We have the Ten Commandments, the Five Precepts of Buddhism, the Kashrut of Judaism, the Sharia of Islam, the Mormon Word of Wisdom, the Eight Beatitudes, the seven spiritual works of mercy, the seven corporal works of mercy, and now the nine principles of Glenn Beck's We Surround Them movement. Perhaps Beck is a bit out of his league in comparison to the founders of the world's major religions, but his zealotry and that of his prophet Chuckabee Norris, once the disciple of Mike Huckabee, are unrivaled in the annals of religious lunacy.
Let's take a look at the guiding principles of Beck's new religion, which will be unveiled this Friday following a PR blitz that would have been the envy of Abraham, who only had God's help in rolling out his religion, and not the geniuses in Fox's advertising department.
Glenn offers the following nine principles as the foundation of his religion. The commentary is mine. The good news about Glenn's principles is that you only have to ascribe to seven of them to belong to the We Surround Them religion. God is probably kicking himself for not thinking of this idea first and telling people they only had to pick eight of the commandments to obey. Of course, this might just be an introductory offer on Glenn's part and people might have to believe all nine principles after the introductory period is over. Anyway, all nine principles were so compelling, I found it almost impossible to pick the seven I liked best. So I'll share my thoughts on each and maybe you can help me decide.
The Nine Principles According to Glenn Beck
1. America is good.
I like this and for the most part I agree and I really want America to be good and to be thought of as good. But good is not a state of being. It is a state of doing. In order to be good we must do good and not just think we are good. So for America to be good, America must do good and that's something I can support. There have been times that America has done bad, but I haven't given up on America in those times. I know that we have a tremendous potential for good and that most Americans want to fulfill that potential. And I think most Americans are strong enough to accept the fact that we haven't always done the right thing and who care enough about America to try and get her back on the right track. So we don't have to pretend that we are good when we're not. We just have to get back to doing the right thing by our countrymen and the rest of the world.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
I'm still trying to figure out why Center and Life are capitalized here. Perhaps there is some significance to this particular juxtaposition because normally you don't see either word capitalized. Of course, this is the center of Glenn Beck's life and possibly worthy of the capitalization. The truth is that I'm fine with God being the center of Glenn's life, or anybody's life for that matter. I'm also fine with people having a different center for their life as long as it's not somthing that hurts people. I don't necessarily think that having God at the center of your life is any nobler than being centered on helping people or saving the planet or teaching children or any number of wonderful things people can do to make the world a better place. I'm also fine with people who don't believe in God and I think that it's likely that atheists can also have a valid center to their lives. Sometimes when people say their lives are centered around God, I wonder what this means. Some people say that God is Love and love is definitely not a bad center to have for your life because it means you will act out of compassion and love and not do anything to hurt anyone. If that's the case, I can go along with this principle.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
This I can kind of agree with, except that being more honest today only means being a little less dishonest than yesterday. I think that we have to be totally honest. Unlike medicine, honesty is not something that you take a dose of every day until you are completely honest. You are either honest or you are not. I think it is hard for us to be totally honest, but it is something we should strive to be.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
This one sounded pretty scary. Certainly families are entitled to live in relative autonomy, but the rule of law has to govern all of our lives. We've seen this authoritarian attitude carried to extremes in cults that refer to themselves as families with the cult leader at the head of the family and in nuclear families where it leads to abuse of family members. Families need to make decisions within the framework of the law and which are not harmful to themselves or others.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
I agree with this one basically, but it does limit our ability to deal with people as individuals and to deal with any extenuating circumstances. Justice must be blind to the things that prejudice us against someone, but it should not be blind to the situation and background of individuals brought before it. Otherwise, as Victor Hugo has so eloquently portrayed, we may persecute a man for stealing a crust of bread to feed his starving family. Justice must also be compassionate and merciful.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
We all have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and although the results might not be equal, certainly the chances should be. If this were a race, we would all be on the same starting line. But that's not the case. Successful people like to believe that the reason for their success is due to their character and ability. They tend to overlook their advantages and the disadvantages that others have. We should try to give everyone the same advantages. The results may not be equal, due to differences in abilities and luck, but everyone should at least be able to cross the finish line. We cannot build success on the failure of others. We are united to provide for the general welfare and so we should work on minimizing the difference in the results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
If we were all paid for how hard we worked, I wonder who would be making the most money. We like to believe that we earn our salaries, whether we're in the company gym in the afternoons, soaking up the sun at a resort where a business conference is being held, surfing the web at the office, or scrubbing toilets in an office building. We believe we deserve what we earn and that others deserve what they earn. But salary is not any way to measure the value of our work and it is perhaps the most misleading because it often gives us the idea that we are better than those who make less money. And that leads to the thinking that why should we give any of our hard-earned money to those who are not only inferior to us, but too lazy and unmotivated to earn as much as us. Certainly, government can't force us into being charitable, but we often wind up using government as an excuse to cover up our real reasons for not being charitable, mainly our own prejudices and stinginess. So this principle sounds like a basis for making predjudice and stinginess acceptable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
This sounds good on the face of it unless disagreement with authority leads to refusal to submit to rightful authority. Certainly one can disagree with authority, but once cannot decide to ignore that authority. And sharing a personal opinion has some caveats too. If that opinion expresses a belief that breaking the law, threatening someone, or causing harm to person or property is acceptable, then that opinion should not be expressed. There is a fine line between expressing an opinion and inciting people to riot. I'm afraid that some of the statements made by adherents to Glenn Beck's new religion indicate that they do not make this distinction.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
This principle is fine in part. The government should work for us and should answer to us. However, we must also answer to the government by meeting all of the requirements of a good citizen. We essentially have a bargain with the government. We surrender some of our personal liberties and are granted rights and protections of those rights. If we fail to live up to our part of the bargain by following the laws, then we must answer to the government, which is the authority we have established to make and enforce laws. If the government fails to live up to its part of the bargain then it must answer to us at the polls. If we did not have a system in which the citizens and the government were answerable to each other, we would be living in anarchy. This give and take is an essential ingredient in every successful relationship.
So after all of this analysis, I'm not sure I can find seven principles I can accept in their entirety. So as much as I would like to be part of this exciting new movement, I guess I'm going to have to take a pass. Maybe I'll wait and see what kind of religion Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh have to offer,