Love him or hate him, Glenn Beck is a force to be reckoned with, and a major game changer in American Politics. Not since Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Harvard Commencement Speech), has any significant secular person had the guts to stand in front of America and preach what Beck preached: “American must return to God.”
Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.“
Edward E. Ericson, Jr., “Solzhenitsyn – Voice from the Gulag,” Eternity, October 1985, pp. 23, 24.
Heck, even radio talk show host and constitutional scholar Mark Levin, who by any stretch isn’t a Beck fan, admitted to a caller that “It was a good rally.” I was both shocked and appreciative to hear the acknowledgment by Levin, as it gives a needed reassurance that despite the personality differences between conservative opinion leaders, all who “fight the good fight” must and need to be united in this turning point of American History.
I don’t agree with everything Beck does and teaches, but I’m convinced he’s got the “God and Country” right. I also happen to think he is an extraordinary human being, and sometimes wonder if he isn’t the “one sent to humble the fools.” After all, it was only a few years ago that Beck was a dirt poor dead beat drunk unable to make rent; an uncanny metaphor to the current state of our union. It’s hard to deny that Beck grabbed many Americans at their “grass roots”, reaching demographic groups that until now were simply unreachable.
While Beck is no Solzhenitsyn, they have at their core two very fundamental things in common; immense suffering and humility. Nothing gives clarity better than seeing life from the bottom up. In their own different ways, both men have experienced their own living hell. As all “bottom dwellers” know, “the ground floor” inevitably comes with the forked road; the one to bitterness, and the one to greatness, humbled and empowered by the experience.
Only in humility can a Nobel Prize Winner like Solzhenitsyn preach to the sages of Harvard, and only in humility can someone like Beck garner a crowd of a half million US Citizens from their homes in sweltering heat, jammed packed subways (there were two hour waits just to buy tickets), and dead locked traffic.
We all know what happened to Solzhenitsyn at Harvard, booed and labeled a “hectoring Jeremiad” by the New York Times, his message for the most part, fell on deaf ears. For Beck, not so much, witnessed by a crowd who made a choice to come and hear what he had to say, unlike Nobel Laureate Solzhenitsyn, an invited “academic.”
Be it the self described rodeo clown or the most prolific Russian writer Solzhenitsyn, the core of both messages of these men is God and country, only to be ignored at our own peril.
Say what you will about Glenn Beck, but the reality is, he may well be our modern day Jeremiah!
I put together a short photo video (I was there); trying to capture what I believe was the essence of those in attendance: peaceful, God-fearing, country-loving Americans.
Patricia: Thank you for the photo video. You really managed to capture the majesty of the monuments and the sense of history they convey. I felt the presence of Americans from all generations looking up to heaven for guidance and direction to preserve this precious legacy of freedom we have created, protected and inherited so it may continue to be passed on. Great job!
That was great!
Each day I learn a little more about the past from this place and AT. Remember the name Solzhenitsyn but like a lot of information not real familar with the writings.
Very good story and video presentation. And you are right, only God can save us. It’s the choice we were all given, live a good life or live a bad one, it is your choice. But I’m sure some one will come up with, well what’s a bad one. And to that I would say, I think you know the answer.
Thanks for the video, wish I could have gone, I was enjoying Tulsa’s wonderful humitity. And Sean Hannity.
PDell, I recognized professional quality as soon as the video started, well done, well done indeed. I hope you will share more with us in the future. Skook.
PS- I don’t know where you work, but I think the big shots could learn from your cinematography!
Awesome video. Thank you. I didn’t used to be a Glenn Beck fan, but I am now. I tend to think he is a little too emotional, but you know what, he is the one leading right now. He inspires. He informs. He loves America. He loves God. I certainly get MUCH MORE INSPIRATION from Beck than I do from our supposed leader in the White House. Please keep it up, Beck. You too, Flopping Aces; you are one of my favorite blogs. God bless.
Thank you, really enjoyed the video, wish it was longer, very nice, you are not only brilliant, you’re very talented.
I noted a change in Glenn Beck this summer as he turned more to God and his faith. Don’t get to see much of him, if it rains or I get an occasional break so maybe that change isn’t a change at all. Hope this is making sense.
He reminded me of people after they first accept Jesus as their savior. They glow and have such confidence and peace knowing He is there for their every moment. Wondering it might be because of his recent Macular Dystrophy diagnosis or the burden of what is in all the research he has done may have led him to change, perhaps both. But, as I’ve noted, don’t get to watch him often, it could have been there all along, maybe he wants to prepare as many as he can for the burden ahead so he’s become more vocal.
Everything went perfectly, the programming, his speech and those he chose to appear with him was perfect as well. I suspect he had a bit of help from above, all was well received by the many who understood, others I’m confident will come along eventually.
MISSY: hi, I beleive that MR BECK knew the feeling of his fellows AMERICANS and
THIS RALLY was specialy prepare for them to turn to GOD for help to reconciled them with their values of the laws of the land which are being treathen by this GOVERNMENT. bye
@ilovebeeswarzone:
I believe you are right Miss Beezy. Thanks for the help. 😉
I got home early in the morning on Sunday after an 11 hour all night bus ride and then a 2.5 hour car ride.
I went straight into the house, got a shower, got dressed, and went to church.
All week I have been struggling to put into words what the 8/28 experience was like for me…what it felt like to be there…and, as of now, words still fail me.
The camaraderie, the feel, the emotion, the sights, the sounds…I just cannot express it right now.
Watching the photo montage that Patricia put together was certainly inspirational and perhaps in a few days I, too, will be able to sit down and capture the experience in words and pictures.
@Aye Chihuahua: @Aye Chihuahua:
I’ve been anxiously waiting for you since after the rally was over. I know when you are ready it will be well worth my wait.
Will be leaving for a few days, hope I don’t miss it, please e-mail the thread addy in case you write it before Tuesday. Thanks, would be much appreciated!
Ok, I am slightly off the thread topic, ever so slightly, but this is a caution . . . don’t inflate Glenn Beck into something he is NOT. The “Glenn Meme” watch out people, keep your wits!!!
“advocatus diobali” . . . if you please . . .
Over the past few days, since the Glenn Beck Rally, I have been trying to determine or come to some understanding of the “Opposites” of view that were so apparent between the Glenn Rally and Sharpton Rally . . . I found some insight at the link below:
http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html
The “eye opener” is . . . Obama . . . who claims to believe in Jesus Christ . . . PROBABLY does!!! His belief is, however, founded in the teachings of what maybe a cult based on Black Liberation Theology (BLT). . . by reading about BLT . …. . a better comprehension of why there is such significant divergence in the Beck Rally & Sharpton Rally occurred. Also, there is clearly undeniable support that MLK did not “publically” advance the concepts of BLT. There is, however, that remote possiblity, that people like Sharpton, Cone, and other even more radical may have at sometime in the past had “non-public” discussions with MLK and those discussions may have been opposite to what MLK professed in public. Thus, if Sharpton or others, were aware of “private” MLK concepts of “I Had A Dream” . . . then most certainly in their own minds Beck was may have been “hijacking” MLK.
So I did some searching around to find any information that Glenn Beck may have had prior to his Rally:
Ok, here is a link to a Glenn Show, from 2008, where he discusses the concepts of Black Liberation Theology, quotes from various books are flashed across the screen and some analysis is presented.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cA0GEV1ibY
Yes, if what is discussed is true, and I have no doubt in Glenn’s truthfulness. Then “Christian Theology”, since most of US were born and raised in a Protestant or Catholic based church, we should be scared . . . . SCARED SHIFTLESS IN FACT
Maybe I advocated my self in a circle, lol
At the same time, Glenn had “previous knowledge” and was therefore, very confident, that for He, Glenn Beck, to stage a MLK Rally would indeed light off a powder keg.
For Glenn Beck to say that he had NO IDEA that he was planning his rally for MLK Day . . . well, lets just say . . . form your own opinion
To put it another way . . . “Those of you that attended the Glenn Beck Rally, certainly had an inspirational time, but YOU GOT YOUR A$$ES USED BY A REALLY SMART BOY . . . CAN I SAY WHITE BOY?”
tallgrass: HI, why WOULD IT BE A NEGATIVE ISSUE TO YOUR ASSESMENT,
the FACT THAT THE RALLY WAS A SUCCESS, IS REALY ALL THAT COUNT,
there IS ALWAYS DOORS TO OPEN WHEN ORGANIZING A RALLY OF SUCH MAGNITUDE
of COURSE IT HAPPEN ON THAT DAY OF MEMORYS FOR NOT ONLY THE
BLACK PEOPLE BUT FOR EVERYONE ALL TOGETHER UNIFIED IN ONE SPIRITUAL EVENT.
BYE
Bees;
At the Glenn Rally it was all together like a huge religious meeting, people were just happy to get together, hear the wonderful speakers, share in the humanity, see the bright future that was ahead and send a clear message to the government that there was a huge number of people that were not at all happy about the situation the country is in.
At the Sharpton Rally, which was at the opposite end of the Mall, the tone was entirely different and totally opposite. . . hate, racism, screams of hijacking MLK to a racist cause, it was a horrible thing to see and hear even if I only see the video clips on YouTube.
So there was, inside of me, a curious urge to find out why this group, Sharpton’s was so negative . . . other than of course the liberals were deeply involved in the Sharpton opposition rally.
So I did some looking into it. The result was, I feel there was some provocation on the part of the Glenn crowd . . . not mind you by those that atteneded the rally . . . by those that organized it . . . Glenn himself in other words.
TALLGRASS; hi, I beleive you found something regarding what you said: but I am more
CONCERN of what is being done on the other side; I was just reading of OBAMA went to report
ARIZONA and 22 other StATES to THE UN, for “human right violation”;
this alone give AMERICANS a GOOD reason for PROVOCATION, toward the intent the government is following, SELLING AMERICA chunk by chunk, under the cover to UN’s
AUTHORITY to come and use it as they wish, as one was mentioning,
A PARK with the sign of UN own.
It is escalating on both sides and will be fair games on this side to block the destruction of AMERICA SOVEREIGNTY as a REPUBLIC as you know more than I,
YOU can be sure that I respect your opinion always. bye
Excuse my bad English, but here I saw your blog link to Solzhenitsyn, but you probably do not know, but Solzhenitsyn was a KGB agent t (NKVD) and he survived in the gulag just because denounced those who sat with him. There are a lot of evidence. But most sources in Russian:
http://www.compromat.ru/page_12899.htm
http://bibliofil.info/book_reviews/politics/solzhenitsyn_treason_spiral/
http://evreimir.com/article.php?id=13357
More than 8000 references.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=ru&q=%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%86%D1%8B%D0%BD+%D1%81%D1%82%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%87&btnG=%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
Those that I indicated, you can put through an interpreter Google and read.
Moreover, you do not know, chtogo what he did at the end of his life.
The fact that Solzhenitsyn is a fascist anti-Semite, even those who talked with him sitting in a camp, and at the end of life Solzhenitsyn wrote anti-Semitic book “200 years together” where all the troubles of Russia accuses the Jews
And in America he was in collusion with the KGB and the book he wrote “The Gulag Archipelago” was written on the instructions of the KGB …
And you know why? We had to fight with somebody, the Soviet people had never seen Americans as enemies and treated them more or less normal, And here the book goes against the Soviets, then against whom there is war …
So be careful and do not fall into the trap, which is called “Solzhenitsyn”.
See fit to respond in writing p24@list.ru
Once again I apologize for bad English.
Beck, Black Liberation Theology and Obama…put them all together and you have a must read:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/becks_obsession_with_black_lib.html
suek, that’s good to know thank you,
I also THANK you for the link DARWIN ,I’m learning a lot following you around bye
PAVEL: hi, I can say that your english is very good. this was interesting knowledge also. bye
ilovebeeswarzone: Thanks to you all the best
Glenn Beck is a major game changer in American politics?
He rallied against Obama. Obama won.
He hated the Stimulus. The stimulus passed.
He was against a healthcare bill. That passed as well.
He was against the stem-cell research bill. That passed as well.
He was against the financial reform bill. That passed as well.
Beck loses every time. Beck is no game changer.
@Fred Barnes:
Beck’s ratings, Obama’s polls? Heh, game over.
Thanks everyone for all of your very kind and most appreicated comments!
Missy you are the first person ever to request a “longer” video (lol)! Glad you enjoyed it.
For the few who think Beck is taking his supporters through a “trap door”, I do agree that we should always be cautious, especially not to “glorify” anyone but our Diety. I made it clear that there is much about Beck I don’t agree with at all, especially his recent support for gay marraige (that one is a head spinner for a lot of reasons).
I’m only promoting Beck’s message of “God and Country”, in very general terms, and applaud his guts to get out there and rally the crowds and support the troops. I’m quite sure theologically, we would have many differences, but that’s not really relative to his overall message. If the day ever comes that Beck tries to sign us all up to a particular faith, I’ll be the first fan to jump ship.
Tallgrass I have to respectfully disagree with your post. You make the case as to why it’s necessary to be there and document the real essence. There was NOTHING political about this rally; not even signs, althought I did see a 10 year old girl on the metro wearing a “I love my gun” button.” As for MLK, are you aware that his neice Alveda was one of Beck’s speakers? Also, MLK day is in February, not August. I can assure you had Beck not had a scheduled rally on the anniversary of his speech, Sharpton wouldn’t have been around the corner doing his anti-Beck political rally. Glenn is the first to admit that he is NOT MLK, nor is he trying to be. That said Tallgrass, I think it’s always good to be cautious, especailly in a age of modern day sophists.
Fred, if you would allow me to add one line to your post, it would be this: And all that “passed”, failed, despite Beck warning against it. You think that’s not a “game changer?” Let’s compare notes after the November elections (provided they aren’t suspended).
Seuk, forgot to mention that your reference article to Black Liberation Theology is one of the best I’ve ever read.
@Fred
On top of what Missy has posted in response to your post, I’d like for you to post the votes for and against those bills, and the party affiliation. I think that you will see a trend in the voting. Namely, the GOP voted almost in lockstep against every single one of those. Beck doesn’t care about the liberals in congress, and that is the only reason each and every one of those passed.
Obama “won” because of the liberal/progressives that run congress are pushing his, and their agenda which is decidedly anti-constitution and anti American.
Fred Barnes #20 re “Beck the game changer.” Don’t give Glenn all the credit.He had help from Hannity and Limbaugh.
Patricia…
I thought it was a very coherent explanation of BLT. On another blog I frequent, accusations of racism were a constant factor during the campaign. One poster continually brought it up with any and every objection to Obama’s background and positions. She is white, but apparently went back to college and got her masters degree in liberal arts and under the tutelage of her professor, became convinced that black was the only moral color of skin, so now she considers herself black. Regardless of her skin color. Stockholm syndrome or something, I guess. We continually tried to get her to define racism, but what she always came back to was really “black is good, white is bad”. In fact, what I concluded from those discussions, and what that article confirmed for me was that BLT leaves no option other than a race war that results in either complete suppression or death of either all black people or all white people. It is truly an evil and devastating philosophy.
PATRICIA, thank you for that inspiring POST, as I came back to revisit with as much interest
today april 10 2011
Michael Seewald,
I must thank you for being responsible for me to visit PATRICA’s POST again, which I again saw the
WONDERFUL VIDEO AND litterature, that I believe to be such important truth for the young people,
the new GENERATION, WHICH are being led to bad standard of thinking ,
by those advocating THEIR PARTY OF NOWHERE TO GO BUT DOWN, IN WORSE DESPERATION.
AIMING TO BREAK THEIR SPIRITS , and change them into follower instead of self confident and balanced human been of their future,
look at today’s other rally of OCTOBER 2011, and you will compare the message of hope against devastation of the soul.
this POST IS SO IMPORTANT TO BE SEEN THESE DAYS AND i am glad of the opportunity
to have people in AMERICA NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE ,
for the sake of AMERICA IN PERIL. FOR THE SAKE OF THE YOUTH
OF AMERICA NOW IN GRAVE PERIL.
Michael
Michael