Comments on: Glenn Beck and the Revival of Mormon Millenarianism?

By: Harland Carpenter

Harland Carpenter — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:50:04 +0000

I don’t know what all the fuss is about Glenn Beck. If you REALLY want to dive into some apocalyptic fantasy, try “The Late, Great Planet Earth”, or the “Left Behind” chronicles. What is even scarier is the fact that the fans of that delusional crap comprise the greatest proportion of American religious believers–i.e., they’re “mainstream”…! Their expectation was the “rapture”, sometime between 1985 and 2000. Wow…gosh I guess it didn’t happen…!

By: Zelophehad’s Daughters | Nacle Notebook 2009: Funny comments

Zelophehad’s Daughters | Nacle Notebook 2009: Funny comments — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:50:22 +0000

[...] Owen, continuing a discussion of whether James Madison would have liked things President Obama has done, in a comment on Christopher’s post “Glenn Beck and the Revival of Mormon Millenarianism?” at the Juvenile Instructor: I just asked my white salamander what Madison thinks of what is going on in the world right now and he told me to put all of my money in cricket futures. [...]

By: Juvenile Instructor » The Tea Party as a Religious Movement: A Response

Juvenile Instructor » The Tea Party as a Religious Movement: A Response — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:21:03 +0000

[...] I fully agree (and was indeed among the very first to argue) that Beck is tapping into Mormon folk millennialism of yesteryear, I’m afraid Daughtrey [...]

By: Glenn Beck An Embarrasment To Mormons–Perpetuates Harmful, Untrue Stereotypes « Messenger and Advocate

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:39:38 +0000

[...] http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/glenn-beck-and-the-revivalism-of-mormon-millenarianism/ [...]

By: Jared T

Jared T — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:07:51 +0000

Yea, Lew, and since the Jonas Bros. are also performing at the Stadium of Fire, I guess that reaffirms their status as Church spokesmen too. A step down from Miley Cyrus’ ambassadorship last year. Great thinking.

By: Lew

Lew — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:59:27 +0000

I see that Beck is hosting this year’s Stadium of Fire, reaffirming his status as a Church spokesman. As an aside I think the Church leadership is as conservative as ETB was, considering that they don’t have any problem with hosting Sean Hannity on their radio stations. Things really haven’t changed much from when I was a kid, except for blacks and the priesthood.

By: Juvenile Instructor » “The government is the devil”: Glenn Beck and Mormonism Redux

Wed, 06 May 2009 03:53:23 +0000

[...] a follow up to my post on Glenn Beck’s drawing upon a certain strain of Mormon apocalyptic folklore in articulating [...]

By: Coffinberry

Coffinberry — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:45:01 +0000

Raedyohed,

I suspect “Beck et al.” would answer A, as would a lot of other LDS people, but the nuance of what is meant might vary a lot.

I think the root he reason why LDS people would feel the U.S. Constitution is special and deserving of care and attention is found in LDS scripture which teaches that God himself established the Constitution. (See Doctrine & Covenants 101:77, 80.)

The too-frequent (and perhaps lazy or over-simplified) extrapolation which inflates that scriptural statement into a worldview that elevates the Constitution to some sort of holy, unchangeable, canonical document misses other passages of LDS scripture that clarify or specify exactly what it is about the Constitution that is special and should be preserved. Specifically, the unique defense-worthy character of the Constitution lies in that portion which “support[s] that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges,” and it “belongs to all mankind.” (Doctrine & Covenants 98:5].

To me, then, the thing that is most important about the Constitution is its fundamental support for the principle of individual agency and choice. These statements correspond to Article of Faith 11, which avers that Mormons believe we should let all people “worship how, where, or what they may.”

Sometimes, it seems like those who stump the hardest for “preserve and protect the Constitution” are doing so to accomplish exactly the opposite purpose that the most vital part of the Constitution is meant to accomplish.

I am also very aware I am in the minority in thinking this.

By: Raedyohed

Raedyohed — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:37:13 +0000

Joel’s distinction (#55) is well placed, and in light of David G.’s comment (#56) contrasts the main thrust of my inquiry. That is, whether or not a distinction ought to be made between “inspired” and “Holy” vis a vis the Constitution, and whether or not LDS General Authorities have consistently made such a distinction, is such a distinction important in our understanding of Beck et al.’s Constitutional position and passion? In other words: would Beck et al. answer a, b, c, d, or e, and is that answer central to his appeal (wisdom aside) among both Mormons and other Christian demographics?

By: David G.

David G. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:28:12 +0000

I agree with Joel, but just to complicate things, I believe that ETB equated the Constitution to scripture (I at least had a couple of BYU profs paraphrase him that way), but I’m not sure it is wise to take ETB’s opinions as anything close to being an official position.