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Loading...Glenn Beck Condemns Obama’s Christianity, Calls for “Religious Revival”
Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, conservative talk show host Glenn Beck led what turned out to be a largely religious rally, calling on the assembled crowds to bring America back to God. The event took place on the forty-seventh anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legendary “I Have A Dream” speech, leading to sharp criticisms of Beck for dishonoring Dr. King’s memory, and the memory of that day. And indeed, as many have already pointed out, the racial dynamics of Beck’s mostly-white rally and the much smaller but heavily African-American protest rally, led by Al Sharpton, seemed to provide a potent illustration of how far the country has yet to come.
Religion has slipped its way into recent media discourses, mostly because of the Park51 Center controversy and the revelation that disturbing number of Americans believe Barack Obama to be a Muslim. But many of these discourses have centered on the othering of American Muslims, which is why I was surprised to see a new twist in Beck’s discussion of Obama’s religion. Beck’s new line is that while Obama may not be a Muslim, he is certainly a bad Christian. Specifically, Beck charged that Obama adhered to “liberation theology,” a Catholic movement aligned with Marxism that originated in Latin America in the 1950′s and ’60s.
This morning, debriefing the rally on Fox News, Beck half-heartedly retracted an accusation of racism hurled at Obama last summer, saying that he had a “big fat mouth sometimes” (he may tie Dr. Laura for best non-apology of the year), but added that he made the comment because he “didn’t understand Obama’s theology.”
Obama, Beck said, subscribed to liberation theology, which he described as centered on “oppressor and victim.” This is not, Beck claimed, a theology which many Christians follow, because it is, in his words, the “direct opposite of what the gospel is talking about. It’s Marxism disguised as religion.” Beck took this complex theological discussion a little further, saying that while Obama believed that “your salvation is directly tied to collective salvation,” while Beck (and all good Christians) believed that “Jesus came for personal salvation.” Beck said “people aren’t recognizing [Obama's] version of Christianity.”
Liberation theology is not a new subject for Beck, who devoted an entire episode last July to attacking the idea that Jesus was a victim. “Social justice,” Beck said, “isn’t in the Bible…Jesus was a conqueror. Jesus conquered death.”
Beck’s deep misunderstanding of both liberation theology and much of Christianity itself are obvious in these remarks, and illustrate the extent to which Beck is willing to harness religious rhetoric for political aims. I don’t know whether Obama subscribes to liberation theology, but if he does, it’s in theory rather than in practice, because the movement itself has very little political influence today. His beliefs correspond to a basic tenet of Christianity: the obligation of the Christian to care for others. This is repeated throughout the New Testament, from Matthew 25:40 (“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me [Christ]“) to Paul’s epistle to the Romans, where he writes, “We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” This doesn’t seem to jive with Beck’s assertion that because Christians believe that they are saved through God’s grace, this translates into an exclusively personal vision of salvation.
In an interview on Religious Dispatches, Union Theological Seminary president Serene Jones addressed Glenn Beck’s bizarre formation of grace, saying,
“Just as grace reminds us as individuals that there is nothing we can do to earn the love of God—that it is simply poured out upon us—so too it reminds us that at a political level, the minute we start constructing political structures that we think are unambiguously right, we are making our own politics into God. Nobody does that more than Glenn Beck.”
Obama’s interpretation of Christianity is not radical – and it is in fact Glenn Beck who is deeply out of sync with fundamental Christian ideals. When asked, on Fox News, how he would respond to critics of his wealth, Beck responded “the money doesn’t matter.” It’s hard to believe that Beck hasn’t read the gospel of Matthew, where Christ says to a young man, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor” (Matt. 19:21), but from his comments, it seems that he’s never bothered to read or wrestle with the scriptures that he seems so eager for Americans to embrace.
Perhaps it would be best for Beck simply to listen to Martin Luther King, Jr., who wrote, “Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.” Is Beck’s God the one that we want America to turn toward? And is Beck’s Christianity one that Christ would recognize?
Read more: barack obama, christian scriptures, christianity, glenn beck, glenn beck rally, james cone, liberation theology, politics, religion, restoring honor rally, social gospel
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
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Lovely!
so sweet bless x
Normalising prison? I know America has one of the most corrupt legal systems in the world...with crap…
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409 comments
+ add your ownGo to Glenn Beck's web site and read what he says or listen to him. Here's a video on "collective black liberation theology" and how people have to be forced to obey what Obama's group is the correct way to live your life. This isn't about Christianity. It's about a political movement trying to disguise itself as a religious movement. Our founders were right in separating church and state. Now Obama and his followers are trying to link them together.
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/43013/
Why not go and listen to this video on what Glenn Beck actually said about collective black liberation theology and how the American people must be forced to accept legislation like the stimulus bills and healthcare bill and other regulations because "they know what is right and will save you" according to their black liberation beliefs as outlined in inflammatory sermons by Jeremiah Wright. This is not live and let live as Americans have gotten used to. It is do as you are told, or suffer the consequences. There are no individual rights. You are a member of a collective, and everyone must march to the tune of the black collective liberation theology piper -- Obama, agent of change, agent of Marxism.
Think for your and investigate. Don't believe what someone writes or tells you without verifying it yourself.
No Mormon woman has to wear a Berke, or head covering, is denied education, or is not allowed to drive, hold a job, be accompanied by a male relative when leaving the house, is not allowed a divorce, or stoned for being raped. In addition, as for "mistreatment of women, lust, and male-chauvinistic sexism"(Aaron Baker) these thing exist everywhere not just in religious groups.
I would like to add that there is a great deal of fear in how people think and what they choose to believe. How can one be Christian and not believe in social programs. Jesus was all about caring for the poor. Jesus' followers at one point had there possessions in common.The New Testament records that early Christians were called upon to set their hearts first on the kingdom of God and to have "all things in common" (Acts 2, 4, 5). Some of the best countries in the world have free medical and education, social housing, adequate unemployment insurance and minimum wage, proper maternity leave and child care programs. I don't see why any one would fear that.
Also, I don't think very many people have read Carl Marx. Lots of people make reference to him but few have read what he wrote about. On this subject I think that people should do the research and not listen to fear and hate mongers.
Yes there are some similarities between Muslims and Mormons. Both are very patriarchal, however our whole society is also patriarchal, very few societies are truly ever equal in all aspects. Here is an extract from Wikipedia on Muslim law 'While men and women have different roles within Islam, the Koran makes it clear that they are equal.[3][4][5]'
Culture plays a huge role in how religious law is practiced and on that score I think it would be better to live in North America and be a Mormon because the Muslim culture does not observe their own Islamic law. No Mormon woman has to wea
I would like to add that there is a great deal of fear in how people think and what they choose to believe. How can one be Christian and not believe in social programs. Jesus was all about caring for the poor. Jesus' followers at one point had there possessions in common.The New Testament records that early Christians were called upon to set their hearts first on the kingdom of God and to have "all things in common" (Acts 2, 4, 5). Some of the best countries in the world have free medical and education, social housing, adequate unemployment insurance and minimum wage, proper maternity leave and child care programs. I don't see why any one would fear that.
Also, I don't think very many people have read Carl Marx. Lots of people make reference to him but few have read what he wrote about. On this subject I think that people should do the research and not listen to fear and hate mongers.
Yes there are some similarities between Muslims and Mormons. Both are very patriarchal, however our whole society is also patriarchal, very few societies are truly ever equal in all aspects. Here is an extract from Wikipedia on Muslim law 'While men and women have different roles within Islam, the Koran makes it clear that they are equal.[3][4][5]'
Culture plays a huge role in how religious law is practiced and on that score I think it would be better to live in North America and be a Mormon because the Muslim culture does not observe their own Islamic law. No Mormon woman has to wea
Beck is a sensationalist who profits by his radical statements. This is why he contradicts himself, to get peoples attention so that he can stir them up for his own profit. If no one listened to him then he would not be able to do this. He does not have a specific knowledge of anything or a real rational instead he hopes from one idea to the next so that he will shock people into believing outrageous things. He is a propaganda machine and opportunist trying to make off of his lies and hysteria. Anyone with any kind of education or intelligence will recognize this at once.
From what I understand, Beck is a Mormon. I think that a lot of people do not realize how much of the Mormons " religion" is like the Muslims "religion". Look at their treatment of women here on earth and look at what their "heavenly reward" is. It all boils down to the mistreatment of women, lust, and male-chauvinistic sexism. The ONE TRUE GOD is not like that, nor does HE condone it.
In other words. Beck doesn't understand true Christianity, unfortunately neither do a lot of other so-called "Christians", because they don't read and study the BIBLE like they should and they lack the "infilling" of the HOLY SPIRIT.
As far as the MLK;Jr. ordeal, it is a better thing to try to "get America back to GOD" then to "glorify" a man.
It is astonishing to me that there are people that believe a man simply based on emotional biase without ever weighing the factual evidence in the balance. This article does an excellent and well balanced job of offering what is actually said in the bible juxtaposed against the rantings of an overreacitve and badly informed man. Thank you.
Thank you very much for sharing this interesting article x
I cannot see how Obama's faith matters. He is not bringing it to politics, is he?
The US Supreme Court , in a ruling some years ago, stated "At the heart of liberty is the right to define ones own concept of existence , of the meaning of the universe and of the mystery of human life." This statement of wisdom sums up the diversity of belief systems and constitutional freedom in America.
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