Some Evangelicals on Defensive over partnering with Glenn Beck

CNN Belief Blog ^ | Aug. 27, 2010 | Dan Gilgoff

[Jess Kitting]

A handful of prominent evangelical activists are defending their decision to attend television host Glenn Beck's conservative rally in Washington this weekend after some Christians complained that evangelicals shouldn't be partnering with Beck because of his Mormon faith.

"There is no need to 'de-Christianize' each other over the matter," wrote Jim Garlow, an influential California pastor, in a five-page memo this week arguing that evangelicals can attend Beck's rally and partner with the television and radio personality in good conscience.

"Glenn Beck is being used by God - mightily," Garlow wrote in the memo, which was obtained by CNN. "The left loves to slam him and do so viscerally and often with vulgarities. Glenn is not perfect... But his expose on America's sins is stellar."

[TheGunny]

I care! The difference is worshiping Jesus of Nazereth or Jesus of Chula Vista!

[TexasFreeper2009]

In my opinion your denomination is meaningless.

All that matters is that you have accepted Christ at your lord and savior. All the rest is debatable.

I know all the moron haters will come in now and start telling me 10000000000 stupid things morons believe, save your breath I already know most of the dumb things they believe, and none of it matters.

The Catholics think the protestants are going to hell and vice versa, and both thing the Mormons are, and none of them will have any say on the matter for Jesus will be the one who decides.

[TexasFreeper2009]

sorry about the typo’s I wish we could edit our comments.

[dusttoyou]

correct theological beliefs aren’t important. Far, far from it.

Correct by whom?

Look, I do beleive in God, but don’t consider myself either Christian or Mormon, my wife says I am more a Diaist (whatever that is), somewhat like some of the Founding Fathers. I try to be honest and live by the Christian Golden Rule.

My strongest beleif is that ANY religion that runs down anyone else’s religion (save maybe muslims) is delusional in claiming “their God” told them so and certainly is not a Christian in the purer Golden Rule sense.

Your prev posts sound reasonable and sincere, but don’t come on with this “theological” rightousness baloney. You nor anyone else has any inside track.

[LukeSW]

Although I don’t agree with Glenn’s Mormon teachings, I do believe his heart is in the right place, and we should keep him in our prayers, that the Lord will open his eyes to the erroneous teachings he has learned. However, he seems more tolerant of others, than they do of him. I’ve met some wonderful Mormon people. However, I do believe they are wrong in their beliefs. All we can do is love them, pray for them, and trust the Lord to open their eyes to the true gospel. Glenn isn’t gathering people to follow him, (I don’t think) but, wants this nation to turn back to God in prayer and repentance. Can God use a Mormon to accomplish this feat? He once used a jackass, didn’t he?

As an active, and somewhat intelligent and highly embedded*, member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I really appreciate the respect you show in this post. And we, who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ, truly appreciate your prayers and welcome the brotherhood of faith and good will.

If you wil will indulge me, let me clarify a couple of typical misconceptions that are floating recklessly through this thread.

1. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ generally understand the doctrine of The Church pretty quickly. It is logical and the Spirit of the Lord testifies of its truth. The wild assertions made about the Church on this thread are silly. For example, I now look a lot like my father. I have his eyes. I am about his height. I have been married now for long enough to understand his challenges in raising me. I have lived in more places than he did. That being the case, why is it so weird to think my eternal potential is to become like my Father in Heaven?

2. The answer to that rhetorical question is that the traditional Christian religion is rooted in the Nicean Creed, the work of a wicked emperor, who was driven by his belief in the Pagan philosophy of Aristotle and Plato, that all things physical are evil and imperfect. Therefore, it logically follows and most Christians believe, that God doesn't have a body and how Christ came to be is a mystery. And mankind will be forever separated from Diety. To me those ideas are unfortunate, because they slant the way most Christians interpret scripture.

3. Instead, members of The Church of Jesus Christ believe as Peter, when he testified about Christ: "thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." Matt 16:16. Those simple words imply much that traditional Christians find highly offensive. For example, what is the paternal source of Christ's DNA? If our Father in Heaven is an amorphous spirit, everywhere present but nowhere tangible, such questions are inflammatory. I understand. But believing that God truly is a living being, with DNA, and a glorious, physical, eternal body, composed both of spirit and matter, etc. only lines up our belief structure with the testimony of Peter.

4. While Glenn Beck understands these issues very well, he also believes that faith in Christ and living righteously is highly important for the future of the United States of America. In fact, members of The Church of Jesus Christ believe that Our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ inspired the writers of the Constitution and were deeply involved in bringing about the founding of the United States.

5. Moreover, as many realize members of The Church of Jesus Christ believe both the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God. One key message of the Book of Mormon is that the Promised Land described in the book is that great nation established by the hand of God. Indeed, the content of the Book makes it clear that the Promised Land mentioned prominently in the Book is the United States. Moreover, there are numerous promises and warnings in the Book for the United States. Promises that if the people will serve God and Christ, the land would be blessed above all other nations. And warnings that if the people turn from Christ to wickedness, their nation, the US, will be swept off.

6. Glenn Beck understands all of the above. That is why he is reaching out to Americans of all faiths and proclaiming the importance of returning to God, to faith, to honor, to hope and to charity. Yes, it is religious. Yes it is universal. And yes, it is a message for all Christians and creeds. And yes, Beck is highly motivated because of his accurate understanding of the message of the Book of Mormon.

7. One other little clarification. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ believe that we are saved by the grace of Christ...after all we can do. In essence, we believe in a partnership where we grow in Christ, grace upon grace. The critique that we believe we are saved by works and not by the grace of Christ is, like many of the other attacks, silly and simply not true.

8. Last of all, in my considered judgment, Beck comprehends the full significance of The Church of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon's message far more than do Mitt Romney and Harry Reid, who are also members. Reid has done more to destroy the essence of this country than almost anyone else I know. And Mitt doesn't seem to get the connection between righteousness, integrity and virtue, and the strength of the United States. If he did, he wouldn't have waffled so much through the years on his public policies.

8. But...all of us are learning and growing, experiencing the challenges of life. Just as you showed a willingness to pray for Mormons, Beck is reaching out to people of all faiths. And as much as I disdain Reid's politics and Romney's shifting policies, I can pray that they will be touched by the Spirit. But I don't have to support them politically. However, I do strongly support Beck's message and pray that it will continue to touch the hearts of millions of Americans. If it does, we, the United States of America, might just make it through and become again the shining light to the world that this nation was established to become. * I am a returned missionary, I have been a Bishop, and I love going to the Temple. I have also been an Air Force fighter pilot, have a law degree from Harvard, and a PhD. But the most important accomplishments (and challenges) in my life have been trying to be a good father to my 4 children and 1 adopted son, and a good husband to my wife.

[VeniVidiVici]

Who the hell cares if Christians and Mormons believe the same exact way. What is important is that both believe in faith, hope and charity and some few of either actually live by the Golden Rule. Even under the worst of them, either will do better for America than will the atheist liberals or the terrible muslims.

LOL! Obviously you've never spent any time on the threads in the Religion forum. There are plenty donkeys here in FR whose only mission in life is to denigrate Mormons at all costs. Mormons are evil. Mormons are the devil incarnate, according to them. They don't really give a damn that these are fellow conservatives they are trying to destroy. Every day it's like this. Go watch. And if you really want some fun, rattle their cage while you're there and then wait for the monkey poo to hit you upside the head.

[VeniVidiVici]

5...4...3...2...1...................

[Nosterrex]

It is necessary to separate Glenn's political views from his religious faith. I can agree with someone’s political views without having to agree with his theology. If the Devil advocated conservative political positions, I would vote for him over a Christian that advocated Marxism. If you want to talk theology, that is a whole different matter. As a Christian, there is no way in Hades that Beck is "saved." Every Christian would have to renounce 2000 years of Christian teaching to pronounce Beck "saved." This proves that these megachurch pastors are false prophets.

[livius]

Interesting. I had heard that he had been brought up as an Evangelical and his wife was a Mormon who he met when he was recovering from alcoholism.

In any case, I agree with him politically on many (but not all) things, but I certainly think it’s odd that he should be holding himself out as a spokesman for Christianity, because Mormons have very peculiar beliefs that are not Christian in the way that most Christians would understand them. In fact Mormonism is closer to Islam than anything else, since it has its own “Prophet,” does not accept Jesus as the Son of God and Redeemer, and is fundamentally theocratic with things like polygamy being part and parcel of it.

This is true even though the Mormon church as a whole was forced to reject those practices in the 19th century in order to retain their territory in the US. It is also one of the reasons for the survival of these bizarre Mormon groups that live on welfare, practice child marriage and hunt down anybody who attempts to leave because, like it or not, they do express the original pure Mormonism.

This is completely aside from the fact that Mormonism was founded by a man who spent much of his life looking for treasure through a “magic crystal” in the bottom of his hat, and ignoring the strange Mormon creation theory where they believe the American Indians were members of the Ten Lost Tribes - who arrived here in “cork submarines.” So if people thing Glenn Beck is a Christian leader, I think they should look elsewhere (unless he has reconverted to Christianity).

I’ve always thought the reason that there were so many computer geeks who came out of a Mormon background was that the beliefs of their “church” were so strange that they sought sanity in numbers and code.

Politics is a different matter, and I agree with him in many areas. And that’s what we have to stick to.

[elpadre]

"..How could he constantly talk about his Mormanism ..." He constantly talks about Christ and Him crucified, not about Mormonism - listen to him and not his adversaries.

[elpadre]

“.and Glenn Beck represents/supports/advertises Mormonism by means of his programs....”

That simply is not true. Lisen to his words!!

..

[P8riot]

I think that it is really telling that Glenn Beck, a Mormon, is taking heat for exposing the sins of America and calling us back to God, by the same "Evangelical" elites that have abdicated their responsibility to do just that.

I think they might be afraid that he is pulling their fleeced flocks away from the heretical "prosperity gospel" and "self help theology" they have been peddling to the spiritually ignorant for decades, disguising them as Christianity.

[MozarkDawg]

The constant refrain throughout these threads is making me crazy -- as Glenn himself has reminded us often what Samuel Adams said when everyone was so certain his religion was the superior:

"I'm no bigot, I'll pray with anyone."

[what's up]

You are correct in saying that I don't have an inside track.

But there is a revealed truth which is widely regarded as the inside track and has been for milleniums...and that is the Bible.

The Bible is "God-breathed" as Paul himself puts it; that is...men inspired by God's Spirit Himself set down the truth in words to communicate with us.

Now, it is up to an individual to believe that these words are authoritative; if he/she does not there are consequences. Mormons, Muslims (not equal politically but I must use them together in this example) add stuff to the Bible to dilute it's truths. Joseph Smith and Mohammed claimed to be unique prophets of god. Well, they were not...and the reason you can tell they are not is that what they said CONFLICTS with the Bible.

True, interpreting the Bible is a growing exercise. But if someone is speaking things contrary to clear Bible teaching you must reject it. In this case (Mormonism) what they believe about Christ directly conflicts what the Bible teaches and lowers Christ's status. That is no good because we must believe in Christ's unique, divine nature in order to enter Heaven. This is important stuff.

[Catsrus]

Thank you for your kind words.

[swheats]

If these ministers are still defending themselves they have not learned yet how we ended up in this present darkness. David Barton need to school them on why the church has been impotent til now.

[Sir_Ed]

You believe that someday you, too, will become a god like Jehovah and people will pray to you, and you will answer them, as we now pray to Jehovah and He answers us?

You believe that Jehovah was once a human man, like yourself, who then became the god that we now pray to?

If you answer these questions in the affirmative it should show you just how far off your “Jesus” and “god” are from the way we Christians view Him.

Ed

[dusttoyou]

No doubt!
One of the last things I would look forward to is going to religious forum just for the reasons you give.

Having grown up in Southern Baptish and Presbyterian churches, I saw that there were some very good people and maybe more that used religion as a disguise and led far from Christian lives, even though they thumped the Bible like crazy.

I have had many opportunities to be in Utah and around many Mormons and to some degree they are not unlike the above Christians, except there seems to be more devout ones with less pretence.

Don’t favor one nor the other and see those “Christians” that defame Mormons as not really Christian at heart. Don’t know of ever hearing any Mormon running down any Christian, its always the other way around. Sort of like Northern Ireland, isn’t it! Too bad as we have real enemies in common.

[dusttoyou]

Barbara Striesand!

[Spunky]

In Glenn Becks’ book called “An Inconvenient Book” he talks about meeting Tania and how he knew that they would be together forever. He says there was just on problem: She didn’t. “See, Tania is smart, way smarter than me. She understood that unless we shared a common faith, unless we had something deep, meaningful, and spiritual to help guide and bind us, we’d never make it.” At the time he says all he wanted was sex with her so he says he would have agreed to almost anything. Then he says: “But an amazing thing happened as Tania and I went from church to church, “shopping” for a faith: I actually started to enjoy it.” “The more we looked, the more sense her plan made, and now, years later, our commitment to God has strengthened our commitment to each other.”