Beckoning Christians

NEWS | TV personality Glenn Beck is not the problem, but his religious syncretism is | Marvin Olasky

Associated Press/Photo by Richard Drew

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes."

That message in Psalm 118 is vital to remember whenever a charismatic leader comes along. Many who trusted in Barack Obama two years ago have learned that. Anyone who trusts in Glenn Beck will learn that too.

This is not to equate the two individuals. President Obama continues to promote policies that are fiscally irresponsible, ethically atrocious, or both. Beck is advocating antidotes: less government, smaller deficits, and the realization, as he has noted, that "abortion is murder. . . . I think if you had a womb with a window, it would never happen."

Beck is opening a window on what for decades has been obscured—not only unborn children but unknown stories from U.S. history. Civics has largely disappeared from American high schools. Many universities teach that sophistication means snootiness toward the United States. Since Beck's televised programs emphasize the greatness of the American dream, it's a revelation to those who heard only of nightmares.