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Out of curiosity how do Mormons view the controversial political commentator Glenn Beck?

is he like a ‘liberal’ or ‘traditionalist’ are his views held by most other Mormons or is he a ‘black sheep’?
 
Dear Glenn Beck,
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Have You Read the Book of Mormon Lately?
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As you know, Glenn, during the last week, Christians of all stripes have debated your advice about exiting any churches that mentioned “social justice” or “economic justice” on their websites or preached it in their sermons. As you apparently hoped, you have dominated the airwaves. The good news for me is that, if you follow your own advice, you must soon be exiting The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which we are both members. And if that happens, I will dance a little jig.
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You may have missed it, but social justice is a dominant feature of all four of our key sacred texts, including the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We could look at hundreds of relevant scriptures, since poverty was the thing Jesus preached about most often, but let me turn your attention to a scripture you might have missed: King Benjamin’s sermon in the Book of Mormon. A tweetable highlight:
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And now… for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants. (Mosiah 4:26)…
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From the NYTimes:
Mr. Beck himself is a convert to Mormonism, a faith that identifies itself as part of the Christian family, but is nevertheless rejected by many Christians.
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Philip Barlow, the Arrington professor of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University, said, “One way to read the Book of Mormon is that it’s a vast tract on social justice.”
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“A lot of Latter-day Saints would think that Beck was asking them to leave their own church,” he said.
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Mr. Barlow said that just this year, the church’s highest authority, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, issued a new “Handbook of Instructions” in which they revised the church’s “threefold mission” and added a fourth mission statement: Care for the poor.
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from this it looks like he is not a self-hating jew, but a self-hating mormon lol
 
VetA said:
Out of curiosity how do Mormons view the controversial political commentator Glenn Beck?

is he like a ‘liberal’ or ‘traditionalist’ are his views held by most other Mormons or is he a ‘black sheep’?
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I haven’t watched a lot of Beck, and I don’t have an opinion of him. Try asking a more meaningful question about Mormonism that Mormons can answer.
 
zerinus said:
I haven’t watched a lot of Beck, and I don’t have an opinion of him. Try asking a more meaningful question about Mormonism that Mormons can answer.
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it WAS a meaningful question as Beck is a high-profile mormon. The fact you can’t answer does not make it meaningless.

Your response was very rude
 
VetA said:
Out of curiosity how do Mormons view the controversial political commentator Glenn Beck?

is he like a ‘liberal’ or ‘traditionalist’ are his views held by most other Mormons or is he a ‘black sheep’?
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Well, that depends upon whether the Mormon is a liberal or a conservative. You may as easily ask how Mormons view Harry Reid.
 
i used to listen to glen beck all the time, when i was driving coast to coast. highlight of my day. from what i could gather, he is an independant conservative, who takes a more middle of the road approach to politics and what not. he never really brought his Mormon beliefs into his show, except in a very limited context. but. lets take a look at him. before his conversion, he was an alcoholic, very angry, and very liberal. post Mormon conversion, no longer an alchoholic, much happier, and much more conservative in his views. would i agree with him an doctrine? no. am i happy that God touched him in a special way, that totally transformed his life, and saved his marriage? why yes i am. just as i am happy, whenever or whereever God chooses to touch a person and bring them closer to him.Peace 🙂
 
Ahimsa said:
From the NYTimes:
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Ahimsa,
The problem with the terms “social justice” and “economic justice” is that they have become euphemisms that have an underlying assumption that redistribution of wealth to help the poor should happen usually through government mandate, which is not only very inefficient and leads some of the poor to a sense of entitlement which is very hard to correct, but also removes the condition of individual choice for the “rich” which hopefully leads to real service out of a real heart-felt sense of sharing and of building up the poor by “teaching a man to fish.”

I don’t follow Beck much at all–watched him maybe twice at my dad’s home while visiting there–but I do think there are more efficient methods of helping the poor and especially helping them be built up so they are no longer “poor” (but will have a job and will work hard at that steady job and see that their children become educated) than government programs.

As Benidict wrote, peace.
 
dianaiad said:
Well, that depends upon whether the Mormon is a liberal or a conservative. You may as easily ask how Mormons view Harry Reid.
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i understand where you are coming from with this, but i want to know what Mormons think about Glenn Beck (also a Mormon), is he orthodox, is he contrary to the teachings of the LDS church and your prophet, is he the model Mormon, you know questions like that, not like do you agree with his politics, but rather, are his political opinions orthodox or heterodox?
 
VetA said:
i understand where you are coming from with this, but i want to know what Mormons think about Glenn Beck (also a Mormon), is he orthodox, is he contrary to the teachings of the LDS church and your prophet, is he the model Mormon, you know questions like that, not like do you agree with his politics, but rather, are his political opinions orthodox or heterodox?
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…but that’s exactly the question I answered, VetA. While there are a great many politically conservative Mormons, the fact is, most Mormons are not US citizens and couldn’t care less what Glen Beck thinks. I think it’s fairly safe to say that the Mormons on the East Coast (and there are a few, really!) tend to be more liberal than the Mormons in the west; politics are more closely related to where you live, not what religion you espouse.

…and since the CoJCoLDS (in spite of what our critics like to think) pretty much stays out of politics. In other words, one’s salvation is not affected by who you vote for.
 
benidict;6791612\:
before his conversion, he was an alcoholic, very angry, and very liberal. post Mormon conversion, no longer an alchoholic, much happier, and much more conservative in his views. 🙂
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Just a little correction here. 😉 Being in recovery from alcoholism doesn’t make you “no longer an alcoholic” You’re still an alcoholic… just a recovering one. 👍

To the OP-- I think dianiad is right. It really depends on where you live. I would think that most Utah Mormons would agree with Beck’s views and see him as “Orthodox”. But that can’t be said about all Mormons. Just my humble opinion.

Steph
 
Mormons, even within the state of Utah, have had a history or electing politicians from both parties. I was rather impressed at how many Democrats have actually been voted in.

IMO, Harry Reid and Glen Beck represent the opposite ends of politics at this point. But they do have one thing in common in that they represent there Mormon faith well as far as their beliefs are concerned.
 
tundramom said:
Just a little correction here. 😉 Being in recovery from alcoholism doesn’t make you “no longer an alcoholic” You’re still an alcoholic… just a recovering one. 👍

To the OP-- I think dianiad is right. It really depends on where you live. I would think that most Utah Mormons would agree with Beck’s views and see him as “Orthodox”. But that can’t be said about all Mormons. Just my humble opinion.

Steph
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The whole thing can be made a little more clear…

Do Catholics think that Sean Hannity’s viewpoints are orthodox?
 
dianaiad said:
The whole thing can be made a little more clear…

Do Catholics think that Sean Hannity’s viewpoints are orthodox?
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and there we have it again…

unable to answer the question, Diana deflects to an entirely different person…
 
dianaiad said:
The whole thing can be made a little more clear…

Do Catholics think that Sean Hannity’s viewpoints are orthodox?
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Nope.

Fr. Euteneuer: Sean, I just want you to be honest. I just want you to be honest

Hannity: No, no, no, answer that question. Would you rather people that are not in the Catholic Church use birth control rather than have abortion. That’s a simple question.

Fr. Euteneuer: I want people to use self control and you could be preaching that but you’re not.

Hannity: And if they won’t? Well, sir, I say it all the time: I teach my kids not to have sex before their married. That’s my moral job as a parent. But I’m saying for those who don’t share your religious faith: would you rather they use birth control or have abortions? Cause that’s the reality, Father. And if you don’t see that you’re not facing reality.

Fr. Euteneuer: That’s not the reality, Sean. Because birth control leads to abortion.

Hannity: It absolutely is the reality. How many abortions have had legal in this country since Roe V. Wade, sir? Millions of them.

Fr. Euteneuer: 47 million.

Hannity: That’s right

Fr. Euteneuer: But Sean, 60% of women going into abortion clinics are doing it because their birth control failed. So how good is birth control helping to stop abortion?

Hannity: Actually if you want to get technical here the Catholic Church does support a form of birth control, a natural method of birth control, is that not correct sir?

Fr. Euteneuer: Its not birth control Sean, its natural birth regulation and its open to life.

Hannity: Its the same thing, its the same thing to prevent pregnancy, isn’t that true sir?

Fr. Euteneuer: No, that, that… again, I go back to my original point of the depth of your understanding of the issues you’re a cultural Catholic.
 
There is no such thing as “orthodoxy” in Mormonism. Individual Mormons can believe a very wide range of things, as long as they a) don’t bad mouth current LDS leadership b) believe JS was a prophet and c) have a “testimony” of the Book of Mormon

Other than that, everything else can be navigated.
 
Ahimsa said:
Nope.
Fr. Euteneuer: Sean, I just want you to be honest. I just want you to be honest

Hannity: No, no, no, answer that question. Would you rather people that are not in the Catholic Church use birth control rather than have abortion. That’s a simple question.

Fr. Euteneuer: I want people to use self control and you could be preaching that but you’re not.

Hannity: And if they won’t? Well, sir, I say it all the time: I teach my kids not to have sex before their married. That’s my moral job as a parent. But I’m saying for those who don’t share your religious faith: would you rather they use birth control or have abortions? Cause that’s the reality, Father. And if you don’t see that you’re not facing reality.

Fr. Euteneuer: That’s not the reality, Sean. Because birth control leads to abortion.

Hannity: It absolutely is the reality. How many abortions have had legal in this country since Roe V. Wade, sir? Millions of them.

Fr. Euteneuer: 47 million.

Hannity: That’s right

Fr. Euteneuer: But Sean, 60% of women going into abortion clinics are doing it because their birth control failed. So how good is birth control helping to stop abortion?

Hannity: Actually if you want to get technical here the Catholic Church does support a form of birth control, a natural method of birth control, is that not correct sir?

Fr. Euteneuer: Its not birth control Sean, its natural birth regulation and its open to life.

Hannity: Its the same thing, its the same thing to prevent pregnancy, isn’t that true sir?

Fr. Euteneuer: No, that, that… again, I go back to my original point of the depth of your understanding of the issues you’re a cultural Catholic.
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Three cheers for Fr. Euteneuer!!!
 
I watch Glenn Beck from time to time and can report this about him and what he says about himself and his beliefs:
  • He is a Libertarian
  • I have never seen him mention that he is Mormon, but this seems to be understood. It should be noted for anyone interested that Beck grew up Catholic.
  • Whenever the subject comes up, he states that he is a “recovering alcoholic”.
  • From what I have seen & heard, he is not opposed to giving assistance to the poor, what he is opposed to is the government taking everything over, which leads to the loss of freedom/liberty for everyone. The fact of the matter is that assistance to individuals in need is often best done individually or by local organizations. Beck appears to be entirely supportive of that. I submit it is more accurate to say that Beck opposes the mis-use of the term “social justice” by persons whose real interest is extending government power.
 
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