Glenn Beck Puts on ‘Mask of Christianity’ While Betraying the Teachings of Jesus
Posted by admin on March 19th, 2010
It took Glenn Beck just a few days to respond to all the blow back he received for telling people to “leave their church” if it mentioned social justice, a tenet prominent in many Christian circles. In so doing, he took the only route he felt comfortable approaching in avoiding any of the specific criticisms or even his accusers and relying on a single pseudohistorian to defend him.
Beck opened the segment talking with David Barton because “I’m under attack by the ‘Christian’ community,” complete with air quotes. He explained, “It’s not the ‘Christian community,’ it’s the ‘progressive community’ covering themselves or wearing the mask of Christianity,” again accompanied by his air quotes. In effect, Beck tried to change the topic, doing his best not to reiterate the term “social justice” in the segment to defend his ludicrous ties between it and Nazism and Communism, preferring instead to attack any who would oppose him as progressives.
In refusing to name his opponents, Beck conveniently forgoes explaining away their ministerial roots. Rev. Jim Wallis, for example, specifically called out Beck for a debate on the topic of social justice and its ties to Christianity. Beck chose to ignore the evangelical leader’s challenge rather than face an on-air theological drubbing. Another scathing criticism came from Rev. James Martin, a Catholic priest not easily dissociated from the Christian community considering he very recently wrote another piece called “In Defense of Religion,” notably not “In Defense of Communism/Nazism,” as Beck might like his viewers to believe.
Bringing in Barton hardly bolsters Beck’s legitimacy, either. First off, Barton made Beck look like a fool by quickly saying, “Social justice is a good thing, but the deal is that it’s be handled by churches, synagogues, and individuals, not by government. There’s no problem with social justice, just by who delivers.” Beck assented to this theory, but it directly contradicts his edict for people to “leave their church” if they find it preaching social justice at all. Barton goes on to describe an entirely secular history of social justice, altogether ignoring its Christian roots. Then again, Barton’s particular brand of revisionist history has little credibility in respected circles. Though Time once named him a top evangelical in terms of influence, it did so while also having to mention that “many historians dismiss his thinking.”
Beck added to Barton’s horribly biased presentation by pointing to a quote from Benjamin Franklin, one of three founders he had behind him on the set with the terms “faith,” “hope,” and “charity” beneath them, suggesting that Franklin believed people would best serve the poor “by not making them easy in poverty but by driving them out of it.” In other words, Beck, who says of the quote, “I believe it to be absolutely true in context,” wants to do as little as possible to help the poor. Not only that, to find his support for repudiating churches in preaching social justice, he cited an early American thinker, not a prominent theologian. He also conveniently ignored quotes from Franklin saying of faith that “I wish it were more productive of good Works, than I have generally seen it; I mean real good Works, Works of Kindness, Charity, Mercy, and Publick Spirit.” Franklin seemed more in favor of what would constitute social justice than Beck would like his audience to know.
It turns out that Beck could only offer a half-hearted defense of his warnings against social justice and its ties to Christianity. He refused to take any of his critics head on, pretending any who would oppose him must not be real Christians with the apparent corollary that only he is one. Furthermore, he had to backtrack his ridicule of social justice and its ties to Christianity at the provocation of David Barton, someone lacking respect for his revisionist history. Lastly, he ultimately defended his stance not with a Christian figure, but by cherry-picking a quote from a man considered basically a Deist in his adult life. It seems the person “wearing of the mask of Christianity” to promote his own warped views is Beck himself. Hence, people the world over should ignore the self-absorbed ravings of a man who may as well be developing a cult — and choose to Turn Off FOX.
Please send in tips and success stories to turnofffox@gmail.com, look out for us on Twitter @turnofffox, and join us at BuzzFlash in the Campaign to Turn Off FOX News. And please forward this article to a friend. You can drive the message home by obtaining a Turn Off FOX Bumper Sticker. Just Click Here.
Source: turnofffox.com
Loading ...