Glenn Beck. Love him or hate him, you can’t ignore him.

It has come to my attention that I stand in the middle of something bigger than myself. I find myself as an island situated where two rivers of thought cross. Let me explain:

On the one side, you have Liberty University. The leadership of LU has made it a point to be best buddies with Glenn Beck, supporting him in his endeavors. Beck spoke at our graduation (I say our, b/c I received my MAR that day). Beck held his “Restoring Honor Rally” and Jerry Falwell Jr. is right there, with Sarah Palin supporting Glenn Beck and nodding his approval at everything Beck said.

On the other side, you have your theophobic Christians, who balk at the very thought of doing anything with a Mormon. How could you possibly stoop so low as to associate yourself with someone in a cult, especially a cult that has made it a point to put itself into the American mainstream, calling itself Christian? Bible verses are quoted out of context, people foam at the mouth, and it all goes to hell.

On one hand, I understand the zealots. They are concerned about watering down truth, and see holding hands with Mormons on social issues as the same as holding hands with Satan himself. That’s stupid. Instead of utilizing the numbers of people who share the same values, you’d rather willfully gimp yourself and exclude people who hold similar beliefs out of concern for your theology.

I am NOT justifying Mormonism. I grew up within spitting distance of Hill Cumorah, where the Mormon cult was spawned. I know what Mormons believe and have probably had more knock on my door growing up in Western NY than you ever have. Mormonism is a cult, and if you know of their theology, you would understand how radically different it is from Christianity.

On the other hand you have your Tea Partiers, LU leadership included. This is recently shown on their Facebook page. My comments – and comments of others – stating that we should pray for Beck’s salvation were taken down. CENSORED! Ironically a University that propagates the idea of freedom of speech at a “Restoring Honor Rally” is the same University that censors people who challenges their presuppositions.  They left entire theological liberal wishy-washy “let’s not judge” posts, but anything reminding people that Mormonism is a cult – and Glenn Beck needs to be witnessed to- got taken down.

So here I sit.

Apparently you can’t say that you stand by Glenn Beck on his issues to restore common sense traditional values, or you make the zealots mad. You also can’t say that Glenn Beck is a Mormon and thus needs to hear the Gospel or you make the Tea Party and LU mad. Part of me wants to laugh, the other part just want to shake my head in disbelief.

How is supporting Glenn Beck and wanting to witnesss to Glenn Beck mutually exclusive?

Am I the only free thinker out here? Or am I totally off base and should pick a side?

I am following in suit with some of my blogging colleagues. I am lowering the flag, and climbing out of the trench. It has become apparent that the war over Caner is basically over. Sniping is all that takes place now. Ergun Caner has lost his position and taken a reputation hit. James White has lost prestige in the SBC and people have seen him for what he is. Liberty… well thats another blog post in and of itself. Do not think of me as giving up however. I may hop back into the trench when the time comes for it, since if you know me you’ll know I love a good fight.

Suffice to say, it’s time to take a breath of fresh air, clean the uniform, and find new things to do. Perhaps make the blog more personal, and maybe appealing to people who share the same interests as I do: theology, education, family, MMORPGS, etc. Perhaps make some more friends.

Yes, I think I’d like that.

Westa

I’m not going to write much here because my schedule today is full, with of course the new task of battling pink eye and getting ready for a week long intensive at LU. But as I sit at home watching TRBC, I have come to realize even more how much I miss Jerry Falwell Senior. It’s the 54th anniversary of TRBC, and they are showing clips of how the church began, all that Jerry accomplished, and then clips of the many things happening now under the leadership of Jonathan. I think Jonathan is great, but he has a different ministry style than that of his father. Jonathan is a more “hands on” kinda guy, which is awesome, and he’s done a lot…so don’t think I am knocking him, b/c I am not.

His father was more of the big picture kinda guy. Jerry Sr. would call it his “BHAG” or Big Hairy Audacious Goal. It hit me as I saw Jerry’s pictures of just how big of a man he was. How “larger than life” he was. I’ll admit, I cried when I heard that he had gone to be with the Lord several years ago. I’m man enough to say it. I remember him driving around campus, throwing snowballs. Giving me a bear hug in front of the student body and commenting on how surprised he was that my goatee was real, and all the rest of the memories. When I went to LU I didn’t appreciate him as much as I do now. I didn’t know him as well as I should have. Heck, I didn’t even know who he was until someone filled me in on the way down to LU for College for a Weekend so many moons ago.

And I miss him terribly…perhaps more now than ever.

Why?

I think of all of this and the whole Ergun Caner issue, and I’m sad. Honestly I am sad because if Jerry were alive there would have been no drawn out investigation. There would have been no committee, no weeks of back and forth between defenders of Caner and his detractors. Jerry would have simply said something, and that’d be the end of it.

He’d either given Caner the axe or told the bloggers to shove it.

Now LU has gone the way of committees, lawyer designed statements, damage control, image protection and all the rest that comes with it. Where is the boldness? Where is the passion? Where is the drive, the BHAGs, and the can-do attitude? From letting the city of Lynchburg dictate to the school where it can expand to fear of fringe elements with a computer and agenda… I am afraid that the Spirit on the Mountain will become institutionalized. You know of schools that started off with Christians foundations years ago but have changed so much you’d never know it today. The world doesn’t need another Harvard or Yale or Baylor.

The world needs Liberty. The world needs a Jerry Falwell.