Is Glenn Beck the anti-Christ (and the anti-Mohammed)?
While Glenn Beck thinks James Cameron, the filmmaker of Avatar is the Antichrist, I maintain a different opinion given the delusion of grandeur with which he descended upon Washington yesterday.
Yesterday marked the commoreration of the 47th anniverisary of the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech, advocating racial harmony at the Lincoln Memorial.
I imagine my comments may shock some people on a number of levels, for example in comparing the Prophet Mohammed to Jesus Christ when we live in a society that assumes and advocates that the two were diametrically opposed in their philosophies. I think some may be further offended as I contrast the qualities of these two public figures (Jesus and Mohammed) with those of Glenn Beck. If we look at inherent similarities between the two, we will find that both Jesus Christ and the Prophet Mohammed shared attributes that in common were very distinct from the qualities and behavior exhibited by Glenn Beck. The only commonality between the three, and a scary one at that, is that all three moved a waiting and receptive crowd from a podium.
I pose the question above, and rhetorically suggest that Glenn Beck is the anti-Christ, primarily to challenge Glenn Beck’s notion of “divine providence.” On a day that marks a dream he surfaces as a nightmare, and suggests that the placement and timing were of divine prescription.
This afternoon, I asked a woman in a coffee shop on U Street (which is off the yellow/green line, by the way) if she knew who Glenn Beck was and what she thought of him. She responded, “of course, he’s dangerous”, and added that she was frightened by how he instigates hate, racial tension, class conflict, paranoia, and generally amplifies the otherwise subtle difference between us.
On the chosen day that marks Dr. King’s notable speech and today’s 5th anniversary of Katrina, which both made history and exposed the realities of our country, Fox News chose to host Glenn Beck at the very same site where Dr. King stated “one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination”.
Beck has said he did not intend to choose the King anniversary for his rally but had since decided it was “divine providence.” And “this is a moment, quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement,” he added.
Let us not forget Glenn Beck forcefully endorses SB 1070, the Arizona Immigration law that has polarized the nation. And time after time, his decisive, racist, anger-filled, xenophobic, islamaphobic, hateful and plain ignorant speeches and actions have gathered a following of people who choose to “drink the tea” he serves up.
So back to my initial question, Is Glenn Beck the anti-Christ (and the anti-Mohammed)? Well, I leave it to the reader to decide, I’d like to add three attributes that both Christ and Mohammed shared in common and let the reader draw a contrast with Glenn Beck.
• Their charitable nature vs his advocacy of “keeping what’s mine”
• Persecuted revolutionaries vs. Populist persecutor
• Accepting of difference between people vs. amplifying them and exploiting our misunderstandings of each other
My cab driver last night, who is African American and was born and raised in the District of Columbia, told me of days growing up under segregation. He spoke of the race riots in this town and how “after sun down black folks were in home lock down.”
No doubt, we’ve come a long way. Of all Dr. King’s “dreams” that have come true, I am curious if Glenn Beck’s “reclaiming of the dream” would come to him as a nightmare.
