Sunday, October 10, 2010

Mormon Prophecy Behind Glenn Beck's Message

This comes from an article by Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, however he posted this piece at Huffington.

But before I post it, I want to share with you what I learned years ago. At the church I attended we did a study of cults and other religions. One of the ones we talked about in depth was the Mormons.

We did this because there is a strong presence and history of the Mormons here. Mostly we have the RLDS now, and the Restoration Branch of the LDS, however we (the state) did play a huge role in sending them off to Utah.

One of the things we talked about was the huge presence of Mormon's in businesses and in government and how it is growing. People do not realize how huge the "Corporation of Mormonism" is. They own most of at least 4 states, between government representatives and just land and business.

So, when I read this piece by Milbank it brought back what I had learned and what scares the Evangelical Christians when it comes to Mormonism. There is a belief they will take over the entire process of the Federal Government in time. This ties into what Milbank wrote.

From the Huffington Post, please go read the entire piece it is worth your time:

I
n one of his first appearances on Fox News, Glenn Beck sent a coded message to the nation's six million Mormons -- or at least those Mormons who believe in what the Latter-day Saints call "the White Horse Prophecy."

"We are at the place where the Constitution hangs in the balance," Beck told Bill O'Reilly on November 14, 2008, just after President Obama's election. "I feel the Constitution is hanging in the balance right now, hanging by a thread unless the good Americans wake up."

Some of the emphasis is mine... but I wanted to make sure you saw this line:

The Constitution is hanging by a thread.

According to Milbank, this is the Call to Arms, so to speak. He goes on to say:

The phrase is often attributed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church. Smith is believed to have said in 1840 that when the Constitution hangs by a thread, elders of the Mormon Church will step in -- on the proverbial white horse -- to save the country.

"When the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the 'Mormon' Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it," Brigham Young, Smith's successor as head of the church, wrote in 1855.

He goes on to show how other members of the Mormon Church have backed Beck up when talking.

Was it just a coincidence in wording, or was Beck, a 1999 Mormon convert, speaking in coded language about the need to fulfill the Mormon prophecy? A conversation on Beck's radio show ten days earlier would seem to rule out coincidence. Beck was interviewing Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, also a Mormon, when he said: "I heard Barack Obama talk about the Constitution and I thought, we are at the point or we are very near the point where our Constitution is hanging by a thread."

"Well, let me tell you something," Hatch responded. "I believe the Constitution is hanging by a thread."

Days after Beck's Fox show started in January 2009, he had Hatch on, and again prompted him: "I believe our Constitution hangs by a thread."

I thought this part was very interesting, however since I don't listen to Beck I had never thought much of it.

In addition to the coded allusions to the White Horse Prophecy, he often brings Mormon theology into his broadcasts (he touts the thinking of late church president Ezra Taft Benson and he frequently promotes the work Mormon conspiracy theorist Cleon Skousen) but without identifying them with the LDS church.

Then he uses history to teach us more...

Before the Mormons went west, Smith traveled to Washington seeking help for his oppressed followers and received nothing but frustration. Rather than turning on the government, however, "They considered themselves the last Real Americans, the legitimate heirs of the pilgrims and Founding Fathers," Pat Bagley wrote in the Salt Lake Tribune. "And, they believed, the very survival of the Constitution depended on the Saints. From Smith on, LDS leaders prophesied the Constitution would one day hang by a thread, only to be saved by Mormons."

A compilation of church leaders' statements over the years by the journal BYU Studies shows this strain of thinking. Though there are doubts about whether Smith actually wrote the phrase "hang by a thread," his successors left no doubt about the theology behind it. Orson Hyde, a Smith contemporary, wrote that Smith believed that "the time would come when the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow; and said [Smith]: 'If the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the elders of this Church.'"

As you can see, this should be worrying. It is one thing for the Christian right to try to take over, at least they are out in the open about it... But the Mormons are trying to do it while not bringing public attention to what they plan.

Milbank finishes this piece by saying this:

But there is a Beckian twist in his version of the prophecy. Unlike the church leaders' versions, Beck's vision carries the possibility of a bloody end. On the night of Feb. 24, 2009, Beck outlined this prospect for his viewers. People who "don't trust the government," he said, would "see the government as violating the Constitution, and they will see themselves as defenders of the Constitution. Not a good mix. Then they take matters into their own hands."

It was Glenn Beck in a nutshell: White Horse Prophecy meets horsemen of the apocalypse.

I firmly believe the words of Beck carry with them a danger and a chilling reach to violence. Note the other TeaBaggers who have also called for violence. Angle, asking for 2nd amendment remedies, taking out Harry Reid... all those are attributed to her. Then there is the candidate who says he confused his names the other day, calling for the assassination of Obama, not once but several times, then later saying he meant Osama... Yeah right.

We know the likes of SP, she who will not be named on this blog, who is also advocating violence and wishes for End Times to happen soon. Matter of fact, all the so called Religious Right have done the same. They all want the world to end so they can be lifted up to Heaven with their Jesus.

I must say, their Jesus and my Jesus are two very different people.

So what do you think.. Does Dana Milbank have a point. He has just published a book about Beck, called
Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America, a fitting title don't you think? I am going to have to get this book. Then I will let you know what I think.

Let me know how you feel about this, and again, just another thing to worry about from the Right WingNuts of America.

6 comments:

Sue said...

Annette you know my thoughts on Mormons, I do believe they are an evil cult, their leaders are not of Gods teachings. But this bloody violence talk reminds me of the evangelicals and their cries for the rapture to come, and frankly it scares me but also causes me guilt because I just don't believe it all. That is not how I was raised but in the last few years I have doubts about all this religious talk. I think the rightwingnuts are obsessed because they have lost power and followers, and we have Barack Hussein Obama sitting in the White House. They are livid in their hate and right now their hate is uncontrollable.

A World Quite Mad said...

Every single person should understand what happened in Germany in the 1920s. There was economic upheaval, and the government couldn't do enough to fix it, and in steps Hitler, promising to fix it all and using Jews as a scapegoat. The people were angry and their hate was uncontrollable.

Do I really have to draw the parallel? It's obvious isn't it? Now we have economic problems and these tea-baggers don't hesitate to hate on liberals, gays, Muslims and whoever else they don't like. The only thing missing is a single personality to take it and run with it.

As they say, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Many of these people think they're doing the right and just thing, i.e. thinking they're upholding the Constitution or some other nonsense. Many Germans thought as much as well.

K. said...

I hope Orrin Hatch is sleepless with self-loathing for toadying to Beck. He must think that Beck is one step up from a cockroach.

World, I hear what you're saying, but in this case the road to hell is paved with bad intentions. These people are nothing more than vulgar nativist thugs, and that's all they have to offer.

Leslie Parsley said...

These people really are quite mad. They're no better than snake oil salesmen or circuit preachers who handle snakes and get people to speak in tongues.

One encouraging sign: My tea party relatives have quit watching Beck.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

I wonder if Rick Sanchez had used Mormans as his evil controllers of media instead of Jews he would have been fired.


The are millions of deluded fools out there ready to hate. It wouldn't take much for a Rush limbaugh or someone with a big audience of kooks to stir up their anger towards Mormans.

Notice that Beck kisses limbaugh's ass. He's nuts but he's not an idiot.

Annette said...

Thanks all for the great comments. Sorry I haven't answered before now, but am traveling and just haven't been online.

We have to be aware of these things and try to keep them from happening.

World, the paralels are startling to say the least. That's what I have said for a while. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.