How Glenn Beck is Like Lucifer

Glenn Beck at the chalkboard

Some liberals would probably find it highly satisfying to hear me say that Glenn Beck is just like Satan, but that's not what I'm going to say. We're all at least a little bit like Lucifer, to be right honest, because none of us are perfect. But Glenn Beck is a little more like Lucifer than most people would think. One of Satan's greatest ploys is to mix truth with falsehood. Glenn Beck uses this tactic on a regular basis.

Some time ago, I wrote an article about how Harry Reid is like Lucifer, which generated a lot of anger from some readers. It will be interesting to see whether this article will generate even more anger.

Utahns were fooled en mass by George W Bush, having voted for him overwhelmingly in both 2000 and 2004. Mitt Romney, despite subscribing to a socialistic health care scheme that is helping to bankrupt the state of Massachusetts, has become the poster child of many allegedly conservative Republicans. It is probably with this knowledge of Utah naivete' that snake oil salesman Glenn Beck has chosen Utah as Ground Zero for his American Revival tour this summer.

I listen to the Glenn Beck program every now and again just to make sure that it is still stupid. Nearly every time I tune in, he's exaggerating some claim against Barack Obama, calling someone an idiot, claiming credit for the Tea Party movement, or petting himself for some other heroic act. Which is why I'm not very confident that his American Revival tour will be based exclusively on "faith, hope, and charity" as a recent radio ad told me.

How can anyone take seriously that a person who wrote a book entitled "Arguing With Idiots" can be an authority on faith, hope, and charity?

In the Garden of Eden, the uber-snake oil salesman plied the lying trade with great craftiness. When Eve balked at partaking of the fruit of the tree of good and evil because she had been told that it would bring death to her, Satan replied with a mix of truth and lies.

And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die;

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

It was true that if Eve and Adam ate of the forbidden fruit they would know good from evil, but it was a lie that they would not die. Half truth, half lie--that's okay isn't it?

If not, you probably ought to find a different source for your news and rabble rousing than Glenn Beck. Beck mixes truth and falsehood with the best of them.

School Vouchers: "The Bramble Memo"

$429 million? What? Where? The legislative fiscal analyst for the State of Utah calculated the costs to the public schools over the next 13 years if school vouchers are implemented. It said the costs would be $5.5M in the first year, and $71M in the 13th year. Suddenly, the number I have started seeing thrown around was $429 million, the total costs for vouchers over 13 years. Where did that number come from? Enter the mysterious "Bramble Memo". In the past few days several of us (Jeremy, Utah Taxpayer, Craig, Sara, Urban Koda, Jesse, and me) have (sometimes?) enjoyed a lively discussion about school vouchers in Utah . Jeremy clarified to me the costs of the venture by linking to a copy of the Utah Legislative Fiscal Analyst's Impartial Analysis (LFA) of the costs of Vouchers , found on "The Senate Site". In my previous voucher article, I quoted some of Lavar Webb's article from last Sunday's Deseret News, wherein he stated that those total costs ...

Why Do Liberals Coddle the Radical Islamic Monster?

Many liberals and progressives in the United States and elsewhere support a radical Islamic fundamentalist movement which, if it came to power, would quickly wipe out their liberal progressive ideology. Why then, do so many liberals coddle the monster that would destroy them? The Answer lies in their long-stemmed hatred of Western liberty and free markets. Dick Morris' new revelation of Hillary Clinton's ties to Islamic fundamentalist terrorism provides an excellent backdrop for me to ask the question that Greg Allen of The Right Balance has been asking for quite some time, to wit: If many liberals stand for free sexuality, homosexuality, the use of drugs, binge drinking, and other mindless expressions of individuality, why do so many of them also look the other way when it comes to Islamic fundamentalism? Don't they know that Iran has put to death as many as 4,000 homosexuals? Don't they know that if Islamists come to power they will not only make sexual perversi...

The Inhumanity of Bob Lonsberry: Waterboarding, Concentration Camps, and the the Bataan Death March

KNRS 570 radio talk show host Bob Lonsberry advocated waterboarding and other forms of torture during his show on April 21, 2009. More grotesquely, he was beaming with pride about his advocacy campaign. It's difficult to imagine then, that, by the same rationale, had Lonsberry been a German at the time of Hitler, or a Japanese during the Bataan Death March, that he would not have advocated torture of Jews in the concentration camps or the bayoneting and shooting of American soldiers on the Bataan trail. Torture, Torture, Everywhere! Nearly 80,000 American soldiers were captured by the Japanese in the To contemplate a discussion about whether or not torture is legal or whether it even works, it is first required to come to the conclusion that 'I am a child of God, but my adversary is a monkey'. Phillipines in 1942 and forced to march with no food and very little water for six days. If a man stumbled, if he didn't respond quickly to a command, or if he tried to get wat...

JBT5/06/2010 09:29:00 PM
Aren't you proud he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints just like yourself? He really represents your religion to the world very well, don't you think?

I could also go into a discussion of an otherwise intelligent adult who actually believes the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the serpent to be literally true, but that would be beside the point---or would it?
rmwarnick5/06/2010 09:41:00 PM
Life imitates art. Glenn Beck is a real-world incarnation of Howard Beale from the movie "Network" (1976). Probably a lot of people don't recall it because for some reason it's never shown on TV.

Lying on TV is a lucrative line of work. Beck makes $23 million a year.
Dave P.5/07/2010 07:31:00 AM
Please say your next article will be "How Mitt Romney is like Lucifer."
Robert Hagedorn5/07/2010 04:07:00 PM
The original sin was anal intercourse. For the exegesis, google the first scandal Adam and Eve. Then click, read, and comment. Please. Thank you.
Michael5/09/2010 10:16:00 AM
Glenn Beck uses satire, maybe you're just not a big fan of satire.

Do you watch the Simpson's? (If you watch the Simpson's and enjoy it, then you probably are a fan of satire)
Frank Staheli5/09/2010 03:09:00 PM
Michael: Good point. I don't generally like satire, unless it's done in good faith (i.e. courteously and the object of the satire is not offended). I once left a basketball game because a member of MY team wouldn't stop trash talking someone on the other team.

But still, Glenn Beck is often JUST PLAIN RUDE. I remember starting to read the Arguing with Idiots book (it's been 6 months or so) and thinking that the first chapter was actually quite informative and truthful. But it seemed that no matter which other chapter I started to read, his prose was caustic, and I felt like he thought that I MYSELF was an idiot. I don't recall details anymore, but I remember thinking how so much of what he said was at best an exaggeration, and at worst not independently verifiable based on the footnotes that he provided in his book.
Chris5/11/2010 07:29:00 PM
Michael: The problem with Glenn Beck, in my opinion, is that he uses satire and sarcasm in place of real evidence. I get the satire; it's just poorly executed.

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