Beck: Progressives Are “Enemies Of God”

Glenn Beck recently claimed that his show “hasn't been about hateful rhetoric.” But on both his Fox News show and his radio program, Beck routinely goes far beyond criticizing the viewpoints of those who don't share his political ideology; unlike any other well-known political commentator, Beck actually claims his political adversaries are “enemies of God.”

Beck Claims His Show “Hasn't Been About Hateful Rhetoric”

Beck: My Show “Hasn't Been About Hateful Rhetoric.” From the January 21 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: And as I explained earlier this week, it is up to the individuals to solve the problems. That's kind of the history of the two years that we've been on Fox. It hasn't been about hateful rhetoric. It hasn't been about anything. It has from the very beginning been about solving the problem, the riddle about what is happening and what is the best way to do it. And I don't come to you as a guy who has the answers. I don't come to you as a guy who says I know everything. I don't. I clearly don't. I'm not a guy who says I get it right all the time because I clearly don't. But we try because I do believe that it was the Age of Enlightenment that gave us this enlightened document. We've lost the light. The documents haven't. We have. [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 1/21/11]

Beck Professes Against Claims That God Is “On Our Side”: “He's Not On Our Side, We Have To Be On His Side.” From the January 21 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: Divine providence is different than manifest destiny. This means that no matter what happens, good or bad, if we do the right things, if we -- if we look at things and say it's going to be OK, as long as we're in tune with him. He's not on our side, we have to be on his side. Once that happens, no matter good or bad, no matter what happens we're going to be fine. [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 1/21/11, via Nexis]

But Beck Frequently Demonizes Progressives As The “Enemies Of God”

Beck: Progressives Have “Tried To Destroy” God. On the January 21 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, Beck stated that the Founders sought to promote enlightenment, empowerment and entrepreneurship. He added:

BECK: There are another set of founders in America -- the founders of the progressive movement. They know this system as well. And they also know all thought is creative. So now let's just quickly look at what they've done. They have distanced God from people. They have discredited him, distanced him, made him into a joke, denied his existence or, at best, just confused him with social justice and everything else -- just confused him.

Jeremiah Wright is a political organization. That's not a church. That's for community organizing on politics. That's not a church. It certainly doesn't say empower the individual. It says empower the state and the state will provide justice for all. That's a political movement. So they've confused God at best and tried to destroy him everywhere else. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 1/21/11]

Beck: Progressives Are “Enemies Of God And Enemies Of Man's Freedom.” During a segment on the July 14, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck attacked “San Francisco radical Van Jones,” liberation theology, President Obama, and Andy Stern. Beck also claimed “Michelle Obama told us exactly what Obama was going to do” when she said, “We're going to have to change our tradition, our history.” He added:

BECK: We learn from our mistakes. We can't change our history into something that it wasn't, but it's happening. We've got to grab onto the truth and cling to it, but what is the truth? Well, the truth about the civil rights movement isn't the Black Panthers and the threats causing Congress to pass the civil rights, that's bull crap!

God did it, by working through people and inspiring people like Martin Luther King, and C.L. Jackson. And yes, white people like Bobby Kennedy and dare I say it, oh, my Gosh, I'm going to set the world on fire with this -- Roger Ailes.

I think he spent some time in the civil rights movement. He was with Martin Luther King a couple of times, people from both sides of the aisle, people of all kinds, all races, different levels of participation.

God led the cause because he is against oppression. But he does not conspire to work through hate groups. Stand up, stand together, stand with the truth. Stand with God. That is the one thing that they cannot fight. That is your only weapon is God. And he wields it, not you. You just stand behind him and just let him be your shield. It's the one thing that they don't have on their side. Now that's a pretty wild comment to make unless you go back to Saul Alinsky.

Do you know what the dedication says? Do you know what the front page says of this book?

Put it up here, “Lest we forget at least one over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical from all of our legends, mythology and history and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins, or which is which, the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom.”

You put this together with collective salvation. May I quote the pope? Put the pope, Pope Benedict, here is what he said about collective salvation: “Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes not divine but demonic.”

Stand with God, America. Stand with God. He will be our shield. These are not enemies of ours. They are not enemies of ours. They're enemies of God and enemies of man's freedom. He'll work it out. You just stand where you're supposed to stand and be peaceful. [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 7/14/10, via Nexis]

Comparing Progressives To Satan, Beck Says They “Have Replaced” God. From the January 12, 2010, broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: If you believe in the, you know, the war in Heaven where a third of the angels were cast out and all of that stuff, it was about man's choice.

CALLER: Yes.

BECK: And he would provide a savior and Satan's plan was hey, I'll save everybody. Give me the credit. Give me the credit, I'll save everybody. I'll make sure that everybody returns home. It's going to be fantastic. I'll -- just take away their choice and give me the credit. Well, gee, I think that plan was rejected, and that's because God knew that failure was important for growth. He knew that we would fail and he would provide the failure so when we hit the bottom we would have a chance -- we would know there was hope for the only thing that really matters and that is redemption. Eternal redemption.

But the progressives have so cut out God. And I showed you yesterday on television and last week on the radio that they have replaced God. They're taking -- rights are now created by Congress. Rights are not given to us by our Creator. They're created by Congress. They are taking the role of God. And so they're taking away our suffering. They're taking away all of our pain, all of the opportunity to fail. People look at failure in exactly the wrong way. Failure is the starting point of real, true success. If you don't fail you really don't have a lot of wisdom. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 1/12/10]

Beck To Guest: “Any Doubt In Your Mind That The Progressive Left Is Coming For The Kill On Religion?” During the October 15, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck said of the Tides Foundation and George Soros:

BECK: I just wish we were a government-funded entity so we wouldn't have all these commercials because you just missed a fabulous conversation. We are talking about the “Story of Stuff Project.” This comes from the Tides Foundation. Spooky dude George Soros. One world government. Yes.

He's now going into your churches. Ask your pastor or your priest or your rabbi. If you see anything like this going to your kids, run for your life. You are in the wrong church. I mean, unless you're environmentalist that worships, you know, Gaia or whoever it is now.

“Let There Be Stuff,” a spirit-filled response to a consumer-crazed world. I want you to know that we do consume an awful lot. We consume -- we are worshipping a different god. Many of us, we are worshipping the god of stuff, the god of a logo or a label. We don't need it. We don't need it.

You know a society is screwed up when people will stand in line for the new cell phone that they -- they already have a cell phone. They just want that one. We are a little screwed up as a society.

Cal Beisner is here and David Barton, also with me. And we're talking about this upside-down world where we're now being taught in, not just schools, but now, in churches and synagogues. Any doubt in your mind that the progressive left is coming for the kill on religion?

CALVIN BEISNER, FOUNDER, CORNWALL ALLIANCE: Absolutely. Absolutely. And part of the reason is because traditional Christian faith and biblical faith in America has been the most resistant to the whole progressive agenda.

BECK: Yes.

BEISNER: Poll after poll has shown the people who have been most skeptical about things like, oh, catastrophic, man-made global warming, or about other environmental hypes and scares have been those people who assert the greatest belief in the Bible. [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 10/15/10, via Nexis]

Beck On Van Jones: God Said “I Shall Rebuke The Devourer For Your Sake.” From the April 20, 2010, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: I was telling you about Van Jones, and I said, do we run with this? Do we run with this because we don't know for sure, but all evidence -- and I don't know if we can verify this, this, this, but look at the connection here. Most of it we did verify. Some of it we couldn't and we never put on. But I believe them to be true but I don't say them because I couldn't nail them down. What stopped me from saying “I can't prove these things but”? I said to Pat -- I said something's wrong. What do we do? We both prayed. And we went home and both of us prayed again and then we both opened up our scriptures unbeknownst to each other until the next morning.

And I couldn't wait to see Pat because I had an answer. I said, you won't believe what I found. And he said, wait, wait, wait, me first about our conversation yesterday. I looked in Malachai. Look it up. Malachai 3:11. I'm paraphrasing -- I'll shall rebuke the devourer for your sake. To me this message was clear: “He's not an enemy of yours. How dare you think he's an enemy of yours. Freedom comes from me, God. Freedom, your rights, belong to me, not you. I will rebuke anyone who tries to devour them.”

[...]

BECK: Read Ephesians 6:11 to 17, Ephesians 6:11 to 17. It's what we have to do. It's where we have to go. And it's what will save us. Use faith as your shield and put on the armor of God, and he will rebuke the devourer for our sakes. [Premiere Radio Networks' Glenn Beck Program, 4/20/10]

Beck Alleges 95-Year Progressive Plan To “Put A Poison Into Our Church.” From the May 18, 2010, edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: No, no, no, no. We're going to correct its meaning tonight.

If you have a pencil and paper, get it out, because you're going to need to write stuff down tonight. You're going to learn stuff that you probably have never even really noticed. Then you are going to start noticing all kinds of stuff.

You have a priest, a pastor, a bishop, a rabbi -- you get them on the phone and tell them right now: Turn on the Glenn Beck program.

Progressives knew about 1915. They knew that they couldn't get their agenda through, because of three things: people knew the Constitution. Americans talked about it in 1915.

People loved the founders. We knew who they really were.

And the third one, people went to church. They had to put a poison into our church. Well, they've done it. I expose it tonight, and I give you the cure as well. [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 5/18/10]

Beck Attacks Obama And Progressives: “When You Pervert The Gospel Of Jesus Christ, You Are Evil.” From the August 23, 2010, edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: We're being pitted against each other on religion. And I want you to know this is -- this is part of the strategy. This is why we brought up Sojourners and Jim Wallis and Reverend Wright and I told you about social justice.

I told you that our religions are being hijacked. Religion plays a huge role in the progressive movement. You must have religion. If you can beat down religion -- why do you think that they've chased God out of the public square? And now Nancy Pelosi is talking about God all the time. That you have the president talking -- bashing the Bible. Who's Bible are we going to listen to now? And then talking about faith and religion. Why do you think this is all happening?

It's critical, it's critical. And these people -- and let me just -- let me say this. When you pervert the founding documents I think you're a pretty bad dude. But when you pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you are evil. And when you know you intentionally are doing it for power and control and money and a hidden agenda, and you lie, cheat, and steal every step of the way to do it, you are evil.

Now let me show you Jim Wallis. Jim Wallis is a guy from Sojourners who has led a campaign against me. They are trying to pit our religions against each other. They are trying to -- I stood at the feet of Abraham Lincoln yesterday. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” They must have us at each other's throats.

I've told you before that this is George Soros money, that this is nothing but a hidden progressive agenda, that social justice as understood by Jim Wallis and Jeremiah Wright and people like him, it is evil. He claims that there is no money coming from Soros. If I saw my name smeared on the Internet one more time on this, I mean it became laughable, because people actually believe George Soros isn't involved in this. [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 8/23/10]

Beck: “You Need To Get Behind Him Because They Are Enemies Of Him.” From the July 15, 2010, broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

CALLER: Hello Glenn. I just want to thank you for your letting all of us know and bringing light to the fact that, you know, these people with this particular ideology are not our enemies. They are our Heavenly Father's.

BECK: Yes they are.

[...]

BECK: So what was it that woke you up this? Or have you just been -

CALLER: Well, I'm a man of your faith. And, you know, I've been thinking that and, you know, I've talked to people, but when you said it it was just like a relief to me that this, you know, I need to do what I need to do, you know.

BECK: Yeah. And you don't need to fight; you need to get behind him. You need to get behind him because they are enemies of him. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 7/15/10]

Beck Suggests Environmentalism “Replacing God” With The Earth. From the May 12, 2010, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: They're now looking at absolutely everything, and the environment is the key. The environment will control -- because remember, what we're talking about is the Earth replacing God. Earth is the most important thing. So it's more important to save the Earth than it is even to save people. The Earth makes the decisions for us. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 5/12/10]

Beck: Progressives Have “Almost-Complete Plan” To “Destroy Our Faith.” On the May 24, 2010, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, Beck said, “freedom is on the run,” and attacked progressives by saying they have an “almost-complete plan,” through social justice, to “destroy the Constitution, destroy the Founders, and destroy our faith.” From the broadcast:

BECK: Back to what I taught you on the 1915 progressives. They figured it out. They knew they couldn't do everything they wanted to do in 1915 because we were too tied to the Constitution. We were too tied to the Founders. And we were too tied to our churches. And so they changed history. They went in and all these progressives in the universities, they started to change the history books. They went into our faith with something called social justice. That is from the progressive movement.

Now you may not interpret it that way in your church, but you've got to understand the roots because that's what it is. It's redistribution of wealth. It cannot be found in the Bible, it cannot be found -- do you have the audio of what Bill Clinton said over the weekend? That everything is unsustainable and unequal. Excuse me? When were we -- at what point did we all decide that we're going to make the world equal? All men are created equal. It's what you do with your freedom, and right now freedom is on the run. It's -- it is a almost complete plan: Destroy the Constitution, destroy the Founders, and destroy our faith. What part haven't they done? What more do you need? [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 5/24/10]

Beck: “The Policies That Are Being Enacted In Washington” Are “Enemies Of God.” From the July 19, 2010, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: If you were at the American Revival on Saturday, that ain't nothing -- that is nothing compared to what you're going to see on 8-28. Make sure you join us. Forty days and 40 nights. It is not about politics, because quite honestly, we are not dealing with politicians. These are not -- the policies that are being enacted in Washington -- they are not enemies of ours. They are enemies of God because God is about freedom. God is about equal justice, not equal stuff in our homes. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 7/19/10]