Mr. Beck apparently is a commentator of some renown, or perhaps infamy. I try to avoid such media types; hardly ever listen to them. In my experience, they tend to value their own views very highly, and they generally seem to love their own voices. I'm painting with a broad brush here, but somehow they've become totally convinced their utterances are wisdom for the ages, and they're quite willing to share them with us.
(As you probably can tell, they're not all in the media. We all know one or two people whose views, in their own minds, are priceless.)
The Wife doesn't appreciate such commentators knowing just how to push my buttons. For some reason, she gets irritated when I talk back to the radio or moon the TV. So, I generally try to avoid such "pundits."
Nevertheless, yesterday I tuned in to C-Span's coverage of the "Restoring Honor" to America rally, mostly to see what the buzz was about. Depending on who did the counting, the gathering at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, drew fewer than 100,000 to about 500,000 in support of turning the nation back to God.
Beck's organization billed the rally as apolitical and non-confrontational. As far as I could tell, it was. However, since yesterday was on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, the rally apparently chafed several self-styled national black leaders and their apologists in the media. The most-esteemed Rev. Al Sharpton organized his own march nearby to "truly observe" (my quotation marks) the speech anniversary.
Sharpton and others, not all black, predicted the rally would be little more than an evil, hate-filled gathering of politically conservative racists. I don't know where they got their crystal balls, but I hope they were under warranty. The rally was just as Beck's organization had billed it: an effort to challenge the average U.S. citizen to get his/her own heart right and turn back to civility, honor, service, and God. The critics who prematurally trashed the rally charged that its timing was an attempt to "hijack" the civil rights movement.
When I heard that, I would have laughed my butt off -- except that they were serious. As Beck has put it, the movement no more "belongs" to one group of Americans than Abe Lincoln belongs to another. Apparently, King's niece, Dr. Alveda King, agrees. As the head of African-American Outreach for Priests for Life and founder of King for America, she spoke at the rally.
During the gathering, Beck honored several people of differing color for their selflessness, their charity and their commitment to service. And I don't recall any mention, negative or otherwise, of other organizations, gatherings or rallies. According to reports today, the day after the event, though that wasn't quite true for other gatherings.
I don't know what Glenn Beck has done in the past to create such animosity, and I don't much care. I am a staunch believer in free speech, even for those who spout what I consider tripe. I don't know if I am a fan of this guy or not. His faith and his commitment to it seem genuine enough.
What I do know is that yesterday, Beck urged you, me, the average U.S. citizen, to look beyond color, wealth, stature and return ourselves to honor. Do what God wants us to do, serve our brothers and sisters. Reestablish in each of our lives the values we have ignored or cast aside. Then, we can value our brothers and sisters.
Then, we can get together and fix was is broken in this nation of ours.
Beck, yesterday, hit a home run. God bless him! Let's see what happens now. Maybe, just maybe, this'll be the start of something really important to our nation. Maybe it won't. If not, well...
Maybe I'll just dance....
1 comment:
My Dear Scurvy, An' how 'bout the State Dept. pukes who spout off about how they are "tired of hearing about this sovereignty crap" in regard to the law of the sea treaty through the UN that your senators will be called upon to ratify. Your president will put it before them, and if it happens before Jan. 20 (or so), 2011, it will probably be ratified, and the vast majority of senators from both parties will have not even considered it. Their knowledge of it will be via exec.summaries prepared by 23-year-old college kids. I have always been an arch enemy of term limits. Now I'm beginning to believe ... as you have observed the fact ... that, as they are in elected office for more than two terms, they become hopelessly corrupted by the pile of stuff that is Washington, D. C.
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