The leaders of cults tend to be charismatic individuals who brainwash their followers. They do this by isolating them from their friends and family so that the members are dependent on the cult leader for their world view. They also make distinctions between “us” and “them,” with “us” as the good guys and “them” as evil forces of darkness. Glenn Beck sounds more like a cult leader with every passing day:
On his radio show yesterday, right-wing host Glenn Beck warned his audience about churches that care about social justice. As the deranged media personality sees it, “social justice” is code for … something nefarious.
“I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them … are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.
Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”
I’m not a theologian, but it’s my understanding that most of the world’s major, monotheistic faith traditions embrace “social justice” as a fundamental pillar. Beck just encouraged a whole lot of people to abandon a whole lot of houses of worship.
So, now he’s telling his worshipers audience to leave their church because it may be doing something nefarious. I can’t wait to see his whiteboard diagram connecting the church with OLIGARHS. I keep wondering when Glenn Beck will go too far and just be too crazy for mainstream television. Now?