Perhaps you heard of or watched the “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington DC on 8/28, organized by Glenn Beck. I missed it, though I would have liked to watched. I did however read with interest the news stories swirling around this event, the predictable mischaracterization by the mass media, but most interesting of all, I watched the Glenn Beck show on Fox yesterday (Monday) which was wholly dedicated to the event. Hundreds of thousands of what appeared to be patriotic people interested in “restoring honor” gathered and cheered and peacefully rallied. The surprise star of the show was God. His name was invoked. Prayers were offered up to Him. Glenn Beck summed up the “God” part of it on Monday by saying “get behind the shield of God.” It was moving stuff. He introduced what he called a “black robed regiment” – meaning about 250 clergy who stood with him for awhile on the stage. He promised much more to come from this black robed regiment (stay tuned, he said, for Friday’s show). But let us take a step back from this glow and see what strange fire is this. Just what “God” are we appealing to? Is it the Mormon God? Or is it more broadly represented by the black robed regiment (constituted of Jewish Rabbis, Muslim Imans, Catholic priests, preachers on the left, preachers on the right…)? Does America need God or does America need the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Anyone can sell or buy a generic god (and the more of less traditional virtues accompanying) which let us poke our finger in someone else’s eye.
I read a very thoughtful article today written by Dr. Russell Moore of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He puts it so much better than I could have, so I will just send you the link
