Can you believe that this video was produced by a Mormon? Mormons have long been politically conservative, sure. But this kind of apocalyptic paranoia is not usually the hallmark of Mormons. So why the change?
Glenn Beck.
Beck’s influence on our national political discourse cannot be overstated. He was the single most important catalyst for the Tea Party movement in my opinion. Beck’s incessant fear-mongering about this administration is also likely why 67% of Republicans think Obama is a “socialist” and 38% say that Obama is “doing many of the things that Hitler did.” So Beck undoubtedly has a national audience and influence. But I’m convinced that his influence is more pronounced among Mormons for three reasons:
1) Mormons are already the most conservative religious group in the United States.
2) Glenn Beck shares their faith.
3) Beck’s radical politics have a tradition within the LDS Church.
The first two points were probably obvious to you, so let me explain the third.
During the civil rights movement and for much of the Cold War, some Mormons embraced far-right political ideology and allied themselves with fringe groups like the John Birch Society. These Mormons had a doctrinal opposition to communism, which they felt was contrary to free agency and God’s plan. This view was, on occasion, even espoused from the pulpit. In the October 1961 General Conference, Elder Ezra Taft Benson said the following:
No true Latter-day Saint and no true American can be a socialist or a communist or support programs leading in that direction.
Benson, who served as an apostle and eventually the church president (1985-94), was a vehement opponent of communism. Despite having served as President Eisenhower’s Secretary of Agriculture, Benson accused the Eisenhower administration of harboring Soviet sympathizers. And as I’ve written about before, Benson argued that the civil rights movement was nothing but a front for communist revolution. So conservative was Benson, in fact, that he was considered as a running-mate for segregationist third-party presidential candidates Strom Thurmond and George Wallace.
There is more in Mormonism’s political history that primes Mormons for Beck’s politics than the example of Ezra Taft Benson.
A lot of Mormons, for example, believe that the U.S. Constitution is divinely inspired. And many of these same Mormons also believe in the White Horse Prophecy, in which Joseph Smith allegedly prophesied that “The time will come when the government of these United States will be so nearly overthrown through its corruption, that the Constitution will hang as it were by a single thread, and the Latter-day Saints—the Elders of Israel—will step forward to its rescue and save it.” These beliefs play perfectly into Beck’s narrative that the Constitution is under assault by the Obama administration.
Then, there is the warning against “secret combinations” in the Book of Mormon. Moroni, a BoM prophet, warns that the Gentiles in the last days must repent of their sins and not allow that “murderous combinations get above you, which are built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22). Anyone who builds up a secret combination, he writes, “seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies” (Ether 8:25). And when you’re prone to conspiratorial thinking, as Beck and his audience are, you’re bound to see “secret combinations” everywhere.
Not only does Glenn Beck’s philosophy appeal to these conservative beliefs within Mormonism, but it is also my contention that Beck’s politics are a product of said beliefs. That is, Beck’s conversion to Mormonism made him the conservative he is today.
Before 1999, when he became LDS, Beck was nowhere on the political radar. From the mid-80s up until his conversion, Beck was just a lowly morning radio DJ. He didn’t talk politics. His shtick was practical jokes, publicity stunts, and comedy skits.
Granted, it’s probably the case that Beck was conservative before joining the LDS Church. But being introduced to popular Mormon beliefs like the White Horse Prophesy and to conservative figures like Ezra Taft Benson pushed him further into the fringe.
As evidence of Mormonism’s impact on Glenn Beck’s political philosophy, consider his favorite author: Cleon W. Skousen. Skousen was a Mormon political commentator who, because of his conspiracy theories and ties to the John Birch Society, never enjoyed popularity even among the right. Beck has plucked Skousen from obscurity, however, and has urged everyone to read his crackpot literature. Because of Beck, Skousen’s books The Making of America and The 5,000 Year Leap are now bestsellers. Here are a few things you ought to know about Cleon W. Skousen:
- Skousen’s The 5,000 Year Leap interprets American history “through an unspoken lens of Mormon theology.” Leap argues that the U.S. Constitution and its framers were divinely-guided to establish this country, as was Adam Smith inspired to establish free-market economic theory.
- The FBI kept a 2,000 page report on Skousen, because of his affiliations with militantly anti-government groups.
- BYU history professor Louis C. Midgley accused Skousen of “inventing fantastic ideas and making inferences that go far beyond the bounds of honest commentary.”
To learn more about Skousen, Salon has a fantastic piece on him and his affect on Glenn Beck.
People who are dismayed at Beck’s popularity among Mormons need to know that there is a liberal strain (however small) within the LDS Church as well.
Just last month, when Beck urged Christians to leave churches that preach “social justice,” a group of LDS scholars (including our own Dr. Philip Barlow) responded that “social justice” is central to Mormonism.
And while conservative Mormon can claim church leaders like Ezra Taft Benson, liberal Mormons have apostles Hugh B. Brown and James E. Faust on their side.
Glenn Beck’s views also do not enjoy the official endorsement of the LDS Church. The contrary may actually be true. In the early 1990s (ironically when Benson was president), the LDS Church came down hard on its radical, far-right elements. From a 1992 Salt Lake Tribune article:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is purging hundreds of Mormon dissidents who church officials say are preoccupied unduly with Armageddon.
This massive housecleaning may be one of the church’s largest since the 1850′s, when thousands were excommunicated for everything from poor hygiene and low church attendance to disobeying the Ten Commandments.
Don LeFevre, LDS spokesman, would not confirm that mass excommunications are unfolding. However, he did say LDS Church leaders increasingly have been concerned about ultraconservative “super patriots” and survivalists …
Those interviewed by The Salt Lake Tribune say they have faced church discipline for a range of transgressions – from having too much emergency food storage to adhering to the doomsday predictions of popular Mormon presidential candidate Bo Gritz, who received more than 28,000 Utah votes in the November election.
Targeted are those obsessed with the early speeches of LDS Church President Ezra Taft Benson and who believe the ailing, 93-year-old leader has been silenced because his opinions no longer are politically popular.
By the new standards, “President Benson wouldn’t even be allowed to stay in the church,” says a prominent Utah Mormon, referring to the leader’s association with the ultraconservative John Birch Society.
In the October 1992 General Conference, several apostles spoke directly to the issue of far-right paranoia in the church. Elder M. Russell Ballard told members not to “overreact” to supposed signs of the end of the world by being “caught up in extreme preparations.” Elder Boyd K. Packer, a man I am usually loathe to quote, added:
There are some among us now who have not been regularly ordained by the heads of the Church and who tell of impending political and economic chaos, the end of the world—something of the “sky is falling, chicken licken” of the fables. They are misleading members to gather to colonies or cults. … Do not be deceived by them—those deceivers.
I recently lamented that pablum and tedium seem to typify many General Conferences. But the aforementioned conference stands out as one worth listening to. And its message is more relevant today, I think, than it was then in 1992.
Every generation loves to see themselves as “the generation for Christs return.” These self fulfilling scare tactics are an effective tool for keeping people in line. Allow me the great neal, instrument in the hand of our lord make some prophecies that i swear in the name of god will come true. In the future people will murder….gasp…..other people. In the future I prophecy that there will be ..gasp…..earthquakes……exct. Pointing out these things that always have and always will happen and then placing significance to it just scares the hell out of people. ” I better fix my life and do whatever the prophets tell me because the end is nigh” is the prevailing attitude and this is exactly what religious leaders want.
Question: Do you think that Beck believes what he says on TV? Most days I assume (and fear) that he’s sincere, but other days I’m not sure…
If Beck gets a call from his Bishop, it will likely be to congratulate him. Remember, the current perspective of the PR department at LDS Inc. is that any buzz – particularly bad buzz – is good. It gets people thinking about Mormonism. So long as Beck doesn’t get caught violating any of the “important” commandments – you know, keeps his penis in his marriage, his caffeine cold, and stays away from the booze – and keeps up the mega payments in tithing, the Mormon Church is going to say absolutely nothing about Beck. The only way they would say anything is if he violated one of those “important” commandments, at which point they would be forced to say that he is no longer a member in good standing. Otherwise, Beck can continue his lunacy with implicit LDS Church support.
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Glenn Beck: ‘I Could Give A Flying Crap About The Political Process’ — I’m An Entertainer!
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/building-an-empire-glenn-beck-makes-32m-a-year.php
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Hi Jon, an enjoyable read. I’m very active LDS so I’ve been following this nuttiness with interest. I go to church with my wife and children each week, enjoying our ward and callings as church members and raising our children in our church, but it’s driving my crazy how fringe I see some coworkers who are also LDS. It’s interesting because my closest friends and family, who are active LDS, are not this way and we all sit here scratching our heads bewilderment. It’s odd that we can believe the same core principles and yet how so many can extrapolate them to extremes. *sigh.
McKay Coppins did a great job discussing this in a recent Mormontimes article called “The Glenn Beck Problem”: http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/mckay_coppins/?id=14298
By the way Chino Blanco, I saw today what you said on Youtube about that video – well made as it was, what a bunch of nonsense that much of it is NOT the position of the LDS church – I completely agree with everything you said and have to admit I was laughing when you said something like “why is everyone so angry here?” lol! You handled it well, gj. You had great links on your Youtube site! I happened to support Prop 8 btw. That’s the thing – the LDS church formally condones mature civility in our conversations and mutual respect … it’s beyond me why so many church members can’t remember such basic guidance by people they accept as their leaders.
Thanks for reading, Michael!
I read McKay Coppins article shortly after writing this post. He and I seem to largely agree on this issue.
Why didn’t you cite your sources? I’d really be interested in your source for the “2,000 pages on FBI’s record.”
For really important claims, I’ll normally hyperlink to the source. The reason I don’t have citations in-post is for aesthetics. It’s a blog post, and not an academic article. But I do earnestly try to do good research, so your question is appreciated. People shouldn’t take what I have to say at face value; they should ideally follow up with their own research.
The source for that particular claim is Alexander Zaitchik’s Salon piece on Beck and Skousen: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/16/beck_skousen/print.html
Glenn Beck’s increasingly radical rhetoric has me scratching my head. Is he mentally unstable, or is he deliberately trying to shock people for the sake of ratings and fame? Either way, many people in this country believe the nonsense he spouts, which is potentially dangerous.
Some evangelical protestants among the Religious Right look askance at Beck’s Mormonism. I’m eager to see if the Religious Right will truly embrace Beck, or if his Mormonism will be a non-starter.
I am not a Mormon, but I am a Christian. I watch Glenn Beck on a daily basis, and happen to agree 100% with his analysis. I can’t see why he’s branded such a radical, frankly. What exactly is wrong with believing in the constitution? As far as I can tell, everything he says is true. All he is asking is that people get out and vote. He doesn’t preach violence, so what in the heck is the problem?
Is Obama a socialist? IMO, yes, yes YES! I don’t like the direction the country is taking. I see our rights and freedoms eroding on an almost daily basis, and I hate the fact that elite leftists are dying to expand the federal government and control every aspect of our lives. This inherent snobbery and elitism they espouse is the scariest thing I’ve seen. They have the attitude that people are stupid, and only they have the intelligence to lead.
I DO NOT want a one world government, and the less the government gets into our business, the better off we all are. I don’t need someone to tell me not to use a blow dryer while in the bath tub, or not to drive my car while a windshield sunscreen is in place… idiot warnings that the product manufacturers are required to print on the items to avoid frivolous lawsuits.
I am a proponent of personal responsibility.
Since this appears to be an atheist website, this probably won’t register well, but the Bible says that in the end days “wrong will be right, and right will be wrong,” and that’s what I see with all this PC bull crap. After all, a recent news story covered a first-grader being expelled for making his hand into the ‘gun’ sign! That fact that this makes sense to anyone exposes the complete idiocy of it! Good grief… is there NO common sense anymore?
I DO NOT consider Beck to be a radical conservative. Fifty years ago his opinions, like mine, were the norm, and considered fairly centrist. I am politically a Libertarian. I believe people are inherently mostly good. I believe that charity comes from the individual, not the government, which cannot seem to do anything efficiently. Social Justice is a farce, and the programs and ideas put forth by the left are killing our country.
Just because some fruit-loop says something is true, doesn’t make it so. And don’t misunderstand–I’m not talking about Glenn Beck… If anyone disagrees, maybe they should watch yesterday’s (02-19-2011) Glenn Beck segment on abortion. For the first time in literally months, somebody has identified abortion for what it is: legalized, Government-sanctioned and financed MURDER…! And our narcissistic and egotistical Community Organizer-in-Chief is making sure that it is well financed and protected by his carefully designed executive manipulation. A lot of what I have read on this site is carefully enough worded and selectively documented to sound ALMOST credible. Problem is there are a whole lot of outright distortions and misrepresentations cited or taken out of context. I only wish I could openly debate some of the authors cited here. I’m not real bright, but they sure as hell aren’t either…!
Openly debate away.
“But this kind of apocalyptic paranoia is not usually the hallmark of Mormons.” Take a look at the history of Mormonism. They have a history of being intensely apocalyptic.
Sure, Mormons are an apocalyptic people (less so now, though, then they used to be). What I meant by this quote is that they don’t usually exhibit “THIS KIND of apocalyptic paranoia”–this kind being the shrill, survivalist tone of the video in the post.
But point taken. Mormonism is at least ideologically primed for this paranoia, I just don’t think it’s always at the forefront of the Mormon psyche.
It’s pretty easy to hide behind a computer keyboard–bottle in hand–and declare, “Openly debate away…!”
Bottle in hand? Does it help you dismiss my arguments if you envision me as an alcoholic or something?
And what exactly are you demanding of me? That I meet you somewhere in person to debate this?
Seriously, Jon. Only a drunk would expect him to back up what he’s saying.
No, that would probably be a little like Barack Obama, when he did a campaign visit at Central High School, near Grand Junction, Colorado, during the last elction campaign. A student visiting from Colorado State University challenged The Rock Star to a debate ON THE SPOT. The future President declined with rather marked embarrassment–I suspect because he’d no longer have been able to rely on the teleprompter, and might have had to back up such glittering generalities as “change you can believe in” with specifics, rather than try to dig up the appropriate equivocations–think on his feet, so to speak…
So my suggestion to our illustrious genius Jon is: Why don’t you challenge Glenn Beck to a televised open debate…? Or better yet, just find out the number to his on-set red phone and “call him out” on some of his opinions with which you disagree. A genius like you shouldn’t have trouble getting that telephone number… Maybe he’d invite you on the show, to really put you in the spotlight…!
I would also be interested in knowing where the Salt Lake Tribune obtained their information (which you quoted) about the LDS Church “purging” members for outrageous political opinions. That’s a crock, and you would know it–if you weren’t just a fringe nut yourself…! At least do the world a favor and expound your sparkling intellect upon a subject with which you are VAGUELY familiar, not something where you are in totally over your head…!
“USU SHAFT: Utah State University Secular Humanists, Atheists, Free Thinkers…”
I guess that says it all… Oh how I wish some of these geniuses had been around when the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were being formulated. Maybe instead of quotations like: “When in the course of human events…” we’d instead be treated to things more visceral: “Like dude, things are getting tough, so lets just hang out and hope they get, like better…?”
Oh, by the way guys… I thought I’d just leave you all with one parting comment, since communicating with you can’t be reasonably considered any kind of discourse or dialogue. I spent 24 years working in law enforcement. During that time more than half the individuals with whom I had communication could legitimately be considered of the criminal persuasion. One of the hallmarks of the criminal mind is the tendency to throw the word “paranoid” around rather liberally. I guess offenders think the use of such epithets will cause anyone with whom they disagree to regard their point of view more forceful and legitimate–since “paranoid” is such a big impressive word… Problem is, most folks of that mind-set haven’t the foggiest notion of the real clinical definition of the word. So its utterance becomes both a shield and a weapon to wield against “the man”. Unfortunately, they would be better off just to tell someone, “…You’re just letting your imagination run wild…!”
When I hear some pseudo-intellectual throw a word like “paranoid” around, the alarm bells in the back of my mind go off immediately… I think: “What the hell is this freak trying to hide…? What is it he doesn’t want me to know about him…? What does he do in his spare time–just to get his jollies…?”
Anyone tempted to attach credibility to ANYTHING written by USU SHAFT or its representatives would be well advised to go on the web and read the definition of “glittering generalities” given by Wikipedia. Enough said…