Originally published: Saturday, August 28, 2010 2:56 Pacific Time
It is late at night as I write this blog. Unlike most of my writing where I carefully sift through a roller coaster of thoughts as a prelude to constructing an actual article, this is more of a stream of consciousness piece.
Tomorrow, in Washington D.C., history will be made. Glenn Beck has organized a rally for the purpose of inspiration and revival, a return to the roots of our great nation. Al Sharpton, absolutely livid that Beck would dare to gather a crowd on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March On Washington, is holding a protest rally of his own, as if the white, shock jock commentator has a lot of brass to dare pretend he is embracing King’s dream. (Incidentally, Al, that dream was about a colorless society, one where skin color does not matter. Is this the same engine that drives your agenda?) In any event, King’s niece will be speaking at Beck’s event. I just can’t wait to hear how the talking heads parse that one.
Glenn Beck has been called everything from a hate monger, to a racist, to a seditionist. We shouldn’t be surprised. After all, slander plagued the lives of almost every great person in history. We generally do not think about this because hindsight is 20/20. Martin Luther King himself was called a Communist by F.B.I. Chief, J. Edger Hoover. Abraham Lincoln was hated, not only by the South, but by many in the North, including men on his own cabinet who each thought they could do a better job running the country than this “stupid country bumpkin.” When Lincoln was buried, Edwin M. Stanton (Secretary of War who at one time had absolutely detested the President) said aloud, “This was the greatest man who ever lived.”
I am convinced that the majority of Americans in our distant future will talk this same way about Glenn Beck, should Western Civilization survive. Meanwhile, the man is as loved by multitudes as he is hated by even greater multitudes. Still, although critics on the Left have tried to minimize tomorrow’s rally, I believe more people will show up than anyone could possibly have imagined.
Beck talks in plain, every day language. He does not sound like a scholar, at least not in tone or style. He talks like an ordinary, down to earth neighbor next door. And yet his skilled, thorough research, mixed with biting humor, bluntness, and raw honesty, has resonated with thirsty, frustrated citizens like generous waters of education that they wouldn’t be able to find in most of today’s universities even with the use of radar and trained police dogs.
So much for the reason Beck is loved. Why is he also hated? Quite simply, because he speaks the truth. I support that statement by merely pointing to a rather big, undeniable elephant in the room. Nobody who criticizes the man can answer his assertions with actual facts. They instead resort to the trump card of name calling.
When I say he speaks the truth, I am, of course generalizing. He does talk accurately on the most crucial issues that divide and threaten our great nation with extinction. I do not intend, however,to suggest that I agree with every one of Beck’s view points. For example, I believe that if Glenn directed his acute research abilities toward his own Mormon church, he would stop being a Mormon. I mean no disrespect to Latter-Day-Saints when I say this. I am convinced of their sincerity. It is the doctrine itself I find refutable. Having said that, Mormons are fantastic allies in the battle going on for the soul of America. From time to time, today included, I hear of Evangelicals who feel they should not work with a Mormon like Beck. That is such a sad, naive position to take. I will comment more about Beck and his Mormonism in tomorrow’s blog.
But for now, I only wish to ponder the historical significance of August 28, 2010. I wish I could be there. In my own way, I am a voice in this same great debate, even though my sphere of influence is microscopic by comparison. Tomorrow, I will be emceeing a Tea Party in the little city of Ramona, California. But these modest pockets of our land have been gathering and growing from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Sea Board. Before I die, I pray that God will have used me to reach whatever corner He decreed my personal participation. May He add my effort toward curbing the precarious times which lurk in the cobwebbed corridors of an uncertain future. May no sin or stupidity on my part squelch His plans. May the same be true for the rest of my brothers and sisters also called by God.
In the meantime, let us join together and pray for Glenn Beck, a true hero. Never mind what your friends say about him. Most of them have never heard the man for themselves. They are instead repeating something they heard about him. Pray for Beck’s protection. Pray for Beck’s success. Pray also for our country. Someday, American history books will talk about a great figure, one of several brave individuals who marched to the beat of a different drum and in doing so, saved our civilization. Success has a thousand fathers. It will be common in the future to speak of Glenn Beck with reverence. You have a rare opportunity to stand by this risk taker ahead of time, when it is neither popular nor fashionable to do so. Have courage.
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