appeal to vulnerable peoples' worst fears and basic instincts.
Lately, he's talking about "Faith, Hope, and Charity," but from the little I've seen, his interpretations of those words are still as twisted as his "facts" and "history." I'm amazed that my Assemblies of God relatives will listen to and quote what a Mormon will say about faith. It's amazing how ecumenical they've gotten lately. It's like, Beck hates all the "right" people, so they'll hear him out.
Theocracy isn't really about what is actually in an actual Holy Book. It is about how people *interpret* the Holy Book and what leaders *say* is in it. I was particularly struck by an anecdote in a book called the Storyteller's Daughter, a journalist who'd been Muslim all her life was scandalized that Taliban soldiers would wash their feet before prayer with their *boots on*. Most literate, observant Muslims know to wash their actual feet. (I told my Muslim co-worker about this, and she gasped!) But these soldiers' imam was half-educated, if that, and he took advantage of their ignorance. So too would the Becks and Hannitys and Limbaughs of the world love to take advantage of peoples' ignorance and piety for their own gain.
Beck is of course mentally ill, and having a slow-motion breakdown in full public view for profit. I feel sorry for him, and then I remember that he makes more money in a month from his immensely damaging disability than I will in a lifetime of honest labor and my sympathy wanes.
Many people see in him a reflection of themselves, and that there are so many of them is the scary part. But Beck is, like a thousand others before him, one of the potato chips of the VRWC; they are eaten up, and soon forgotten. The real danger is in the followers who, when Beck fractures as he surely must, will turn to someone else who may be a great deal more evil and astute.
I'm fairly settled that the underlying point of unity for these folks is bigotry. More than anything, they want to assuage their own feelings of inadequacy by demeaning others. Beck, along with the rest of the big-mouth chorus, feeds that need.
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