I was a fan of Glenn Beck back in my bad old Florida days, back when both Glenn and I spent a lot of time in and around bottles. He was no nonsense, he made sense (most of the time) and he was funny. You don't have to be funny to get my attention, you just have to make sense and talk about something worth discussing. I like watching sports sometimes, but I honestly wonder about the kind of people who can tell you all the stats about a former player from their favorite team who was traded or retired years ago. On the other hand, I'm fascinated by information that pertains to where the country and the world are headed, sometimes to the point that it freaks people out.
To be honest with you, I don't remember what Beck talked about 10 years ago. I don't think it was politics, at least not at the level he's been on since joining Fox News Channel. But I do remember that he was a fairly "normal" talk radio type.
Then something changed. I suspect the biggest part of it was quitting drinking. From what I can guess, he and I probably quit near the same time. For me, I became a follower of Jesus Christ in the summer of 2003 and learned that the Holy Spirit wasn't thirsty. From the night I gave my life to Christ I never drank again. (Not saying you can't have a drink, just saying I can't.) For Glenn, something a little different. I'm not sure if he got married first or became a Mormon first. I'm guessing the former wasn't allowed until the latter happened, but I don't really know that. I'm not that interested.
Before my change, I wasn't really that interested in politics, although 911 got me into talk radio because I wanted to understand why this thing had happened. Rush Limbaugh was about the only one who seemed to make any sense, saying things I'd never heard before, and I soon found my liberal ideas drying up and blowing away. Pretty soon I came to the conclusion that there were two sides here: the left, whose "reasoning" appears to be based on emotion and being against anything a conservative might approve, and the right, whose reasoning appears to be based on logic and reality and so can sometimes come off as a little harsh because, well, reality can be a little harsh.
I was very curious when Glenn Beck appeared on CNN because he sounded conservative and that made him such a horrible fit for CNN. He wisely moved to Fox News, and while he claimed not to take either side, he clearly came off conservative/libertarian, and I really liked what he was doing. Then the religious stuff started creeping in and I began to get uneasy. Mormon stuff began filtering in under the guise of Christianity. (I'm sorry, but if you believe Jesus and Lucifer are brothers, you're not a Christian in the biblical sense.) This misled many. The ecumenical push reached its height with the huge rally he did in Washington DC. Or so I thought.
Yesterday Beck announced another major rally in the works. This one is called "Restoring Courage". Its purpose is to get all the major religions together. Its location... Jerusalem. As in Israel. Get all he major religions together in support of Israel. From The Jerusalem Post: "The aim is simple: to persuade as many people as possible from all faiths that the time has come to show support for Israel and the Jews." A quick look at jpost.com makes it pretty clear that Glenn Beck is seen as a true friend of Israel.
I know this is a little off topic, not being political and all, but it's always bugged me, this biblical idea that at some point the antichrist would make a seven year peace treaty with Israel and break it half way through. I couldn't imagine a people who'd been through so much, who had contributed so many brilliant innovations to society, would be that gullible. But I guess I see it now. If what I'm seeing in the Jerusalem Post is indicative, the nation of Israel appears to have developed a national battered woman syndrome. No need to look too closely, he says he's our friend and that's good enough for us. I'm not being critical; I can't imagine living in their position. But at least now I can understand how they could one day look right past the obvious and enter the ultimate abusive relationship.
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