Topic category:  Other/General

Recently Bill O’Reilly very pointedly asked Glenn Beck why he avoids the culture war. On the same-sex "marriage" issue Beck, who purports to be a conservative, said that he really doesn’t care what people do as long as it doesn’t affect him. He then quoted Thomas Jefferson who said, “If it neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket, what difference is it to me?”

An odd comment coming from a so-called Christian conservative who held up a Bible on his 8/27/10 TV show and told his audience that Americans must start reading it. I’m in total agreement with Glenn. In fact I’m thrilled that he pointed folks to sacred Scripture. The Americans who take his advice and read the Bible will discover what it says in reference to homosexuality. Here are two examples:

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

“…God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet” (Rom 1:24-27).

God has promised us the strength for victory over sin, including homosexuality, to all those who trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. (1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 4:13)

BILL & BECK

The following exchange has been excerpted from the August 11 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Why don't you do the culture warrior stuff?

GLENN: Because honestly right now, one part of culture that I am doing a lot of is faith. But general faith. We have got to get back to our churches, our synagogues, our mosques, whatever it is, as long as it's not telling you to blow things up, get back to God and get back to the founding principles.

O'REILLY: I don't know that's going to happen. I mean, it's a noble thing you are trying to do because spirituality is a good thing, introspection is a good thing, but let's take the gay marriage deal. You know, big ruling in California. You really didn't cover it that much, right?

GLENN: Nope.

O'REILLY: Why?

GLENN: Because honestly I think we have bigger fish to try. You can argue about abortion or gay marriage or whatever.

O'REILLY: Yeah.

GLENN: All you want.

O'REILLY: Yeah.

GLENN: The country is burning down. I personally

O'REILLY: But isn't that one of the reasons because we're getting away from the traditional way we used to live into this progressively

GLENN: So let's go back to instead of arguing about these divisive things, let's get back into our churches and our synagogues

O'REILLY: You are not going to get people going back unless there's a reason to go back.

GLENN: Here's the reason. America, your country's burning down. I don't think marriage…that the government actually has anything to do with...that is a religious right.

O’REILLY: Do you believe gay marriage is a threat to the country in any way?

GLENN: A threat to the country? No, I don't.

Glenn’s comment that he doesn’t care much about the same-sex “marriage” issue "as long as we're not going down the road of Canada, where it now is a problem for churches to have free speech" stung many of his supporters. What he cares about, he says, is that most churches "can still say, 'Hey, we oppose it, but we're not trying to kill anybody.'"

Of all people Mr. Beck should know that the argument isn’t about marriage; it’s about liberal/progressive’s effort to reshape the culture. The Left’s goal is to make sexual deviancy mainstream.

Glenn, how can you not see the implications that the most radical redefinition of marriage in human history has for First Amendment speech as well as religious liberties?

Radical homosexual activists have come a long way, baby. Suddenly homosexuality is the “third sex.” Maggie Gallagher made this astute observation regarding what we’re now dealing with:

"Two hundred years ago…homosexuality did not exist. There was sodomy, of course, and buggery, and fornication and adultery and other sexual sins, but none of these forbidden acts fundamentally altered the sexual landscape. A man who committed sodomy may have lost his soul, but he did not lose his gender. He did not become a homosexual, a third sex. That was the invention of the nineteenth-century imagination."

HEALTHY CHILDREN

What about what’s best for children, Glenn?

“It’s true that human beings can be weak, selfish, and sinful,” says Dale O’Leary, “and not every married couple will be good parents. But a male/female married couple nonetheless has built into it all the things children need for healthy development: a mother and a father to fulfill parenting roles and to model gender identity; a vowed bond of permanent commitment between two persons with sexual complementarity; and freedom from the stigma and distractions that accompany “experimental” family forms.”

As O’Leary noted, human beings are indeed sinful. That God doesn’t mind fornication/adultery/homosexuality as long as those having sexual relations are in a loving, committed relationship is wishful thinking at best. Sex outside the marriage bed is a sin. Right, Glenn?

GOD ON MARRIAGE

Marriage is ordained by God to be a union between one man and one woman as the foundational building block of a healthy society. In Genesis 2:23-25 we learn that God made Eve from a part of Adam's body. “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

Clearly God made woman for man.

Adam’s wife quite literally was made from his side to be by his side as his constant companion and to bear his children. God told the couple to be fruitful and multiply. Only within the marriage union do two become one spiritually.

Same-gender “marriage” distorts God's design for marriage and goes against the teaching of Scripture. As a professed Bible believer (I’m dubious that he is) Glenn Beck should be sharing the consequences of undermining the institution of marriage with his audience. What does he offer as his excuse for not doing it? He says he has “bigger fish to fry.” Yet his own church sees saving marriage as a big fish – an ENORMOUS fish! So much so that they’ve already fried the fish!

I may disagree with the LDS Church’s theology, but I for one commend Mormons who have been on the front lines of the fight to preserve marriage as between one man and one woman. In fact, the LDS Church released a statement concerning Proposition 8 in California that says, in part:

“On June 20, 2008, the First Presidency of the Church distributed a letter about “Preserving Traditional Marriage and Strengthening Families,” announcing the Church’s participation with the coalition. The letter, which was read in Latter-day Saints’ church services in California, asked that Church members “do all [they] can to support the proposed constitutional amendment.”

The statement continues:

“The Church has a single, undeviating standard of sexual morality: intimate relations are proper only between a husband and a wife united in the bonds of matrimony.” http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage

President John Adams, a man that Beck admires and often quotes, said that, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

I stated in part 1 of this article that I support Glenn in opposing Progressive’s Marxist/socialist agenda for our Nation. But, as a self-professed Mormon, he is not my brother in Christ – at least not yet anyway. If he recently accepted Christ, as some Christians leaders are saying, then why did we not hear him shout “I’M A CHRISTIAN!” from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on 8/28?

HISTORICAL REVISIONISM

I for one cannot sit idly by while Glenn attempts to introduce his audience to the false teaching of Mormon Christianity. My conscience will not allow me to ignore it when he spews his Church’s historical revisionism as if it were a fact. Truth matters. Knowing/teaching accurate, factual history is important because,

“As Christians we have been called to herald the truth not only of God's word, but also the truth of what has actually happened in the past. Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15-16). These fruits are recognizable in the context of history. Instead of disrespecting people with the attitude of, "You can't handle the truth!", we should instead treat people with dignity by allowing [them] to make informed decisions based on the facts. After an introduction to factual history, many Mormons have started an important journey to the truth.” http://mrm.org/history

I also pointed out in part 1 that on 8/19 Glenn talked about the controversial Bat Creek Stone as if the stone is concrete evidence of pre-Columbian Jewish migration from Phoenicia across the Atlantic Ocean. I must digress to clear some things up. Many well-respected archeologists contend that the stone is just a clever forgery. Some of the evidence indicates that the forgery was perpetrated for political reasons. (http://www.telliquah.com/Batcreek.htm) With all the dirt Beck has gathered on the Left that needs telling—and so little time to tell it--why did he feel it was necessary to devote precious air time trying to convincing people that his story on the origin of the stone is settled science? Drum roll please…….because Mormon prophet Joseph Smith wrote about the alleged Jewish migration in the Book of Mormon! That part was conveniently left out.

I sat in front of my TV set listening to his version of history, knowing without a doubt that a lot of people will believe him. In the twinkling of an eye Glenn Beck lost my support and the support of many others as well. Now I’m angry. I’m angry over Glenn’s carefully calculated “bait and switch.” Even though I’m angry with Glenn I do love him. Because I’m deeply concerned over his spiritual condition I’ll continue to hold him up in prayer asking for God’s will to be done.

THE FALL OF CIVILIZATION

Getting back to same-gender “marriage,” Albert Mohler explains why he believes this is a “big fish” for all Americans. He reminds us that,

"Pitirim Sorokin, the founder of sociology at Harvard University, pointed to the regulation of sexuality as the essential first mark of civilization. According to Sorokin, civilization is possible only when marriage is normative and sexual conduct is censured outside of the marital relationship. Furthermore, Sorokin traced the rise and fall of civilizations and concluded that the weakening of marriage was a first sign of civilizational collapse.” http://www.albertmohler.com/2004/01/15/the-case-against-homosexual-marriage/

The question is: Will Americans continue to go about their busy lives while liberals weaken our country? Will we continue sitting in mind-numbed silence in front of the TV set…or trigger overuse damage to the thumb sending thousands of text messages about nothing while social revolutionaries are hard at work redefining our culture? Or will we lay down our clickers and cells, find our collective voices, and shout out “WE’RE TAKING AMERICA BACK!”

If we were to do this progressives will know that We the People mean business.

Sadly, most Americans I know only shout at other drivers or at sports events. Many of us worry that we might offend liberals if we say what’s really on our minds. Conservative’s backbones turn to Jell-O when we get called a name that ends with “phobe.” We retreat when someone calls us a racist. The white flag comes out when liberals accuse us of being bigoted…hateful…mean-spirited…gay-basher…anti-immigrant. Conservatives don’t cotton to being labeled Bushies, right-wing wackos or Nascar rednecks. Even the most stout-hearted Christian recoils when he/she is accused of being a hypocrite...obscurantist…anti-intellectual…unenlightened…fundamentalist…flat-earther.

If this isn’t enough, when liberals really want to get under a conservative’s skin they playing the “tea bagger” card.

Jesus took being called names in stride. And He said what was on His mind, sometimes using sarcasm. This will no doubt surprise some readers, but on occasion our Lord got angry (Mat. 21:12-13; Mark 3:5; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-22):

“When Jesus cleared the temple of the moneychangers and animal-sellers, He showed great emotion and anger (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-22). Jesus’ emotion was described as “zeal” for God’s house (John 2:17). His anger was pure and completely justified because at its root was concern for God’s holiness and worship. Because these were at stake, Jesus took quick and decisive action. Another time Jesus showed anger was in the synagogue of Capernaum. When the Pharisees refused to answer Jesus’ questions, “He looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts” (Mark 3:5) http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-angry.html

Jesus’ anger was justified…out of love…controlled…had nothing to do with hatred or bitterness…He held no grudges. Christ’s response was for one purpose: To accomplish God’s will.

I’ll wind this up by asking Glenn one last question: You say you’re a Mormon. You also say you’re a Christian. But you can’t have it both ways. Flukes on a whale are not flippers. So which is it Glenn, are you a Mormon or a Christian?

Marsha West
Berean Research (Owner, Editor)