Let’s Be Real…: God, the Gospel, and Glenn Beck
Here is the link to the article to read for yourself, and read some of the feed back.
www.russellmoore.com/2010/08/29/god-the-gospel-and-glenn-beck/
I want to hear what you guys think about this article!
I don’t necessarily agree with all of this but I thought it was an interesting read.
By Russell D. Moore
A Mormon television star stands in front of the Lincoln…
When I saw the headline, I assumed this would be a repudiation of this new brand of TV-safe Christianity from someone who was on the inside of “real” Christianity.
However, reading that post was like reading a foreign language. I literally got so lost with some of it that, in the end, all I could be sure about was that he doesn’t approve of he-who-shall-not-be-named’s definition of a “return to God.” Honestly, it was like reading gibberish. An example:
There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at heart mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barabbas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah.
Whaaaaaa?
Liberation theology? Mammon worship?? Barabbas fighting off oppressors?? I may be an atheist, but I grew up in this “Christian” nation and I don’t remember Barabbas, action star, I remember Barabbas as a bit player who happened to be in custody at the same time as Jesus (hence the whole “Give us Barabbas” thing). And I thought the whole idea of Christianity was to love God—is that supposed to be “liberation?” I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a “liberation theology” before.
More from the Mormon post:
Leaders will always be tempted to bypass the problem behind the problems: captivity to sin, bondage to the accusations of the demonic powers, the sentence of death. That’s why so many of our Christian superstars smile at crowds of thousands, reassuring them that they don’t like to talk about sin.
Huuuh? So, it’s OK for Beck to “know his market” but it’s not OK for these “Christian superstars” to not drop the guilt on followers? Is Beck’s responsibility to his view any less real than the responsibility of one of these “superstars?”
I know this guy’s blog is there to, quite literally, preach to the choir, but he *might* want to be a bit more inclusive to any new-to/unfamiliar-with-Mormon-Christianity readers that might stumble by (like me). I almost stopped reading the thing twice because it was like reading a comic book where they don’t explain anywhere what the hero’s superpowers are.
There this thing called a “hyper-link” (or “link” for short) that a blogger can use to reference material elsewhere on the “Internet” so one doesn’t have to upset the flow of the writing with overt explanations for the unintiated. Perhaps something like linking to Christian definitions of what the hell he’s talking about would have been a nice thing to include.
Ah well.
On a side note, I’m really quite surprised with this Mormon’s attitude about Der Becken’s “business savvy”:
He’s an entrepreneur, he’s brilliant, and, hats off to him, he knows his market.
Really, so you think it’s “brilliant” to exploit the stupidity of your audience and lie to them about history?
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this sentiment coming from the Dean of the School of Theology theological seminary. Damned Christians spreading falsehoods is part of their job (they really need to face the lack of hard evidence for the existence of God or Jesus). So, that said, it’s not surprising that he’d take the very attitude that I think he’s critical of other “superstars” taking. The whole “I’m going to only talk about what you want to hear.”
Which is part of the big problem. No one wants to face reality, but we all want to be paid attention to. So, we say what we think you’ll want to hear so you’ll keep listening.
For instance: “Yay for his business sense!”
Instead of: “This guy is feeding you crap and telling you it’s chocolate.”
All right, so my moratorium on mentioning Glenn Beck’s name didn’t last long :(
