Jesus was cool, Glenn Beck is not

Usually I don’t write about clowns in this space (myself excluded), and Glenn Beck’s latest idiocy ought not to be an exception. Because even if you write a thoughtful, heartfelt piece damning his words and/or actions, all you’re really doing is adding another voice to the bloody din over “news” manufactured specifically to raise a bloody din.

This brief post then is just a shout-out to the Christian evangelical leader who called Beck out on his latest moronic blatherings.

Kudos to you, Rev. Jim Wallis, for having the courage to point out that Christian churches of every denomination are supposed to preach the “code words” of “economic and social justice.” It’s right there in the back of the Good Book, between the endless begetting and fire and brimstone of the Old Testament, and the bloodletting and fire and brimstone of Revelations.

Four stories about a fellow named Jesus, whose entire ministry the Book claims was dedicated to preaching and practicing social justice. What part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, chapters 5-7) do you suppose Glenn Beck doesn’t get? They’re not “code words,” they’re the fundamental text of Christ’s mission here on earth! The responsibility to social justice they spell out is as plain as the goggle-eyes on Glenn Beck’s face.

I am well pleased that some preacher somewhere finally found the balls to call one of these these charlatans out on their macabre misinterpretation of the central message of the Gospel stories.

Social justice isn’t a perversion of Christian philosophy and practice, it’s the whole point!