Posted on 08/29/2010 12:20:07 PM PDT by mlizzy
Washington D.C., Aug 28, 2010 / 05:26 pm (CNA).- A well-attended Saturday rally in Washington, D.C. which linked U.S. patriotism and religiosity has sparked comparisons to a religious revival. Two Catholic commentators have offered different views of the rally’s possible effects while discussing the place of religion and social issues in the Tea Party movement.
The “Restoring Honor Rally,” organized by radio and Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck, was held at the National Mall in D.C. on Saturday. The rally featured prayers, Scripture readings, music and patriotic references to major figures and events in American history such as the Founding Fathers. It was reportedly inspired by the National Park Service’s alleged silencing of a group of young people who tried to sing the U.S. National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial.
Early estimates of rally attendance ranged from the tens of thousands to 500,000.
Speaking at the rally, Beck claimed that the United States had “wandered in the darkness” of divisive politics, “but America today begins turning back to God.” He said the religious leaders in attendance disagreed on religion and politics. However, "what they do agree on is that God is the answer."
Alveda King, niece of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., told the rally that America still suffers from racism. She called for prayer in the public square and in public schools. A pastoral associate of Priests for Life, she also alluded to her opposition to abortion.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
“Beck stating, “but America today begins turning back to God,” but also not standing strong against gay marriage is confusing to me, but he sure knows how to bring out a huge crowd. And I didn't realize he left the Catholic Church to become a Mormon.”
Mormons don't drink so that can help explain his attraction to Mormonism.
The pushing aside of gay marriage is totally contrary to Christianity. I'm not sure where Mormonism stands on “gay marriage”. Maybe Mormonism is more oblivious to “gay marriage”? I don't know. I am not a Mormon.
NO, The Catholic Church has left Christianity and become Supporters of legalizing 30 million illegal aliens and MARXIST LIBERATION THEOLOGY!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD5ztsK6mDg
http://www.aim.org/aim-column/catholic-church-facilitates-foreign-invasion/
From the article: ““God and Caesar were very much appropriately represented on the National Mall on Saturday at that ‘Restoring Honor’ rally,” she commented.
In her view, much of the rally had a good focus: “challenging people to be good, to seek the good, sacrifice for the good, and pray for the good.”
“It was a bit of a mix of religious revival, country-music concert, and Independence Day celebration. And its end goal was to rally people to stay and be more engaged in politics, but to not get lost in it, as Beck put it. There was a clear balancing of the importance of politics while never ever losing sight of our real citizenship.”
Lopez said that the rally recognized “real threats” to the United States’ freedom and sustainability which are “fruits of messes of our personal lives and decisions and of bad policy.” It did this without being “explicitly partisan or political,” she claimed.
Seeing “prudence and humility” at the rally, she thought the event was “realistically positive” in acknowledging political and religious differences while seeking a “unified focus.”
She thought Beck’s focus on foundational issues should be encouraged without putting him “on a pedestal.”
I very much agree.
I think we should all refuse to participate in the MSM’s attempt to turn this into a religious issue. Let the chickens cluck and ignore the noise.
Some may still embrace the error of Liberation Theology.....but the Church definitely does NOT!
I think he was only nominally Catholic. The only time he discusses Mormonism is to say that a lot of Christians do not believe he is one—
I say listen to what those that have “comment” on this rally have to say and you will see a direct reflection of their own souls.
I agree with much of what Lopez said, but find this last remark to be a gratuitous slap at Beck, implying that he seeks a pedestal. He was not the real draw of this event, and he would say as much. People came for each other, like they (and I) went to 912. Alveeda King made a bigger stir than Beck. We found out on 912 that we are not alone, and Beck got 912 started, too.
Yes homosexual marriage is counter to scripture, but so are a whole lot of other things that go on. Why choose this hill to die on, on this particular day? It would have been a total clunker of a sour note and a distraction for the media to leap upon.
The thing is, Christians believe “it” is a religious issue, right down to the foundations. Those in power have overboarded faith, and those of us out of power want it back, and it is good ground to navigate between the dem vs. pubbie scenario.
Exactly. We have this thread with Catholic opinion, the other with Evangelical opinion. That’s where they want to steer this. Instead of presenting it as the uplifting, pro-America rally that it was. With people of all faiths. I guess the race issue will be next. Or maybe that one doesn’t work anymore.
I haven’t heard one word of anyone complaining about religion in connection with this rally until I read these so-called news articles. Distraction from what really happened there courtesy of the MSM.
I think they were there to show solidarity with the message, not particularly the messenger. Those of us who love this country, hate to see it become so immoral and complacent.
I watched it on C-Span and was heartened to see so many young people there!
I agree. He was involved in organizing the "Rally for America" demonstrations back in ... '02? '03? ... and those were all about the troops and local demonstrations of patriotism. Radio hosts have a unique forum for spreading the word and facilitating large events, and I'm very pleased that Beck, Hannity, and other are doing this.
Whether I agree with every position of the particular journalist is irrelevant. Strict ideological conformity is for Democrats.
I'll post it. What a shame.
Mormons Clarify Gay Marriage Stance
Edge, Boston/September 10, 2008
By Kilian Melloy
A new document from the leadership of the Mormon faith offers support for domestic partnership benefits, but continues to claim that marriage equality damages “the integrity of the family” for straights.
The document, a six-page clarification on the anti-gay-family position taken by the Church of Latter Day Saints, drew praise from GLBT Mormon group Affirmation, while at the same time prompting that same group to denounce the way the church dismisses the concerns of gay families and other family structures in which two mixed-gender parents are not present, reported the Deseret News in a Sept. 10 article.
The document, titled The Divine Institution of Marriage, was posted last month at the official Web site of the Mormon Church.
Affirmation released a statement on the document earlier this month.
The Deseret News article noted that in June, the Mormon faith's leadership requested church members to contribute to the push in Calif. to rescind marriage equality rights by rewriting the state constitution in a way that will reserve marriage as a special right exclusive to heterosexuals.
Should voters approve the ballot initiative in Nov., gay and lesbian families will be left with no future access to marriage rights.
However, the new document does express support for some domestic partnership provisions, also currently legal in Calif., that benefit both unmarried heterosexual couples and gay families.
The article quoted from the new text's introduction, in which it was written, “The church does not object to rights (already established in California) regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the family or the constitutional rights of churches and their adherents to administer and practice their religion free from government interference.”
That passage was seen by Affirmation as a reversal from a 2004 statement issued by the Church's leadership, in which it was declared that the LDS faith “favors measures that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman and that do not confer legal status on any other sexual relationship.”
The Deseret News observed that the earlier statement was issued just before Utah voters approved an amendment to their state's constitution that was even more unfriendly to gay families than the measure proposed in Calif.
The 2004 amendment to the Utah constitution not only specifically reserved marriage as a special right for heterosexuals, but took the additional step of outlawing any legal support or recognition for gay and lesbian families by forbidding any union other than one man and one woman from being “recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.”
A new attitude toward gays and lesbians was also indicated by the church in saying that its “opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility towards homosexual men and women,” a statement that, as with the support voiced for domestic partnerships in Calif., was hailed by Affirmation.
The gay Mormon group called the partial thawing of the church's stance toward gays “by far the most affirming statement of both human and civil rights of gay people” since last year's equally surprising publication of a circular titled God Loveth His Children, which, said Affirmation's media spokesperson, David Melson, “acknowledged that being gay is not a disease or a sin.”
Added Melson, “We applaud the courage of the leaders who chose to make this statement, which is contrary to many of the church's words and actions of the past, and we see this as a positive step.”
However, added Melson, “We would have been more pleased if it had not been issued during a time of contradictory action by the church to repeal the civil rights of gay U.S. citizens and to seek to break apart families.”
Further, Affirmation denounced a passage in the new document that states, “strong families, headed by a father and mother, are the anchor of civilized society.”
Affirmation responded by noting that that statement from the church “marginalizes families headed by widows, single parents, adoptive parents, grandparents or foster parents and ignores the church's own history honoring polygamous marriage.”
The new document also justifies the church's anti-gay-family stance by saying that LDS opposition to GLBT civil equality does not constitute hate speech because “tolerance as a gospel principle means love and forgiveness of one another, not ‘tolerating’ transgression.”
The text of the new document goes on to declare that, “in today's secular world [the word tolerance has] come to mean condone-acceptance of wrongful behavior as the price of friendship.”
The document continues, “Jesus taught that we love and care for one another without condoning transgression,” and further states that, “tolerance does not require abandoning one’s standard or one’s opinions on political or public policy choices.”
The church document continues in the same thread, arguing that, “speaking out against practices with which the church disagrees on moral grounds-including same-sex marriage-does not constitute abuse or the frequently misused term ‘hate speech,’” the Deseret News reported.
Adds the text of the document, “We can express genuine love and friendship for the homosexual family member or friend without accepting the practice of homosexuality or any re-definition of marriage.”
The text continues, “As church members decide their own appropriate level of involvement in protecting marriage between a man and a woman, they should approach this issue with respect for others, understanding, honesty, and civility.”
The new document also addresses fallout that the church leadership imagines might result from the continued legalization of marriage equality, citing concerns for heterosexual families and their children should families headed by same-sex couples continue to gain legal recognition and social acceptance.
Affirmation, however, took a dim view of those posited concerns, saying in its statement that the LDS leadership had resorted to “half-truths and fear to paint a picture of gay marriage leading to an end of religious freedom and of societal standards.”
Melson’s comments to the Deseret News indicated that Affirmation sees the new statement from the church as, in part, motivated by the faith's own GLBT members.
Melson was quoted as saying that the new document's “introduction directly addressed gay issues in a manner much more straightforward and positive than the church has done before, [and] it's hard not to think our actions didn't have some influence on that.”
Added Melson, “The church has recognized this is an issue they need to deal with.
“I think they are starting to prepare the way for that day.”
http://www.rickross.com/reference/mormon/mormon552.html
Geesh! Capitulating into oblivion.
This is another reason to get your Christian teachings from the Bible and no fallible man. God is the same yesterday as He is today. He never changes or compromised to please ever lowering social mores.
Republicans can't waiver on homosexuality and abortion and embryonic stem cells...these things kill and it's done by choice....
But that’s not the spin they’re putting on it. Divide everyone up into categories and make it look like THE main issue is Beck’s Mormonism. Pretty soon you forget what the rally was about and all this little squabbling goes on. Mission accomplished.
It’s good to discuss it but we can NOT let them divide and conquer us. They are looking for issues to DIVIDE us.
I will still be supportive of Glenn Beck, however I will be clear that he is not a Christian. I am capable of agreeing with nonchristians. I just wish he was one. Pray for Glenn to become a Christian. He’s a wonderful person!
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