Print
Email
Considering the history of his religious affiliation, Glenn Beck needs to check himself before he accuses the president of being racist.
Recently, the notoriously inaccurate Fox News host Glenn Beck, who uses rage the way artists use oils or acrylics, made what was undoubtedly his most shocking proclamation to date. While discussing the Henry Louis Gates Jr. controversy on morning chat show Fox and Friends, Beck turned to his colleagues and said quite certainly, "[Barack Obama] has exposed himself as a guy ... who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." He then added, "This guy is ... a racist."
Fox News, which rarely expresses remorse for its staff's frequent bigoted transgressions, immediately issued a statement saying Beck's comments were "not those of the Fox News Channel." It wasn't necessarily an apology, but it was about as close as Fox gets, which says something about the grave recklessness of Beck's words. What the Fox brass didn't address was Beck's hypocrisy.
Let's pretend President Obama's mother wasn't white. Let's pretend he wasn't raised by his white grandparents, and let's pretend he didn't only months ago sit diligently by his white grandmother's deathbed. Let's pretend he didn't outfit his cabinet with a whole host of white people. And let's pretend that "white culture" actually means something (as opposed to "Irish culture" or "Polish culture"). Beck's condemnation of the president as a bigot who "hates" white people rings hollow considering the company he’s kept for about a decade now.
When he was 35, Beck, an admitted alcoholic and former cocaine addict, became a devout Mormon. Like many born-again Christians before him, Beck credits the conversion for saving him from his vices and boosting his career. He says that, within Mormonism, "there are so many examples that are lighthouses to [my family]." It's actually a touching story.
But let’s take a closer look at Beck's "lighthouses." Four days before Beck called Obama a racist, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released data that showed Mormonism to be the most conservative religious group in America today, with nearly 70 percent of the religion's followers saying that homosexuality should be "discouraged." And last year, despite making up less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, Mormon donations accounted for an estimated 77 percent of the $25.5 million raised in support of Prop. 8. Some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints even admit to blackmailing companies for support of their anti-gay cause.
Gordon B. Hinckley, the late former president of the Mormon church and one of Glenn Beck's idols, wasn't alive to see Prop. 8 pass, but he would have approved, having famously told Larry King that gays "have a problem" that Mormons "want to help them solve."
But how do you "solve" homosexuality? According to Hinckley's friend, Boyd K. Packer, currently the president of the church's second most powerful governing body, violence is sometimes the solution. In a speech to young Mormon men in 1976, Packer relayed an anecdote about a Mormon boy who had admitted that he beat up a male friend who he had claimed made a pass at him. Packer's response to the attacker was that of a true chickenhawk: "Somebody had to do it."
Of course, gays aren't the only minority group targeted by the Mormon church. Packer has also publicly advised against interracial marriage, probably due in part to the fact that, until 1978, the Mormon Church preached that people of color were dark due to the "mark of Cain," of whom they were all cursed descendants. Brigham Young, the late Mormon leader who insisted his words were as good as scripture, derided blacks as "uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild and seemingly deprived of ... intelligence."
With over a century of that sort of malicious nonsense being doled out as gospel, it's little wonder racism continues to thrive in the Latter-day Saints movement. (Mormon leaders claim, by the way, that only God knows why it took so long to accept blacks as equals—though it probably had something to do with the success the church was having converting souls in Africa.) In 2004, a black woman in Utah recalled an incident at her Latter-day Saints church in which a man remarked that his only problem with the congregation was "the nigger girl." A year later, Darron Smith, another black Mormon and a sociology professor at Brigham Young University, also attested to the continued vigor of the church’s racism: "Why do Mormons persist in believing that black people were cursed? Many of them do and stubbornly defend racist white sentiment."
It should go without saying that not all Mormons are racists or homophobes, just as all Muslims aren't terrorists. But if Glenn Beck continues to accuse others of "deep-seated hatred," it's important to consider where his guidance—and the history behind it—is coming from.
To borrow Beck's analogy, if he's a ship lost at sea, I wish his lighthouses were brighter.
Cord Jefferson is a regular contributor to The Root.
Comments
Glenn Beck is just a person who judge someone without any relevant evidence. i don't think that we should listen to him..his statement reflect that he's just shallow person..
THINK OUT OF THE BOXKerja Keras Adalah Energi Kita
This article is very interesting. Thank you very much for sharing .
inchirieri auto | fier forjat | cadouri
Fake-designer.com manufactures replicaLouis Vuitton that are indistinguishable from the latest sensations to come out of France. From the chic and modern Monogram Perfo to the classic Louis Vuitton Wallets, our fake
Louis Vuitton Handbags are perfect imitations, indistinguishable from the real thing.
Our replica Luis Vuitton collection includes everything; Monogram Perfo Pochettes, compact wallets and Speedy satchels can be yours for below-market prices when you buy from Fake-designer.com. The same goes for each and every item in our Louie Vuitton lines- from our Louis Vuitton Bags to our Fendi handbags. If you love Cheap Louis Vuitton, ,designer Replica Louis Vuitton;Fake-designer.com has something for you.
All of our fake Louis Vuitton Outlet are made to look and feel just like the originals. No one will be able to tell you’re carrying one of our fake Louis Vuitton Sale, because our imitation Louis Vuitton Online Saleare identical to the real thing.
Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas Cabas Mezzo Replica M51151 On Sale - Cheap Louis Vuitton Wallets,Handbags,Bags,Purses Shop Outlet Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas Alize 24 Heures Replica M41399 On Sale - Cheap Louis Vuitton Wallets,Handbags,Bags,Purses Shop Outlet Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas Cruiser Bag 45 Replica M41138 On Sale - Cheap Louis Vuitton Wallets,Handbags,Bags,Purses Shop Outlet
I’d love to discuss discount louis vuitton, but I am not sure if you really have one.
This louie vuitton is so unique, and I never see it’s sold in the LV stores, where did you get this one please?
This louis vuitton outlet is just come out this spring show, it’s a totally new style of louis vuitton outlet, worth to buy.
دجه
منتدى دجه
دليل دجه
توبيكات دجه
منتديات دجه
زخرفة بلياردو
العاب دجه
مركز دجه
Just look it up in the dictionary, and there you will see pictures of barbaric morons.
Just think of the capital one credit care commercials, what people do you see doin' those commercials, those are your racist type people.
louis vuitton
Why Buy Louis Vuitton Replica Handbag
Louis Vuitton designer handbag
designer handbag
Louis Vuitton Bum Bag Melville
Louis Vuitton Hampstead GM
Louis Vuitton Hampstead MM
Louis Vuittons Hampstead PM
Louis Vuitton Illovo MM
LV Musette Tango
LV Handbag and Hollywood Stars
...2 viva_che'z post:
http://www.amazon.com/Che-Guevara-Cuban-Revolution-Writings/dp/094708302...
We've been HUGE Admirererz a' Che 4 decadez...n' put him RIGHT ALONGSIDE Malcolm X, himself, az 1 a' tha Great Liberatorz a' Humankind in tha 20th Century...whose Ideaz n' Idealz live on in THIS millenium!
U can BET that he wuz NO model minority...n' would NEVER EVEN begin 2 "think" like one:
http://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/39-b4-we-wish-u-a-happy/
= )
--TBW
I'm an active Mormon and grew up in the church. I was 7 in 1978 when the Church reversed its position and blacks were allowed to receive the priesthood (i.e., have leadership positions). While Mormonism undoubtedly has a racist past, the church has worked since the 70's to correct this ugly part of its history. I was never taught in any class and never heard from the pulpit that blacks were inferior. The Brigham Young quotes in the article were disavowed and are not church doctrine.
Racism is taught at home. In my own home, I was taught to revere the Civil Rights Movement and looked up to Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers as heroes. Glenn Beck has only been associated with Mormons a short while; as the author confirms, he joined the church at age 35, long after his distorted worldview and racist beliefs were set. It is possible that he felt at home in a Mormon congregation because it shared his racist beliefs. But if so, that congregation is markedly different than any congregation I've visited, whether it was in Utah, California, New York, Louisiana, Mexico or Guam.
I'm an active Mormon who grew up in the church in Mesa, AZ. I was 7 when the church allowed blacks to have the priesthood in 1978 (i.e., ability to hold leadership positions). While Mormonism undoubtedly has a racist past, there has been a concerted effort since the 70's to rectify this ugly history. I was never taught in a class nor heard from the pulpit that blacks were inferior. The Brigham Young quotes in the article have been disavowed and are not church doctrine.
Racism is taught at home. In my own home, I was taught to revere the 60's Civil Rights Movement and looked up to Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers as heroes. As the author confirms, Glenn Beck has only been associated with the Mormon church a short while; he became Mormon at age 35, long after his beliefs and worldview were set. It is possible that he joined the church because he felt like he found a community that reinforced his racist views. But if so, his congregation is markedly different than every congregation I have attended, whether in Utah, California, New York, Massachusetts, Mexico, or Guam. No doubt there are some racist Mormons, but they are definitely a minority.
Regarding the Mormons' anti-gay stance: I was appalled by the church's stance and its tactics in the Prop 8 campaign. The LDS church has traditionally been politically neutral and kept out of politics, and why it suddenly chose to enter the fray and then behave so despicably is beyond me. It totally deserves all the condemnation it has received. Please don't think that all Mormons supported the anti-gay campaigns in California and Arizona; I worked hard during that time to convince my fellow Mormons to oppose the church's campaign and not to participate.