Jesus said, "Blessed are you, when people revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." (Matthew 5:11)
Glenn Beck, radical right wing commentator, has taken a hatchet to the reputation of Jim Wallis. Wallis has spent most of his adult life working on behalf of the poor, the cause Jesus made the center of his own ministry on earth. For decades of preaching and organizing on behalf of those with no access to power, the ones Jesus called "the least of these" (Matthew 25), Jim has appropriately been lauded as one of the chief advocates for systemic change on behalf of those who work for the rest of us but don't enjoy the privileges that we do. Now instead of celebrating Jim's gift of service to those God loves, Glenn Beck has unleashed a diatribe against him that begins in falsehood and ends in slander.
Last week, Beck devoted an entire week of his nightly rants on FOX News to tearing down Jim Wallis' reputation. He has said that Jim promotes forced redistribution of wealth, socialism, and Marxism, none of which is even remotely factual. He has chosen a favorite phrase of all those who follow Jesus' teachings on the poor -- social justice -- and derided as evil all congregations that have it as a core principle. What Jim and his organization, Sojourners, seek to do is educate the public about why poverty persists even as the world becomes better able to produce and share what is needed, and advocate for changing those systems that do not reward honest hard work with living wages. Jim is, in fact, a proud advocate for social justice, and as such, he is faithful to Jesus in the process.
Frankly, Jim and I don't agree about everything. We disagree about a woman's right to control her own body and to have access to the full range of medical care. And I have not yet convinced him that my marriage to Mike should be respected just as his marriage to Joy is. On the other hand, Jim took a risk on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people a few years ago when he accepted an online ad from us at the Human Rights Campaign for our LGBT scriptural resource, Out in Scripture, which ran on Sojourners' website. He took flak from many of his Evangelical supporters for giving us a venue to promote our resource, but he defended our right to be heard. More recently, he spoke out prophetically, asking his Evangelical sisters and brothers to support anti-hate crime legislation and employment protections for LGBT people. In doing so, he stood up for us at the risk of alienating his core constituency. When Jim and I disagree, we do so on the merits of our positions, and we do so with civility and genuine respect for each other. When we agree, I am always grateful for such a powerfully persuasive ally.
What Glenn Beck is doing to Jim Wallis is despicable. Jim rightly points out that it is really President Obama that Beck seeks to smear when he attacks Jim, because Jim is one of the president's religious advisors. Jim and I have had the privilege this year to serve on the president's first Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Neither Jim nor I agrees with the President all the time any more than we agree with each other, but we offer advice to him and his administration in a spirit of building up the country and promoting community. Beck seeks only to tear down those with whom he disagrees -- and has stooped to lying about a good man in order to do so. Beck has forgotten one of the chief principles of his Mormon faith, and indeed of all major faiths: that we should treat others as we seek to be treated. He has also broken the ninth commandment: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
I am standing in solidarity with Jim Wallis during what will be a difficult week. I have written to Glenn Beck to tell him I am also a social justice Christian. I am praying for Jim, Joy, and their children since I know what it is like to have an axe taken to my reputation. I am also praying for Glenn Beck, not because I want to, but because my faith demands it. I follow the One who taught that we should pray for our enemies.
Follow Harry Knox on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HRCBackStory
One of the Pharisees tested Jesus with a question, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36 NIV). Jesus replied, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV).
Do not believe a word they say. Ignore them. They do not walk with God or Jesus. I shudder to think who they are walking with. Let's all move on.
Most of us have zero desire to go to maniac breitbart's website and those who do have the desire most likely have already been there.
“I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you†(Matthew 5:44)
Nothing Beck says or does indicates any belief in the gospel of Jesus. If he tells you he does follow a gospel it is not one that came out the new testament or even the writings of Joseph Smith. It is the gospel of hatred and of the nether world.
Semper fi
This guy is hilarious and revolting all mixed into one.
I find it ironic that the darlings of the "Christian" Right decry and revile everything that Jesus's ministry taught (or tried to teach) us. I often think that many people would denounce the Beatitudes if they were typed up in the modern vernacular and distributed by some one with olive skin, long hair, a beard and sandals.
Thank you for redirecting my outrage--making me remember the Beatitudes, and that, as a Believer, it my duty to work towards that Ideal. Thanks and thanks again.
The secrets of their hearts are being exposed. If they and Fox News, World Net Daily, etc. practiced the fruit of the spirit (which I need to also) - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance, "hate" wouldn't be popular, and Beck, Hannity, and friends might be working as door greeter at the Wal-Mart.
Semper fi
There are lots of fine and purely volunteer organizations that do the same thing that Mr. Wallis does for a living. Personally I find these kinds of organizations self-serving, and often they are corrupt, wherein the major benefactors are the organizers, not the intended charity recipients. Such business is called "priestcraft". It is especially insidious when these organizers insist on government fiat to force charity. Take Obam*a as an example--the community organizer wants everyone to give more of their income to help the poor, but upon review of his tax records, he gives very little of his own wealth away.
In summary, I don't trust the Jim Wallis types. Always sanctimonious, always name-dropping and self-promoting, always vocal about what others should give and do, often enriching themselves on the side.
He doesn't give a fig about you or Wallis or anything but that it adds money to his copious accounts.
He is in 7th Heaven with numerous 'virgins' attending his every whim.
He is Elvis gorging on Bacon, Banana and PeanutButter sandwiches with a scrambled egg on the top.
And you are *tsking at him dissing the waiter.
DON'T GIVE HIM THE ATTENTION HE CRAVES.
Then, you'll be doing that 'Lord's Work"
(PS: only reason Beck joined Mormons was to get his then girlfriend in the sack = his own admission)
Here's an Easter Egg for Glenn....
http://www.beatitudessociety.org/beatitudes-posts/173-an-easter-egg-for-glenn-beck-and-all-of-us