This morning at 6 a.m., I received an urgent call from a Presbyterian friend in Atlanta, Georgia.
She wanted me to know that Glenn Beck threatened progressive evangelical Christian pastor Jim Wallis during his television and radio broadcasts, saying:
"The hammer is coming, because little do you know, for eight weeks, we've been compiling information on you, your cute little organization, and all the other cute little people that are with you. And when the hammer comes, it's going to be hammering hard and all through the night, over and over."
"He's gone too far," my Presbyterian friend said. "The only thing that's going to come of this is that Christians in the South will dislike Mormonism even more."
Glenn Beck is a Mormon. So am I. During the nineteenth century, my Mormon ancestors crossed the plains to live their faith without fear of attack from the mobs that had hounded them out of Missouri and Illinois.
Watching Glenn Beck threaten to "bring the hammer down" on another person of faith makes my stomach turn.
I could cite a host of scriptures from the Bible and the Book of Mormon about how Beck's attack on Jim Wallis is not in keeping with faith-based values.
Suffice it to say, Glenn Beck does not speak for the Mormons I know.
The Mormons I know are modest people with a deep commitment to doing what they understand to be good in the world. Whatever the mainline Protestant world thinks of our brand of Christianity, Mormons consider ourselves to be followers of Jesus Christ, bound by God's commandments to love and serve others.
It's true that there is a strand of anti-Communist thought in Mormon tradition, and Beck has certainly exploited it. But most Mormons I know don't think or talk like Glenn Beck. Forty-nine percent of Mormons polled by the Pew Foundation recently said the government should do more for the needy; forty-two percent disagreed.
The Mormons I know may not use the exact words "social justice" (the term has Catholic origins), but humanitarian service and social welfare are fundamental to Mormon values and lifeways.
The Mormons I know skip meals the first Sunday of every month and donate the value of those meals -- or a significant multiple of that amount -- to a Church-designated fund for the needy. They volunteer at Church-owned factories canning soup and peaches to feed the hungry.
The Mormons I know donate money to Church-sponsored projects to bring clean water to rural villages around the globe, or skills training and technical education to deserving individuals in the Third World.
Most Mormons I know have quite a bit in common with Reverend Jim Wallis, who has dedicated a life and a career to the service of others.
By contrast, Glenn Beck has devoted his life and career to expanding the media footprint of Glenn Beck.
He's done whatever it's taken: from cavorting with chimpanzees as a "morning zoo" shock jock to threatening to "bring the hammer down" on people of good will like Jim Wallis.
Who knows what kind of ugliness Glenn Beck will trot out when he "brings the hammer down" on Jim Wallis next week. As a Mormon woman, I agree with my Presbyterian friend in Atlanta: Beck has gone too far.
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However, you are missing the larger point. The Mormon church established its welfare program in 1936 for the stated purpose of fighting "the evil of the dole." For whatever reason, the New Deal generated extremely strong opposition among the Mormon hierarchy.
If you search speeches and statements from church authorities over the years, you will find continued references to "the evil of the dole," albeit in decreasing frequency. One current Quorum member who is fond of "the evil of the dole" is (you guessed it) everyone's friend Boyd K. Packer. Link: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=254461cb2b86b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Interestingly, the interest in fighting the evil of the dole has never expanded into an interest in fighting the evils of other government transfer payments. Certainly, the Mormon church has never counseled its members to turn down farm and water subsidies, Pell grants and student loans, or child tax credits.
Glenn Beck doesn't speak for all Mormons any more than Boyd K. Packer does. But, they do speak for a LOT of Mormons. Exactly why, I'm not sure.
Compare it to how often people in the Baptist, Christian, Muslim, or secular communities, how often do these communities make the same type of statements? --- They don't, and that is the point.
What LDS'ers are covering-up is many do not treat their wives, children well and many are dishonest. As far as kindness, their are some individuals who may be kind, due to their own nature; however, as a group there are tons of complains how exclusive. unaccepting , and as a group will shun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Order
A Green Beret back from Iraq was giving his "Testamoy" when he siad "if there are any librals in this church I'll meet you outside"
At some point, it's just insincere for religious people to remain members of a particular denomination and go on pretending the leaders of their denomination don't represent their church.
They do.
If you want to be "your own" Mormon, I think you need to find a new word for your religion.
Religious people didn't used to be afraid to start their own churches based on modern ideas. Somewhere along the way, modern religious people lost their courage in my opinion, and a lot of their integrity with it.
They were very straight and very conservative (OK, they made Southern Baptists look like party animals) but they were good decent people who would help a neighbor out even if he wasn't one of them.
I never ran into the mean spirited hatefulness of Glen Beck or the slick pompous self righteousness of Mitt Romney among them, and I'm sorry some people are getting there ideas about Mormons just from watching those clowns.
And thanks to some Mormon friends I got to go on a three day cattle drive without a drop of whiskey and no cussing!
Not many people can say that!!
BTW - Ain't no cattle drive without a flask of JB. (just kiddin')
Pretty funny a foreign newspaper is running the story of Maddow finger pointing in Romney's directions on fake stories of Brown's to get more dough, more $$$$$$$$$$$$,
mean spirited and hateful is a perfect description of the LDS culture and society. --
All of the ones I know would never condone Jim Wallis's teachings. Are you really a mormon scholar?? Really ? do you even know the Mormon doctrine?
I can't think of one Mormon who would want the government involved in taking money from them, to then give to people who are less well off than themselves. Doing it willingly through their church, YES, absolutly. Having the government granted the authority to do it for you absolutely NOT.
I agree with everything you say.