by VorJack
That *slurping* sound you hear is Glenn Beck trying to pry the foot from his mouth. It’s in so deep his teeth are scraping his kneecap. On his Fox radio show last week he said the following:
I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”
The statement that “social justice” is a code word that should cause you to flee through the church door has set off an internet reaction that should be measurable on the Richter scale. Here’s a few choice reactions:
Slacktivist, Anti-justice? Wow.
This is an astonishing claim to anyone who’s ever had a Bible and their eyes open at the same time. Justice is an inescapable, relentless, pervasive, nearly omnipresent theme of that entire volume. It is impossible to read the law and the prophets, the Gospels and epistles, the histories, wisdom literature and apocalypse without being confronted incessantly with the theme of justice, justice, justice, justice, justice, justice, justice.
Rev. James Martin at the Huffington Post, Glenn Beck to Jesus: Drop Dead
Social justice is an essential part of Catholic teaching. It’s part of being a Catholic. So Glenn Beck is, in essence, saying “Leave the Catholic church.”
But Glenn Beck is saying something else: “Leave Christianity.” Again and again in the Gospels, Jesus mentions our responsibility to care for the poor, to work on their behalf, to stand with them. In fact, when asked how his followers would be judged he doesn’t say that it will be based on where you worship, or how you pray, or how often you go to church, or even what political party you believe in. He says something quite different: It depends on how you treat the poor.
The inevitable Jim Wallis reaction, via Huffington Post, Biblical Social Justice and Glenn Beck
Beck says Christians should leave their social justice churches, so I say Christians should leave Glenn Beck. I don’t know if Beck is just strange, just trying to be controversial, or just trying to make money. But in any case, what he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show.
As of my last reading, Beck has not backed away from his statements. In fact, he’s continued on the theme. Mediamatters has the clip from his March 11th show, where he amplifies his claim that “social justice” is a liberal catch-phrase, a “perversion of the Gospel” and not something Jesus would preach. But I think Daniel Shultz at the Religion Dispatches Blog has it right:
Glenn Beck is a highly polarizing figure, not someone who appeals to a vast audience of persuadable moderates. The kind of Christian who watches Beck for the most part does so precisely because he or she is Christian. In other words, when Beck says “run away from churches that preach social justice,” he’s preaching to the choir, not persuading anyone new. His viewers don’t believe in social justice, never have. It’s very odd that a Mormon would have that kind of ideological appeal to the normally very tribal conservative Christian set, but there you have it.
The reason that this statement has set off an earthquake is because Beck has stomped down on a fault-line that runs between conservative and liberal churches. This has been going on for at least a century. I think of it as a matter of “personal charity” vs. “social justice.” Beck emphasizes that charity is done by the person, as an individual expression that betters the individual. Others – usually moderates and liberals – agree with this, but also focus on building institutions and changing social structures to produce a more just society. Beck, and a lot of other conservatives, distrust this kind of collective effort, particularly if it involves the government.
And so it goes. But the reaction from the liberals is not likely to force Beck to recant; in fact, he’s likely to use the reaction to fuel his popularity with the right. I think we can expect to hear Glenn use this to push his point further, “See, conservative Christians? The liberals are trying to convince you that Jesus wants you to be a socialist! If we don’t stop them, every church in America will be required to preach the gospel of environmentally-conscious leftist social programs!”
Well making stuff up is in line with the fine tradition of Joseph Smith, isn’t it?
Seriously, how does a batshit crazy conspiracy theorist with no talent or real message get airtime? Even on Fox Noise? Oh…. Wait…. Fox Noise. Yeah. That’s how.
To Beck, “social justice” means enforcing a socialist agenda through government mandate. Churches that preach social justice will obviously throw their support behind such initiatives. I would like to think that Beck is simpleminded enough to believe this nonsense himself and we could just dismiss him as a babbling idiot. But I think he is smarter and more sinister than that, and this is all another effort to create another hot button issue he can use to work his flock into a frenzy.
I think your remark about “a matter of “personal charity” vs. “social justice.” really gets to the heart of the political divide. I have long suspected that the real reason Christian conservatives oppose tax-payer-funded social programs designed help the needy is that these programs deprive the Christian giver of religious brownie points with Jesus. They think voluntary charitable giving in the name of Jesus will get them into heaven, but paying their taxes won’t. If they are going to help the poor, it had better get them into heaven in return. I think all the Christian talk about free will is part of this. You do personal charity as an act of free will, therefore it counts. Paying your taxes is not much of a choice, therefore it doesn’t count towards getting into heaven, The actual welfare of the poor doesn’t really come into it much, except as a bi-product of the Chritian giver’s ticket to heaven.
This is an interesting way of looking at it. I’ve known a few conservative Christians who dislike taxpayer-funded social programs because they feel it takes away from the rightful place of the church to care for the poor. The majority I’ve known, though, dislike it because government-run social programs give charity to people they consider to be undeserving. Personal charity gives them the opportunity to choose charities that serve the “deserving” poor.
Yes, I think that is also part of it – the whole Victorian notion of the “undeserving poor” and the “deserving poor” – right out of Charles Dickens – is still with us. Many conservatives really boil at the idea of their tax dollars going to undeserving “welfare moms.’ To be able to pick and chose where you send your charitable donations seems to be a big thing. I guess the conservative push to get “faith-based initatives” funded by the government ( instead of funding more general social programs) is also a symptom.
Christians, as opposed to conservatives, might tend to think more about heaven than about the undeserving poor. Or maybe they don’t..
Even those that don’t separate the poor into deserving vs. undeserving would like to make the poor come to churches to receive alms, just enforcing the primacy of churches in their lives.
Excellent point, about the “deserving” vs the “undeserving” poor. Plus, when the government provides programs and money to the poor or disabled, they do not accompany it with a sermon and an alter call (well, maybe Bush’s programs did, I don’t know). Do these churches really believe that they will be able to deal with the systemic inequality and crushing poverty of millions of people, and that’s just in the US? Health care? Homeless shelters and programs to get street people a place to live and back to work? Institutions for people with FASD? With mental illnesses? Obviously not. They will pick and choose, and if a person chooses to love the lord, and are sufficiently humble, they may get a few dollars from the church. Churches love the numbers – they were able to bring xx number of people to the lord that week!!! Praise jesus. But mostly, those people were just hungry and would have said anything to get that meal. It’s really twisted.
The ‘deserving poor’ versus the ‘non-deserving’ poor goes back much further than the Victorian era. It was very common with parish relief in 16th century England. People would be kicked off charity rolls if they were drunkards, didn’t work hard (or didn’t work at all), or had too many children they couldn’t support. At the time, there was no non-church charity relief, so most people didn’t have a choice.
Also a proper program aim is not just to help the poor but try to get them out of poverty by things like job training and access to decent public education and healthcare which will reduce the chance of fundies to feel all smug about donating food so some poor kid can have a hot meal once a week provided he show proper appreciation to his generous benefactors.
Oh – VERY good point! And one that is pretty much lost on those supporting faith-based initiatives, I think.
It’s sad. For so many people, there’s nothing Glenn Beck can do to make himself look like an idiot. He’s just one guy. (Who, I suspect, would paint himself Commie pink if it would win him more fame and fortune. [I said, "I suspect!"]) That multitude of his followers are the ones who worry me.
This is beginning to change within evangelical Christianity, at least to an extent. Look no farther than Rick Warren as an example (and this will be one of the few times I’d recommend him, to be honest :) ).
There may be some truth to this. I grew up in the Assemblies of God. My recollection is of very little that fellowship did in the way of charity. It was like they were actually terrified of doing anything that might smack of “social gospel.” They seem to have become less squeamish about such things over the succeeding years.
It is easy to take pot shots at what might motivate Glenn. He is a troubling figure. More troubling is his stage,Talk Radio and Fox News. Fox being the scariest represents it self as, “Fair and Balanced’. It is well known that Fox News was founded to promote a conservative agenda. As such it is anything but fair and balanced. Their blatant effort to misrepresent them self’s is, an obvious and willful lie, and yet, people who watch, are willing to overlook it. Obviously with such a determined effort to misrepresent who they are, any rational person would have to question everything else they say. Many otherwise rational people don’t question anything they say.
“when asked how his followers would be judged he doesn’t say that it will be based on where you worship, or how you pray, or how often you go to church, or even what political party you believe in. He says something quite different: It depends on how you treat the poor.”
Is this what Jesus said? Because I´m fed up with hearing people tell me I´m going to Hell for not believing, despite the fact that I have generally done good things to help people. There´s no denying that I could do more, but I´ve definitely helped more people than Glenn Beck. If anyone can find a quotation that says that, it will be infinitely useful.
Well, Christians can’t agree on whether you will be saved by your faith or by your deeds or by following the commandments or by being baptised or by a combination of these or by something else entirely. Seeing how our salvation is kind of a big deal, you’d think the Bible would be a little more specific in instructing us how to actually achieve it, but no such luck, apparently.
But as for salvation by deeds, you could take Matt. 16:27: “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
Or pertaining directly to how one treats poor people, see Luke 18:18-22.
It’s in Matthew 25:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Jesus said people who did not worship him would go to hell. There is no social justice in torturing someone forever for the sins of a finite life.
Not that I disagree, but wouldn’t that be more of a matter of personal justice, rather than social justice?
Axial age religions are all about social justice. That’s really the whole point. They’re a reaction to the injustices created by the rise of city states.
Glenn Beck is is a perfect example of the right wing’s love of the short now.
This Beck guy converted to Mormonism as an adult. Why would anyone trust a word he says after doing such a stupid thing as that?
LOL.
maybe though we should be supporting Glenn. Sure, he is a nutcase but anything that encourages people to leave their churches might just lead a few to begin questioning the basic fairy tales that for the dogma of those churches.
that last line should be “that form the dogma of those churches”. My OCD hates mispelling
This stuff makes me shudder. Maybe I’m too much of a worrywart, but I am getting more and more concerned this is all going to come to blows in this country. All the anger, all the resentment, and the folks I see in newscasts cheerfully talking about their weaponry, their very conservative and deep faith that they are God’s soldiers here on Earth, and their willingness to exert force of arms. This is pretty bad news, and I do worry this bodes very ill indeed for the future.
Frankly, I really hope I’m just too much of a worrywart and all this bile won’t amount to much in the end. This is one thing I’d LOVE to be wrong about.
Social conservatives don’t want the government anywhere in their business but if you don’t believe/act like them, they want the government in YOUR business.