Glenn Beck Urges Listeners to Leave Churches That Preach Social Justice

I personally choose my church in large part because of it's message of "love thy neighbor as thyself" and belief in social responsibility.

Jesus, if anyone wants to remember, gave up all earthly possessions and spent his short career as an itinerant preacher. He sent his disciples before him into the cities, telling them to take nothing with them, but to accept what they were offered. That should give us all a clue as to how important material wealth was to them.

Jesus also said it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

He told a man who wanted to be one of his disciples to sell all he had and distribute his wealth to the poor, and then to follow him. The man was too rich, and couldn't do it.

Before him, the Old Testament was full of commands to heed the cries of the poor. There is the story of Lazarus, the beggar, who is given the kingdom of heaven above a rich man who would not help him.

The early Calvinists, many of whom settled in the U.S. in its early days, believed in predestination. Those who were predestined to be saved were believed to achieve wealth in their days on earth, and that wealth was one of the signs of God's favor.

It was Calvinist preachers who taught southern slaves that their plight was ordained by God.

Most Protestant churches that have devolved from Calvinism no longer emphasize predestination, and rightly so.

The "Gospel of wealth" is still popular among those with money and power that don't want to share either. Not surprising, as the teaching supports their lack of social responsibility.

My take on it is that Jesus said "do unto others as ye would have them do unto you," and that was pretty unconditional. It seems perfectly clear to me.

Maybe Glen Beck is a remnant of early Calvinism, but I think it's probably giving him too much credit to assume he has any real theological underpinnings at all.

Next Christmas Beck will probably be visited by three ghosts.







[edit on 8-3-2010 by Sestias]

reply to post by Sestias

If I could give you more stars I would. That was excellent. That is the Christianity that I grew up with.

Originally posted by undo
WARNING: Glenn Beck is a mormon. Mormons have some serious info about the inner workings of strongholds on the planet. They aren't just a religion. They are a masonic-based religion with powerful ties all over the planet. If I were you, as time advances, I'd listen very carefully to what he's saying and weigh it in your heart, pray about it, and don't rush to any politically charged decisions either way. Something's afoot and if anyone knows about it, you can bet the esoteric, powerful orgs, like mormonism, will. Their interpretation on what you should do about it, is, of course, based on their world view and their understanding of Godly government. But its the bits of information inbetween you should pay close attention to.

What other explanation could there be?

reply to post by Lilitu


your signature quote (second one) is interesting. i've been dead once already, and other than going slowly insane from infection in my brain at the time, i found the actual death part not nearly as bad as the insanity that lead up to it.

in fact, i was so delirious before my body shut down, i don't remember it at all. it took that infection 3 months to put me out of commission. but going slowly bonkers, now there's something i wouldn't wish on my worst enemy or anyone for that matter. perhaps you could add a proviso, like: (with the exception of religious wackos, who probably don't even know they're dying). although, that would prejudice the part about religious people being wacko across the board.

that, my friend, is the only answer you're going to get from me. how's that for paranoid?

reply to post by Sestias


unfortunately, you're forgetting the part where WE give to others, of our OWN free will. not WE give to others till we no longer have the ability to help them or ourselves. seems to me, first priority is your own household because it'd be rather hypocritical to say you loved everyone and let your own kids starve to death so you could give henry 10 bucks to buy some beer.

Originally posted by Sestias
I personally choose my church in large part because of it's message of "love thy neighbor as thyself" and belief in social responsibility.
[edit on 8-3-2010 by Sestias]

Then sell your shoes...there's somebody right now who is starving, and you could buy them some french fries.

Be Mother Theresa, be Saint Francis, or quit blowing bubbles...but then again, I don't know you, maybe you are feeding everybody and not running up your IRA...so keep it up then...

[edit on 9-3-2010 by nine-eyed-eel]

Glenn Beck needs to run as fast as he can from the Mormon Church then!

"I wonder how much we offend Satan if the proclamation of our faith is limited only to the great humanitarian work this church does throughout the world, marvelous as these activities are. When we preach the gospel of social justice, no doubt the devil is not troubled. But I believe the devil is terribly offended when we boldly declare by personal testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he saw the Father and the Son; when we preach that the Book of Mormon is another witness for Christ; when we declare that there has been a restoration of the fulness of the gospel in its simplicity and power in order to fulfill the great plan of happiness."

Article Source

"It is unfortunate that it is taking so long to bring full economic justice to women. The feminization of poverty is both real and tragic. That is why you should work very hard to prepare for your future by gaining some marketable skills."

Article Source

"The intent of the law of consecration was that every man is to be “equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs.” (D&C 51:3) Under it, every man, including the poor, was to receive a “ ‘portion’ … such as would make him equal to others according to his circumstances, his family, his wants and needs."

Article Source

" The law of consecration and stewardship is the highest manifestation of gospel living. Many view this law as only a temporal economic program, but it is a spiritual command as well (see D&C 29:35 ). The personal requirements for celestial living are also the foundation for the successful practice of this holy and ancient order of gospel life. It is the basis upon which Zion, the New Jerusalem, is to be built and the preparations completed for the glorious Messianic reign (see Enrichment B ).

President George Q. Cannon taught: “The time must come when we must obey that which has been revealed to us as the Order of Enoch, when there shall be no rich and no poor among the Latter-day Saints; when wealth will not be a temptation; when every man will love his neighbor as he does himself; when every man and woman will labor for the good of all as much as for self. That day must come, and we may as well prepare our hearts for it, brethren, for as wealth increases I see more and more a necessity for the institution of such an order. As wealth increases, luxury and extravagance have more power over us. The necessity for such an order is very great, and God, undoubtedly, in his own time and way, will inspire his servant [the prophet] to introduce it among the people.” (In Journal of Discourses, 15:207.) "

Article Source

[edit on 9-3-2010 by DJM8507]

The way I look at Organized Religion:

It's a means of control over the masses, just like politics & the natural tendency of governments that turn tyrannical. I have no beefs with religion in general, just those that organize themselves into the "big time."

Personally, I see the practice of any religion is the personal relationship an individual makes with the "Maker," whoever or however the person perceives that Maker to be. When a religious organization seeks to cram it's own opinions of the Maker down the throats of the followers is the point where religion goes bad. When "public figures" also seek to cram their views down everyone's throats, it's equally bad. Leading on people like sheep...INDEED!

Besides all of that, society is what people make of it...When a few "self-appointed leaders" try to shape public opinion it's literally nothing less than a monkey-wrench thrown into society & social evolution. People who try to "lead" society onto their own "path" do nothing less than retard the advancement of social evolution, because they don't think people have the ability to think for themselves.

The way I see it, to describe it in a nutshell, is that if you can't find God in your own heart, you sure as hell won't find Him in a Church...And once you have found Him in your heart, you don't need a Church.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by MidnightDStroyer]

More signs of the end of the age: A mormon urging church members to read the Bible?!?!? Perhaps he skipped the part in Galatians where Paul warned the church if any man or even an "angel" presents a gospel other than the one they presented, let them be accursed. I think Joseph Smith missed that part too, but thats another debate. Regardless of him being a mormon, I do agree, church members do need to actually read their Bibles and trust in them and not the liberal educated pastor (if that is the case)

The church has lost its way over the years. Feeding the poor and helping others out is "nice" but what good is it to die and wake up in hell with clothes and a full stomach? Preaching the gospel is priority #1, letting people know that there is an eternity of hell to pay for breaking God's commands, and that Jesus took their due punnishment is what it's all about. Most are going to hate this but, it doesn't concern me. In fact it didn't concern the 1st century church either, and they were put to death because the world hated them so much for that message.

Originally posted by TheOneElectric
Yeah...that one thread I made may have been called a hoax because of where it came from, but if isn't damn accurate then I do not know what is.

The best hoaxes edge close on reality.

I quite liked "that thread" actually...perhaps one of my favorites on ATS...some far fetched concepts, some not soo far fetched.

Originally posted by kingofmd
More signs of the end of the age: A mormon urging church members to read the Bible?!?!? Perhaps he skipped the part in Galatians where Paul warned the church if any man or even an "angel" presents a gospel other than the one they presented, let them be accursed. I think Joseph Smith missed that part too, but thats another debate. Regardless of him being a mormon, I do agree, church members do need to actually read their Bibles and trust in them and not the liberal educated pastor (if that is the case)

The church has lost its way over the years. Feeding the poor and helping others out is "nice" but what good is it to die and wake up in hell with clothes and a full stomach? Preaching the gospel is priority #1, letting people know that there is an eternity of hell to pay for breaking God's commands, and that Jesus took their due punnishment is what it's all about. Most are going to hate this but, it doesn't concern me. In fact it didn't concern the 1st century church either, and they were put to death because the world hated them so much for that message.

I dont really disagree with your opinion, the only thing I have any problem with is somebody defining social justice to benefit their flock, at the expense of some other, less important flock. Prosletize all you want for your faith, but dont dont dont ever use the govt to extort funds under some pseudo religious excersize because you cant represent your faith to others well enough to convince them tho join you volentarily. Religion is what you believe and how you yourself live it. When you by force or coersion inflict your personal beliefs on others with their own perhaps differing priorities, that makes you political and punitive, and no longer religious. It's fine to hope that all believe as you do, but charity should begin, and stay within your home, because charity goes hand in hand with forgiveness, and govt's dont uniformly apply forgiveness and better than they provide charity. God may be just, but there are NO just govt's and to expect it to ever become so is always a fools hope. There has never been a persitantly benign and fair govt that exerted total control over the lives of its subjects.

Hello,
Many of you make some great points and are clearly educated on the word of God but I believe there is one thing you all greatly miss. It is a godly and righteous act to give to the poor and take care of those who have less. It is right to help the disabled and those who can not take care of themselves. The question is not if these things should be done but rather who should be doing them.
God gave the responsibility of showing His love and mercy to the very people who He Himself showed that love and mercy; He gave that mission to the Church.
People who attempt to establish social justice without the right intentions and motivation for it use their perceived righteousness as a cloak. Speaking good things and creating a good image while internally seething with bad intentions is the spirit of Antichrist. They are wolves in sheep's clothing.

Man-made government is an establishment of Satan that was never given the task of bringing about social justice. Man-made religion is an establishment of Satan that was never given the task of bringing about social justice.
Who was given the task of bringing about social justice? Gods Church. The Church of Jesus Christ who is supposed to be a people who have separated themselves from the world and all its foolish "knowledge". People who have been born again by being baptized in the Holy Spirit and who truly walk after Christ.
It is possible for good godly people to find themselves in governmental roles... but has anyone ever asked Obama when he received the Holy Spirit? He says he is a Christian but then he turns around and clearly supports abortion... appearing as a lamb and speaking as a dragon maybe?

Does any of this make sense? I pray that it does.

God bless.

Well, this is the sort of thing that you get when you try to mingle politics with religion or vice versa. It's never a good idea. NEVER!!

Beck has been persuaded to become more and more extreme in his ideology. Whatever ideology that is. Honestly, I don't think he knows. He changes his mind more times than a metrosexual takes showers in a day.

Beck has a habit of sensationalizing things. I seriously doubt that the man has a clue about the foundations of religion and he certainly knows nothing about a personalized form of spirituality. The man should just keep his tongue between his teeth, really.

If the man wants to really get all religioso on us, he should read Psalms 104. Does it not tell one to give a coat away if they have one to give? Yes, it does. That's what gets me about people who practice organized religion, they do not even know their religion well enough to know it's own tenents. It's amazing to me.

Anyway, all that aside, the fact remains that one should never mix their politics with their spiritual beliefs or vice versa. It's that simple. Look at the world around you. Take a good, long, hard look at the world around you.

What do you see? You see far too many people voicing their opinions and causing a bunch of problems, but, they have only opinions, no solutions. This is the category that Beck falls into.

Religious extremism is out of control. Ideological extremism is out of control. There has to be a stopping point. The question is, who is going to be the one to say, "Enough." Who is going to be man enough to make the hard decisions to do what he has to do to stop it? I haven't seen him come to the forefront yet. :~[

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by Sestias

 

unfortunately, you're forgetting the part where WE give to others, of our OWN free will. not WE give to others till we no longer have the ability to help them or ourselves. seems to me, first priority is your own household because it'd be rather hypocritical to say you loved everyone and let your own kids starve to death so you could give henry 10 bucks to buy some beer.

I don't think I said anything about not taking care of yourself and your own family.

Jesus said, "Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you."

It doesn't say "Do unto others until you can no longer do for yourself."

IMO he was talking about treating others equally.

Social Justice: People will cry that when they feel that in society there is an inequality of some factor of life. It is defined as: Social justice is the concept in which a subjective notion of justice and/or equality is achieved in every aspect of society, rather than the administration of law, and the concept of a society that gives individuals and groups fair treatment and an equitable share of the benefits of society, and the fair distribution of advantages, assets, and benefits among all members of a society.
It is the last part: The fair distribution of advantages, assets, and benefits among all members of a society, that Beck is against. If there is an injustice or an inequality against a group of people, then the term is correctly used and should be. But in this day, it is used by a majority of groups to try to gain an advantage over the majority, and it is used by socialist and communist. If you look, from a historical perspective, the people who tend to use this as a political weapon and ideal are the socialist and communist. So I do not think that Glenn Beck is out of line in that aspect and the people he shows, are using it to push their political agendas.

Originally posted by kingofmd

The church has lost its way over the years. Feeding the poor and helping others out is "nice" but what good is it to die and wake up in hell with clothes and a full stomach? Preaching the gospel is priority #1, letting people know that there is an eternity of hell to pay for breaking God's commands, and that Jesus took their due punnishment is what it's all about. Most are going to hate this but, it doesn't concern me. In fact it didn't concern the 1st century church either, and they were put to death because the world hated them so much for that message.

You believe you will spend an eternity in hell if you break God's commands?

Then perhaps you had better read these words of Jesus.

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Right, I'm sure you are expecting this much.

The goats are the bad ones, the unbelievers, the one's who never acknowledged Christ as Lord, and the sheep are the good guys, those who believed and worshipped the Christ ... Right?

Wrong.

Jesus makes no mention of belief here. For all we know the sheep group might be chock-full of pagans, Muslims, atheists, thieves, abortion doctors and prostitutes.

All we know for sure about this group is what Jesus said:

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in. Naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came unto me."


Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them,

"verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

And who makes up the damned group on the left, the hellbound goats?

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in. Naked, and ye clothed me not, sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not."

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying,

"verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Some people may feel they are too poor to give to others in need. They may feel their family must come first. However my experience has proven the promises of the bible.

Whenever I have felt the need to help a person, which is frequently, as I've always been a softy, I have had mine and my families needs taken care of. We have all been hungry, and I've given the last of our money away to a young man I caught burgling our house. He seems to have never stolen again, and my family was unexpectedly given enough food for a week.

On returning with my family, broke, to a house with an almost empty larder, I realised friends needed to be fed. All I had was lentils, peanut butter, sour yoghurt and greens from the garden. These became a delicious soup and salad, which, despite my obvious involvement, I believe was a miracle in itself.
The next day, having no food, no money, and 4 people to feed, I went for a walk along the back lanes. I found a tree laden with ripe walnuts, and picked up all that had dropped on the road. Then I found apple and apricot trees, asked the owners, and they said I was welcome to the fruit.

So we had good food again.

To be given the opportunity to provide charity and care to another is the greatest blessing in this world. Whenever we do that, we will be blessed ourselves.

Remember that, as Christians, we are following a man who was content to ride a donkey, and humble enough to wash the feet of his disciples.




[edit on 9/3/10 by Kailassa]

reply to post by Kailassa


Do what works you can, but do NOT authorize either believers or nonbeleivers to strip another man of what he has. At no time did jesus steal the property of another, wealty or criminal. He didnt take the coins of the money changers, he meraly chased them away from where they didnt belong. WHAT EXAMPLE OF THEFT OR FORCED WEALTH TRANSFER DO YOU FIND CONDONED IN THE NEW TESTEMENT bible? Render unto ceaser is not acceptance, it's a challenge of what you personally chose to do and take responsibility for.
You will not be seen as holy because you promoted theft from others in the service of your belief, certainly not christ. You dont seem to understand that stripping off the SS insignia and replacing it with a crucifiz doesnt give you a pass for theft and judgeing others. By stealing from another, that doesnt free them from the consequences of their free will.
Beck isnt selling a religion, he's selling the concept that you dont yourself promote confiscation under the guize of some or another religion or universal kinkness using the most ungody force on the planet, the/any gov't.
Religions are about free will.
Tribalism is based on physical charactoristics or heredity.
You cannot purchase salvation for yourself with stolen goods of others, sinners or not. Anyone that claims that you can is simply placing themselves in the profit stream..

[edit on 9-3-2010 by thatredpill]

reply to post by Kailassa


that only works if you have sustainable situation to begin with. for example, hubby was out of work for a year, had post traumatic stress disorder from being in both wars, and i am handicapped. to survive we had to borrow from relatives
and let everything in our house break. our washer broke, our dishwasher broke, our furnace and air conditioner broke (and we live in florida), our vaccum cleaner broke, our carpet cleaner broke, our sprinkler system broke, and i was recovering from breast cancer, chemo and the onset of type 2 diabetes, not to mention recovery from gulf war syndrome that put me in a coma on total life support several years ago.

on top of that , all 3 dogs came down with some strange illness that killed one of them, and crippled another. we took them to the vet but vet had no idea what to do for them and that money came out of our food money, which was already severly limited.

i called humane society to ask for help with our oldest dog, who needed to be put to sleep but we didn 't have the money to do it. they never returned my calls. we had everything turned off that we could afford to turn off except the vitals and internet. because he was job hunting and most of the places required he submit his applications on the internet, we kept internet going, electricity, water, and mortgage, but the rest of our bills went 3 months or more in arrears, which caused the interest rates to skyrocket and additional fees attached, which in turn, increased the monthly payment.

mind you, we're both older. i'm 51 and he's 50. he qualifies for 70% disability because he's so messed up from the war (they gave him anthrax shots in both wars! pilots were quitting the air force just to avoid those shots). we were originally donating to policemen, firemen, and disabled workers charities, but as the debt increased the money available to help and still survive at some level of decency, was pretty non-existent. we had 2 choices. eat or send money to people who were already eating but were asking for charitable donations.

at the same time, i developed horrible diabetic neuropathy. it was so bad, i couldn't lift a coffee cup. take the lid off a jar that was already open, or walk on my feet. doctors told me it was somatic disorder, not realizing i had diabetes and i became almost entirely bedridden with nothing but ibuprofen to stave off the pain. and we couldn't afford the ibuprofen.

i mean you really have to consider not everyone's circumstances will match your own.

"social justice" is only scary for people that are doing great in this messed up system. We need a little more attention to social issues, and less attention to foreign wars and nation building.

reply to post by ExPostFacto


doing great? you need to read my post above.
that was not great.