Glenn Beck and a call for religious rebirth

[Zygimantas]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/us/politics/29beck.html?_r=1&hp

 

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WASHINGTON Tens of thousands of people rallied at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, summoned by Glenn Beck, a conservative broadcaster who called for a religious rebirth in America at the site where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech 47 years ago to the day. Something that is beyond man is happening, Mr. Beck said in opening the event as the crowd thronged near the memorial grounds. America today begins to turn back to God.

 

It was part religious revival, part history lecture, as Mr. Beck invoked the founding fathers and the black-robed regiment of pastors of the Revolutionary War and spoke of American exceptionalism.

 

The crowd was a mix of groups that have come together under the Tea Party umbrella. Some wore T-shirts from the Campaign for Liberty, the libertarian group that came out of the presidential campaign of Representative Ron Paul, while others wore the gear of their local Tea Party group, or of 9/12 groups, which were founded after a special broadcast Mr. Beck did in March 2009.

 

But the program was distinctly different from most Tea Party rallies. While Tea Party groups have said they want to focus on fiscal conservatism and not risk alienating people by talking about religion or social issues, the rally on Saturday was overtly religious, filled with gospel music and speeches that were more like sermons.

 

Mr. Beck imbued his remarks on Saturday and at events the night before with references to God and a need for a religious revival. For too long, this country has wandered in darkness, Mr. Beck said Saturday. This country has spent far too long worrying about scars and thinking about scars and concentrating on scars. Today, we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished, and the things that we can do tomorrow.

 

Mr. Beck was followed on stage by Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate and former Alaska governor, who said she was asked, in keeping with the theme of the day, not to focus on politics but to speak as the mother of a soldier.

 

Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet, and you cant take that away from me, said Ms. Palin, whose son Track served in Iraq.

 

But Ms. Palin did not steer entirely clear of politics. In a veiled reference to President Obama and his pledges to fundamentally transform America, she said, We must not fundamentally transform America as some would want; we must restore America and restore her honor.

 

Many in the crowd said they had never been to a Tea Party rally, but they described themselves as avid Glenn Beck fans, and many said they had been motivated to come by faith.

 

Becky Benson, 56, traveled from Orlando, Fla., because, she said, we believe in Jesus Christ, and he is our savior. Jesus, she said, would not have agreed with what she called the redistribution of wealth in the form of the economic stimulus package, bank bailouts and welfare. You cannot sit and expect someone to hand out to you, she said. You dont spend your way out of debt.

 

Mr. Becks themes were ones he returns to on his radio and television shows, and people in the crowd echoed his ideas, saying that progressives were moving the country toward socialism and that the country must get back to a strict interpretation of the Constitution, which would limit the role of the federal government and do away with entitlement programs.

 

The federal government is only to offer us protection from our enemies and help us when we need it, said Ron Sears, 65, who came on a caravan of three buses from Corbin, Ky. The states are supposed to control education and everything having to do with their citizens, except when they need federal help.

 

Mr. Beck billed the event as the Woodstock of this generation, telling listeners that for decades, people would be asking, Were you there?

 

He had instructed his fans to leave their protest signs at home and to bring their children.

 

While there were few signs, people carried American flags or yellow Dont Tread on Me banners, which have become mainstays at Tea Party rallies.

 

The event had the feeling of a large church picnic, with people sitting on lawn chairs and blankets with coolers and strollers.

 

Officials do not make crowd estimates because they are unreliable and can be controversial, but event organizers put the number of attendees at 500,000; NBC News said it was closer to 300,000, but by any measure it was a large turnout. The crowd stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.

 

The rally organized by Mr. Beck, a Fox News broadcaster who has been critical of Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats, has come under attack as dishonoring the memory of Dr. King by staging the event on the anniversary of his speech. Critics have suggested that Mr. Beck was trying to energize conservatives for the midterm elections.

 

Across town, several hundred people packed a football field at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School to stage a rally commemorating Dr. Kings I Have a Dream speech.

 

We come here because the dream has not been achieved, said the Rev. Al Sharpton, an organizer of the rally. Weve had a lot of progress. But we have a long way to go.

 

They want to disgrace this day, Mr. Sharpton told the crowd, referring to Mr. Becks event.

 

While the crowd at Dunbar was mostly African-American, the audience at Mr. Becks rally was overwhelmingly white, though a number of speakers and performers were black.

 

Among them was Alveda King, a niece of the civil rights leader, who in a speech said that if Dr. King were alive he would commend the organizers of the event and would encourage us to lay aside the vicious lies that cause us to think we are members of separate races.

 

Mr. Beck made a surprise visit on Friday to a convention held by FreedomWorks, a Tea Party umbrella group, for Tea Party supporters. He received a thunderous welcome from a crowd of about 1,600 in Constitution Hall.

 

He told the crowd that he had begun planning his march on Washington a year ago, thinking it was supposed to be political.

 

And then I kind of feel like God dropped a giant sandbag on my head, he said.

 

My role, as I see it, is to wake America up to the backsliding of principles and values and most of all of God, he said. We are a country of God. As I look at the problems in our country, quite honestly, I think the hot breath of destruction is breathing on our necks and to fix it politically is a figure that I dont see anywhere.

 

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I don't mind Glenn Beck being an idiot or him having these rallies, but what annoys me is that about 300,000 Americans were there to support him. The pro-Christian rallies like this and the anti-Muslim events that occurred at ground zero ( which were also mostly fueled by Christians) are making it seem like the country is moving backwards. It seems like more and more Americans seem to want to make the USA a strictly Christian country. These are the things that eventually lead to war and genocide, unluckily for the United States at this rate it will probably get destroyed before any of that can occur.

 

[bleep] this. I'm moving to Europe <_<

[Lenticular_J]

People are stupid. That will always happen. And as long as there are charismatic stupid people, there will be events like this.

 

Take Bill Maher. He's a comedian, for crying out loud - and yet his pseudo-theological "documentary" netted a cool $13 million.

 

If you don't like it, become a leader for something you do believe in. The world isn't fair, and it won't become fair unless you shape it as you see fit. There are plenty of stupid Europeans. They're just stupid with silly accents.

[obfuscator]

( which were also mostly fueled by Christians)

Source?

 

But yeah, Glen Beck is pretty ridiculous.

[BlindBaker]

I was watching this. I don't understand how all the people in the audience bought it. <_<

[Aiel]

my opinion on glenn beck:

 

it scares me that 300,000 people are willing to go to a rally led by him.

[Zygimantas]

People are stupid. That will always happen. And as long as there are charismatic stupid people, there will be events like this.

 

Take Bill Maher. He's a comedian, for crying out loud - and yet his pseudo-theological "documentary" netted a cool $13 million.

 

If you don't like it, become a leader for something you do believe in. The world isn't fair, and it won't become fair unless you shape it as you see fit. There are plenty of stupid Europeans. They're just stupid with silly accents.

Its not really the stupidity that bothers me, I mean they could have had a rally about apples giving humans superpowers. What bothers me is that this type of stupidity leads to anger towards other people who have different views on religion, and this seems to be spreading in the USA. When the Nazi's were rising to power in Germany, there were probably some Jewish people saying the same thing as you " Oh, they are just stupid people, no worries." But stupidity seems to spread, fast.

[Skull]

People are stupid. That will always happen. And as long as there are charismatic stupid people, there will be events like this.

 

Take Bill Maher. He's a comedian, for crying out loud - and yet his pseudo-theological "documentary" netted a cool $13 million.

 

If you don't like it, become a leader for something you do believe in. The world isn't fair, and it won't become fair unless you shape it as you see fit. There are plenty of stupid Europeans. They're just stupid with silly accents.

Its not really the stupidity that bothers me, I mean they could have had a rally about apples giving humans superpowers. What bothers me is that this type of stupidity leads to anger towards other people who have different views on religion, and this seems to be spreading in the USA. When the Nazi's were rising to power in Germany, there were probably some Jewish people saying the same thing as you " Oh, they are just stupid people, no worries." But stupidity seems to spread, fast.

God damn, when I saw this thread I though "How long until someone relates this to the Nazi's?" Apparently, 5 posts.

 

Anyways, I do agree with what you said.

 

Edit: Godwin's law, I remembered the name.

[Lenticular_J]

People are stupid. That will always happen. And as long as there are charismatic stupid people, there will be events like this.

 

Take Bill Maher. He's a comedian, for crying out loud - and yet his pseudo-theological "documentary" netted a cool $13 million.

 

If you don't like it, become a leader for something you do believe in. The world isn't fair, and it won't become fair unless you shape it as you see fit. There are plenty of stupid Europeans. They're just stupid with silly accents.

Its not really the stupidity that bothers me, I mean they could have had a rally about apples giving humans superpowers. What bothers me is that this type of stupidity leads to anger towards other people who have different views on religion, and this seems to be spreading in the USA. When the Nazi's were rising to power in Germany, there were probably some Jewish people saying the same thing as you " Oh, they are just stupid people, no worries." But stupidity seems to spread, fast.

Many kept saying it even as the Jews were pushed into the ghettos. There is no probably about it.

 

What nobody in the world seems to understand, is that as long as there's anything, there will be anger. Pride. Prejudice. If there are two people in the world, they will find something to fight about. It's our nature. It blows, but it happens, and fixing it would mean we're no longer humans. This is what drives us to do just about everything, if you simplify things enough (which you shouldn't).

 

I just think people need to quit worrying about these little things. It isn't even like this is new! It didn't just happen all of a sudden, and the entirety of America isn't going to rise up against non-Christians. There are tons of reasons. For example: Glenn Beck appeals to a demographic. It's a tiny one. It may seem large, and yes, that many people can do a lot of damage, but more than anything he attracts the wrong kind of people for anything dangerous. It's the same way with Alex Jones. He has many, many listeners, many who believe everything he says - such as when a (joke) trailer for Robert Rodriguez's movie Machete came out depicting something of a Mexican nationalistic uprising against America. They didn't do anything except (probably) flood his forums with outrage and fear and "What if..." There are real issues, though. While you worry about something ridiculous like that, Mexican drug cartels are invading our soil. Farms and ranches all along the border are being used and even attacked. And yet that receives no media attention (although some accounts are exaggerated). People are far more worried about whether or not they're better than their neighbors than the Arizona Rape Trees.

 

As to religious rebirth: people are sad and scared right now. They want something, anything, to tell them all will be well. And that's fine, so long as it doesn't get violent. In our times, we'd know if it did.

 

That being said, I can be sure of nothing and my opinion is probably invalid.

[dusqi]

Hah.. wow.. 300k people. Good luck with that.

[John Halo Chief]

This is....Sad...

300K people rallying for smaller government and less morons in office? Yup. I like it. I really find it dumb, however, that you think that (almost) everyone protesting the Ground Zero Mosque is Christian, and the only factor is they are Christian. Maybe they don't want to disrespect everyone who died? I'm sure if you had a relative who died there, you would be a little less inclined to let them build a religious site for the same religion as the people who FLEW A PLANE INTO A BUILDING.

[Aiel]

This is....Sad...

300K people rallying for smaller government and less morons in office? Yup. I like it.

its ironic because the rally is led by the very kind of person who qualifies as a moron. Also, smaller government is not necessarily good.

[John Halo Chief]

This is....Sad...

300K people rallying for smaller government and less morons in office? Yup. I like it.

its ironic because the rally is led by the very kind of person who qualifies as a moron. Also, smaller government is not necessarily good.

Please explain to me how he is a moron, because I certainly can't see it. Everything he's predicted, as far as I know, has come true so far. And while smaller gov't isn't necessarily good, it can be.

[ElkNight]

He thinks the government is creating concentration camps for right wings.

[mario_sunny]

Of course he's a Fox news reporter...

[Aiel]

This is....Sad...

300K people rallying for smaller government and less morons in office? Yup. I like it.

its ironic because the rally is led by the very kind of person who qualifies as a moron. Also, smaller government is not necessarily good.

Please explain to me how he is a moron, because I certainly can't see it. Everything he's predicted, as far as I know, has come true so far. And while smaller gov't isn't necessarily good, it can be.

Nearly everything he says is playing on the public's fears for his own personal gain. Is that the kind of person you want elected?

[John Halo Chief]

He thinks the government is creating concentration camps for right wings.

Well, while I do get hits for that, I also get some for him debunking it.

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/credit-where-its-due-glenn-becks-deb

[Nenga]

my opinion on glenn beck:

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it scares me that 300,000 people are willing to go to a rally led by him.

I don't get it, what's wrong with that picture?

 

I don't really watch/listen/whatever to him. Heck I don't even know if he has an internet, T.V., or radio show.

 

So I don't have an opinion on him.

 

About the speech, honestly it sounds like a bunch of fear mongering. Country has turned from god, no light for us, we have no hope unless we act now, etc.

[mario_sunny]

No but seriously how can you support Beck at all? "We are a country of God."? Well exuse me, what about the 37,000,000 atheists in America? Sometimes I think I'm the only one who truly values the freedom America has to offer.

 

It's just too bad atheists tend to be the quiet minority.

[Giordano]

Glenn Beck is God. They both start with "G"s. Think about it.

[mario_sunny]

Glenn Beck is God. They both start with "G"s. Think about it.

 

OH SHI-

[Synthox]

The fact that 300,000 people are willing to follow that son of a [onion] is really scary. I think i'll move to England, America is dead now. Although Glenn Beck is kinda old. I think i'll wait this one out.

[Flyingjj]

I feel silly for saying it, but a couple years ago, I liked Glenn Beck. Now, he's just plain mad, in more than one way.

[jjrox32]

I love Glenn Beck. Without Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart wouldn't have half his material. Or be able to do hilarious Glenn Beck impressions.

[The Dark Lord]

[bleep] this. I'm moving to Europe <_<

 

This.

 

 

Glenn Beck is God. They both start with "G"s. Think about it.

 

That black lady who gave a speech at their rally said that she was on a "mission from God". She kept referring to that when the reporters were talking to her last night.

 

Therefore, Glenn Beck is God?

[mario_sunny]

I love Glenn Beck. Without Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart wouldn't have half his material. Or be able to do hilarious Glenn Beck impressions.

 

Hmm yes that is true lol. I suppose I do like him a little now ;)