Southern Baptist executive Richard Land was pleased at how religious Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally turned out to be. Bishop Harry Jackson, a black evangelical leader, was pleasantly surprised that the Fox News talk show host said things “some of my close friends could have written.” In the wake of the conservative commentator’s rally on the National Mall on Aug. 28, some evangelical leaders say he sounded all the right religious notes.
But others say Beck’s Mormon faith clouds the message.
Some conservative Christians say Beck’s leadership at an event attended by evangelicals and other conservatives was nothing short of scandalous.
“The answer to this scandal … includes local churches that preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and disciple their congregations to know the difference between the kingdom of God and the latest political whim,” Russell Moore, dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote on his blog the day after the rally.
“It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
There is no doubt that Beck has a following. Gallup has ranked him as the fourth most admired man — just ahead of Pope Benedict XVI — and millions tune in to his daily broadcasts. But, as his religious rhetoric attests, Beck has gone fishing for a new audience recently. Weeks before the rally, he gathered about 20 prominent religious leaders for a dinner at which he said God was leading him to talk about revival in America, Land said. The night before the rally, he held a Divine Destiny event that promised to leave participants with a “strong belief that faith can play an essential role in reuniting the country.”
That kind of language has some evangelicals upset. “I believe that Beck used his conservative veneer and doublespeak to co-opt leaders of the religious right,” wrote Brannon Howse, founder of Worldview Weekend, which sponsors Christian worldview conferences. Experts say Beck’s ability to reach evangelicals will depend on whether he speaks a broad message or delves more narrowly into his Mormon beliefs. “Most evangelicals are friendly toward the idea of American civil religion, and I think Beck’s call sort of fit into that stream of history,” said Stan Guthrie, editor at large for Christianity Today. “I think that as long as he doesn’t get too specific about his Mormon faith … many people will be willing to get on board.”
John Green, an expert on religion and politics at the University of Akron, said doctrinal differences between evangelicals and Mormons have historically made it difficult for them to form alliances. Some prominent evangelicals have distanced themselves in the past from Beck because of his Mormonism. In 2008, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson abruptly pulled an interview with Beck after viewers voiced concerns about “theological compromise.” (RNS)
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