Glenn Beck is speaking on Sunday at the Marriott Center for a patriotic service (7 pm). Though I’m just wrapping up a brief visit to Utah, I won’t be there Sunday – wish I could be!
While Glenn is a well-known conservative talk-show host and TV personality professionally, this LDS convert strikes me as someone who has remained down-to-earth (whether you agree with him or not) and has maintained his faith well in spite of the lure of fame.
His conversion story is atypical in many ways, but is also instructive. Here is a video of Glenn discussing his conversion and the peace the Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought him:
I’d love to see this guy sometime. My conversion story can’t match his, but at one time my attitudes mirrored his before finding the Church. And I wasn’t even sold on it the first time. It took several months of continuous and cautious exposure before I was ready to be baptized. And even though I’ve had my issues and faith struggles (mostly with myself, not the Church) I still retain my testimony. And seeing people like Glenn Beck (I’ve watched him for a while, yet only recently realized he’s LDS) and hearing their stories confirms my faith.
I’m not a fan…he thinks children are being indoctrinated with scientific reasoning in schools and supported Ben Stein’s joke of a film. I can see how he’s a nice guy and good representative for LDS, but his anti-intellectual streak is disgraceful.
What do you mean specifically about his alleged claim that “children are being indoctrinated with scientific reasoning in schools”?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o7OSNDqY9g
He pumped up Ben Stein’s film “Expelled” – a dishonest and insulting film to anyone with any respect for scientific inquiry (and yes, I saw it before saying that).
Evolution is not incompatible with religion, and the whole idea of intelligent design being a scientific alternative is ludicrous. God may well have acted through evolution, but to give Stein’s conspiracy theory any credence is an insult to everyone’s intelligence – believers and non-believers alike. Ben Stein is too smart for this kind of thing.
The film is as bad as anything Michael Moore’s put out.
I just think Glenn Beck could be a little more responsible with his position.
Sorry, Troy – I have a long-standing policy of not allowing links to YouTube videos that I haven’t screened. Made an exception for Greg (had time to view it). But a link to a page of videos that I’m not familiar with is problematic. It’s too easy for some people to slip in some real garbage in disguise.
Sorry, Jeff, I should have run that by you first. Noted for future comments.
I wonder that anyone holds Beck up as an example of anything. He’s a hate-filled man who speaks half-truths and hysterical nonsense to manipulate public opinion. He is irresponsible and speaks badly, indeed, for the church and for himself.
He’ll crash and burn out on the LDS like he’s turned on so many things before and then he’ll be a serious problem to the degree that he’s held up as an example now.
Anon @11:28 – how about some concrete examples? I listen a fair amount and sense a huge disconnect between your comment and my experience.
BTW, your comment sounds more hateful that anything I’ve ever heard him say. Are you projecting?
Greg, you’re ingnorant. Anyone who understands mormom doctrine knows that they are not compatible.
Just look at the Origin of Man in 1909, the bible dictionary under the Fall of Adam, or anything that President Joseph Fielding Smith said, or Ezra Taft Benson, or any of the prophets that have spoken about it. You should also listen to what current leaders like Boyd K Packer have said about intellectualism and how it destroys faith in God.
I really hope you’re not a member of the church and don’t understand that. Otherwise, you’re the one who is acting disgraceful.
I’m saying all this in the nicest way possible. It would be wise for you to spend more time reading what church leaders have said instead of watching Michael Moore’s propaganda. Your so called “intelligence” and all the scientists in the world will never replace what God has already said about the issue.
Whoa, Anon @ 12:45, I object – and count me in with Greg on being ignorant, if you define ignorant as disagreeing with you. Hear me out on this.
Various Church leaders have offered their opinions on all sorts of topics, including evolution, but these do not constitute binding doctrine. The Church has made it clear that they have no official policy on evolution. God is the Creator, certainly, but how was the Creation done? Was the earth prepared slowly over eons, starting with simple life that “progressed” (nice Mormon term there) step by step until the earth was ready for the dispensation given to Adam et al.? Or was it done in several shorter stages called “days” with intense external intervention to create numerous species? Or was it all done during a single busy week? It’s possible to accept any of these positions and be a good Latter-day Saint, though not necessarily a good scientist.
It is possible to accept most of what we learn from biology, geology, and evolutionary science without abandoning one’s faith. Some of the brethren have not thought that was possible, and maybe they are right, but I’m not obligated to accept their opinions, and can entertain the notion that they were not familiar enough with the scientific evidence and the nuances of science and religion issues to step back and consider how alternate interpretations of scripture and alternate paradigms about the Creation could be tenable.
We really don’t know much – though I’m mostly speaking for myself here. But I think none of us know enough to call Greg or anyone else “ignorant” because they accept mainstream scientific teachings.
Thanks for the defense, Jeff. For the record, I am not LDS. I’m a big fan of science, evidence over faith and independent thought, as many of my previous comments have shown.
I may disagree with a lot of religious beliefs, but I see no reason to be hostile and I certainly don’t think I’m being ignorant in stating that some faiths are compatible with accepted mainstream science. If there is a God, he surely gave us an ability to reason and examine evidence.
At 11:28 AM, June 28, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said…
I wonder that anyone holds Beck up as an example of anything. He’s a hate-filled man who speaks half-truths and hysterical nonsense to manipulate public opinion. He is irresponsible and speaks badly, indeed, for the church and for himself.
He’ll crash and burn out on the LDS like he’s turned on so many things before and then he’ll be a serious problem to the degree that he’s held up as an example now.
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I agree with the above statement by Anonymous. I know several friends who hold Beck up as an example of a “good Mormon”. MediaMatters has an extensive compendium of his record of half-truths and outright lies, not to mention his sexist and vile comments about any number of people he does not agree with. Please read and decide for yourself at: http://mediamatters.org /issues_topics/tags/glenn_beck
Jeff, I’m sorry brother, but I do. I do think that you are ignorant. Not because you disagree with me, but because you either haven’t read the “opinions,” although you didn’t take the time to look at the bible dictionary, or the proclomation of 1909, and the official statements of all the phrophets since Joseph Smith about this issue, or you’ve just chosen to ignore them. Either way you can read all of them at this address.
http://www.zionvision.com/quotes/prophets_statements_on_evolution.pdf
There are pages and pages of prophets explaining why these two ideas are not compatible. I realize for someone like Greg to not understand this, after all he’s not even a member of the church, and that’s ok, but for someone to be a member and not understand or have taken the time to research the issue for themselves and put someone else down who has done that, I will say is ignorant. I apoligize to Greg.
The reason we don’t have an “official” position about this is because when the people reject his revelations, he will not repeat himself, and withold them. Just like we don’t currently have an “official” position on plural marrige.
I found your comment interesting that you said they were not familiar enough with science to understand that evolution could be a possibility for the creation.
Who are you to say what they understood and what they did not? Did you ever stop to think that maybe some of these brethren, like the prophets of old, saw the creation for themselves like Joseph Smith? They know how God did it. You don’t. And even though they haven’t told us how God did it, they’ve made it clear how he did not. And they’ve also told us not hypothisize about the matter. It doesn’t matter if your theories are “mainstream.” The “mainstream” view about mormonism is that we are a cult. You can have your mainstream ideologies.
Good Luck with the blog, I apoligize if you were offended, I realize that how I write things isn’t always the most tactful, but I assure you, I have spent a lot of time learning about this subject. I really think you should spend some more time learning about this issue before you write about it, and give false information that you don’t realize you are giving.
Sorry I left the wrong address. It is
http://www.zionvision.com/html_website/resources.html
good luck
I think I’ve read every source you refer to, Anon, and when I was a know-it-all teenager I went around spouting those off, confident that anyone who accepted evolution was an apostate. Now that I’m just a doesn’t-quite-know-it-all blogger, I’ve realized that the issue is more nuanced and complex than one can get by just reading those references.
I am certainly not an expert on evolution and all it’s varied theories.
But being an engineer, I have had some exposure to the laws of thermodynamics.
It seems obvious to me that the second law of thermodynamics was not in effect until after the partaking of the forbidden fruit.
With the second law of thermodynamics ineffective, all sorts of possible “evolutionary” schemes could have been available that currently are impossible (or at least very, very, very improbable).
We can only speculate what it is really like outside of the bubble of the fallen world that we live in.
I have no doubt that the scientific world and the religious world will someday be united in understanding, when both have and accept more truthful information than they currently have.
I went to see Glenn Beck last night and it was AMAZING!! There is no hate in his heart. He loves his God, his family and his country. Wish you could have been there to see it.
I also went and heard Glenn Beck last night speak. Though I enjoyed some of his comments and experiences I unfortunately felt like I was attending a big political hooplah instead of a patriotic celebration of our country’s independence. However, you have to hand it to Glenn Beck for being passionate about what he believes in. I especially enjoyed his experiences at ground zero after 9/11 and was touched by how emotional he became as he related those experiences. And I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the link about his conversion. Seems like a decent guy even if I don’t always agree with his political perspective.
Anonymous, if you look at the very beginning of the Bible dictionary you’ll find that it says:
“It [the Bible Dictionary] is not intended as an official or revealed endorsement by the Church of the doctrinal, historical, cultural, and other matters set forth. Many of the items have been drawn from the best available scholarship of the world and are subject to reevaluation based on new research and discoveries or on new revelation.”
(Emphasis added.)
First off, I enjoy listening to Glenn Beck when I get the opportunity. I find him witty and intelligent and his comments thought-provoking. I had listened to him off-and-on for about two months before I realized he was LDS. It dawned on me when I heard him talking about the time capsule thing he was creating for his son and he spoke of the man he most admired in all the world. Glenn said that man was Gordon B. Hinckley. I thought “Did I hear that right?” but yes, I had. It was good to hear.
I know there are many that do not care for him and his sarcastic sense of humor when it comes to politics but I’ve never doubted whether he is sincere about what he says he believes.
Now, about the creationist version or evolutionist version not be compatible… there are too many holes to fill where events were not written down as they took place, in my opinion. First, we have to take into consideration that we now live in a telestial world and that is not the world that Adam was brought into. Second, the old hebrew word for “day” just happens to be the same as the word for “time”. We do not know if this is a “day as Heavenly Father knows it” or a “time as Heavenly Father knows it”. Thirdly, we do not know how long Adam was on this earth before the “fall” and the earth’s fall with him. All of this will eventually come to us through revelation sooner of later.
Rick
At 1:40 AM, June 29, 2008
*”And they’ve also told us not hypothisize about the matter.”
As a former convert of over 30 years your statements and attitude has always confused me. (and other converts I have talked to.)
Let me get this straight. I am not to get a degree in science or have a thought contrary to the creation story that is in the bible?
I will use an of example that helped me understand how all this works.
When I was a new convert I had a powerful spiritual experience by the power of the Holy Spirit that Joseph Smith and President Kimball was a prophet of God. At that time I knew in my view (mind) that the 6000 year creation story in the bible was fact. After a couple of degrees and years of study I now believe that a 13 century Rabi found in the Old Testament that the universe is 15 billion years old like many scientists now believe. Which one is correct? I have no idea. But I still obtain many spiritual witness by the power of the Holy Ghost about the LDS Church and its doctrine. My brain filled with many scientific facts and false hoods does not change the Holy Spirit willingness to confirm Christ and His Gospel.
Just to take a lot of statements by GA’s can be very misleading because their prime directive is to protect the Church and the members. There directive from God is to build faith in God not layout every detail of science. In other words do not let every wind of science fact or theory blow you around and cause you to lose your faith or testimony. A typical example is the whole DNA and the Book of Mormon. The point here is just like creation and science is we just don’t have all the facts to tell what happened and I don’t think any GA has got involved in the DNA problems. Many have believed that there were no people here when Lehi arrived. Now many may think there were people here when Lehi came to the Americas. It could also be just as easily misunderstood that there were men on earth before Adam and he brought death into the world for his children. What a shock this will be if true but will not nullify any of the Gospel truths. Why not and just point out the people to test solve the problem? Just like creation all of them including Joseph Smith did not see all the creation and have all the answers.
*”you’re ingnorant” Aren’t we all.
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As far as Glenn Beck, everyone needs to remember that he is an entertainer and welcome to his option. Like a lot of TV and radio personalities he makes me laugh and I learn a few things. The rest I disregard. I am sure he is a good man just finding his way like the rest of us. As a convert I was thrilled by many Mormon personalities just to find out how many human weaknesses they had. So try not to disrespect or fawn over him to much. What you see him say in TV and radio may not always reflect who he is or will become. As a convert my life was much like his before he join the church. The Mormons saved my life and the only people I am a fan of are my father mother, the Godhead, and the missionaries that took out of their lives to deliver the gospel to me. And a few other billion or so people that God calls His children.
No problem Jeff. Take a look at the videos I have posted. I’m sure you’ll find them completely wholesome 🙂
Oh, you can also check Glenn out at “America’s Freedom Festival Patriotic Service”
http://www.kbyutv.org/patrioticservice/
I was in the crowd and he did a great job!
Here's the leading video in Glenn Beck's national video contest. The creator is LDS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ibHFAXGUwo