Posted on 09/09/2012 10:23:41 AM PDT by Mozilla
On Thursday night, Glenn Beck tackled an issue that has come up frequently throughout the 2012 presidential campaign — Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith. Prior to the show, the radio and television host invited TheBlaze readers and viewers to submit their questions, as he sought to address the myths that often surround The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Beck, who is also a Mormon, told viewers that his faith is inherent in all that he does. In fact, it is his personal relationship with God that guides his actions and sustains him.
“I do what I do, because of my faith,” Beck told viewers. “Because of my faith, I’m not afraid.”
He also went on to highlight some of the elements that people need to know about his personal faith and its central underpinnings. From a belief in Jesus Christ to the notion that helping one’s fellow man is essential, these values lay at the center of the Mormon experience.
“God lives. We survive. America flourishes,” he continued, listing off the other sentiments that Mormons embrace. “The Messiah came and he will come again. Be good to one another. Give until it hurts. Give to the poor, the hungry and the underprivileged. Obey God. Make a covenant with him. He keeps his word. But be on his side. Don’t try to get him on your side.”
The first issue — or myth, rather — that Beck tackled was polygamy, a marriage that includes more than two individuals. Since there is mass confusion surrounding Mormons and plural marriage, Beck provided in-depth background and historical analysis on the issue. While he explained that Mormons did, indeed, practice polygamy at one point in time, he notes that this dynamic ended 122 years ago and that the church takes a strong stance against it today.
GlennBeck.com has more about Beck’s statements surrounding historical constructs of the former practice:
He explained that in the 1800s, there was massive persecution of Mormons wer driven out of New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. In Missouri, the governor even issued Executive Order-44 which ordered that all Mormons be exterminated or driven out of the state, resulting in 10,000 Mormons who lived there either being killed or forced to flee. Executive Order-44 wasn’t overturned until 1976. As a result of this persecution, there weren’t many men left. The desire to repopulate played a role in the decision to practice polygamy, but only about 5% did it before the practice came to an end in 1890.
He called polygamy ”a perversion of everything we believe in.”
“The media would have nothing more to have Americans believe that anybody who believes what I believe is [Warren Jeffs],” Beck said, referring to a cult leader who is serving a life sentence for having relationships with underage girls.
Contemporary polygamists aren’t Mormons, Beck explained. Watch the host tackle the polygamy issue, below:
Next, he delved into the so-called “magic underwear” discussion. He was, of course, referring to the undergarments that Mormon adherents wear. Many times, this element of the faith is mocked and ridiculed, as non-believers don‘t understand the significance and haven’t necessarily been exposed to the reasoning behind wearing the clothing.
“It is to remind us of something very sacred,” Beck explained. “It’s a reminder of the promises we make at the Temple.”
Rather than serving as a secretive and elusive tool, the underwear represent the personal promises that Mormons make to be “faithful, modest, and temperate.”
While it’s not always easy to wear the undergarments, especially when it comes to finding clothing to wear over them, Beck said that the difficulty makes it more sacred and meaningful. Considering the importance of the underwear to the Mormon faith, it also become more painful, the host admitted, when others mock the practice:
Beck also tackled the purported “secretive” activities that unfold in the temple. While many critics have alleged that the church is elusive and that some of the activities are top-secret, Beck made it clear that there’s nothing surprising or startling going on behind closed doors.
“There’s no secret stuff,” Beck explained. “There‘s nothing you will find in the temple that you won’t find in the Old or New Testament.”
Marriage and baptism are two of the practices that take place inside Mormon houses of worship — elements that most other Christian denominations can relate to. Beck did delve into “baptism for the dead,” a practice that he said has roots in 1 Corinthians.
See him tackle these subjects, below:
There is also, of course, the question of Mormon missionaries. Beck described the fascinating, two-year trips that young believers make to help spread the faith, while simultaneously embarking on a journey to find themselves.
During this time, young Mormons find themselves “preaching the word and reading the scriptures,” as they go door-to-door to discuss their faith. While sharing an example of a friend’s son who just left for Finland for a mission, Beck encouraged others — regardless of their faiths — to engage in similar experiences.
“He will live the exact opposite of a trophy society. In a culture where ‘I’ve got to go find myself, while spending $50,000 a year and listen to a bunch of liberal Marxist professors at some liberal college…these guys do find themselves,” Beck proclaimed. “Please, do this in your faith. It changes your children…it’s one of the reasons that Mormons are so successful. They know why they are at an early age.”
“It’s not weird to be a Mormon. And it‘s not weird to be president if you’re Mormon,” Beck concluded.
This special episode comes as the nation prepares to potentially elect its first Mormon president. While some biases certainly continue to color Romney’s candidacy, the impact appears to be minimal. As we’ve previously reported, November 2011 Pew Research Center results found that, while Romney may have experienced some negative results due to his Mormon faith in the primary race, his general election chances likely won’t be impacted.
Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped anti-Mormon attacks from unfolding in media. Beck’s goal, of course, was to dispel some of the myths that drive and fuel these incidents.
You are correct the next president will be a full bore liberal
Unintentionally hilarious.
You are right. I did NOT see this; uh, exactly.
But you DO seem to ALWAYS get on folks who are pointing out the ERROR of MORMONism; wanting always (it seems) to point out error in other locations; as though that would then give MORMONism a pass.
Will we now see a statement from you about the HATE accusations?
ALL of them?
In all cases any expulsion would be deferred for 6 months to let the offender sell his property at a profit.
That's simple toleration ~ and given the size of Hapsburg domains it covered a fair chunk of the world.
Did you imagine they were lying in wait for each other all the time to jump out and murder someone?
Technically Westphalia ended the Spanish/Dutch War ~ but in reality it'd been long over particularly when Spain couldn't figure out what to fight Sweden about ~
First HATE, and LIES?
Show me (us) what you consider to be the LIEs.
Wow,,,lol. America, the legacy of the “peace” of Westphalia! Because we were the “successor” state of Spain? Ok there Stretch Armstrong, we did not inherit their legalities.
The concept was to drive them and their backwards European legalities OUT of the new world. We were certinly not in the business of a continuation of their silliness.
And you seem to fixate on how popes and protestants all signed the treaty, but mormons, moslems and orthodox didnt. The people who signed the treaty were rupudiating the concept in 1640 Europe that power was properly dispensed through Monarchs who in some way hailed back to the pope. Why would islam of 1640 or Orthodoxy need to sign that? Their lands were not claimed (in the larger sense) by the papacy.
There was nothing for them to settle in that treaty. And the lands where they flourished, had nation states that were not conetested in the main by the pope or his euro-monarchs.
You are giving far too much downstream effect to that treaty. It did little more than codify what force of arms established. And though you say the pope agreed, “The Holy See was very displeased at the settlement, with Pope Innocent X in Zelo Domus Dei reportedly calling it “null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time”.
post #100 works, in a pinch
Point it out so othewrs may avoid it.
Find a church that teaches on a biblical basis.
Jesus was always and will always be the Son of God.
Moses, Abraham, Solomon, Noah, David, Joshua, Samuel, Ruth, Nehemiah, Ester, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were all Christians before Jesus fulfilled prophesy.
God sent Jesus back to atone for their sins, your sins and my sins. Mormons don’t get that part right, which is part of why they are not Christian. I pray Beck will see the light before its too late and I’m positive your approach won’t achieve that goal.
Discussions are one thing ~ what moslems do to ka’fr is quite a bit different. Don’t confound talk with murder.
does polygamy appear only in the Old Testament, or in the New Testament as well?
Did you NOT see the NT verses at the bottom?
You finally jumped the rails.
No, you reference Freud in your post. I was just commenting on your post.
All I remember is that I asked about the Old and New Testaments, and you vomited something from the Book of Mormon at me.
I grew tough skin and have survived in the RF area of FR.
I would have assumed that a self described RudeBoy would already have tough skin; but I've been wrong before.
Possibly...
But DEFINITELY unanswered.
I’m quite sure you get my point, which is that Beck has been unable to endure negative comments about Mormonism, and is now opening himself up to more of them.
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