Written by Aerial Whiting
I like Glenn Beck. There. I said it.I can only imagine the bless-her-little-heart looks I will get while walking around campus for making that confession, but it’s true. At home, the “Glenn Beck Program” is one of my family’s main sources of news – right up there with “Hannity’s America” and “The O’Reilly Factor.”Having said that, I don’t agree with everything Beck does, and one of his actions with which I take issue is his holding a rally in Washington on Aug. 28.Let me be clear: I don’t have a problem with the rally itself. Called “Restoring Honor,” it somewhat resembled a revival from the Second Great Awakening and was supposed to be apolitical in nature. Instead of promoting a political agenda, Beck and other speakers at the rally pushed for a recommitment to Christian and American values.I think that’s wonderful; I certainly agree with several of the sentiments they expressed (though I find it strange that Beck has emerged as a religious leader).In addition to discussing the moral state of our nation, the rally focused on honoring the armed forces. At the rally, more than $5 million were raised for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to children of special operations personnel who have died in training or combat, which is exceptionally commendable.However, what I do have a problem with is the timing of the event. For those who have not heard, Beck held the rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.By scheduling his rally on Aug. 28, Beck – whether intentionally or not – compared his efforts with those of one of the greatest leaders of the Civil Rights movement, even though the purpose of the rally was not the same as that of the original March on Washington.Both King and Beck stated the intentions of their respective gatherings.King, at the beginning of his “I Have a Dream” speech, said the March on Washington was “the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”Beck, by contrast, said “Restoring Honor” had “everything to do with God, turning our faith back to the values and principles that made us [America] great.”While Beck may consider freedom one of those values or principles, he was not specifically championing freedom of a marginalized group at the rally. And since the purposes of the two events were different, it seems to me that the dates should have differed, too.In fairness to Beck, he said he did not know the historical significance of Aug. 28 until after “Restoring Honor” was scheduled. It was the media that were quick to point out the coincidence.On top of that, one of King’s own kin didn’t seem to mind that the rally fell when it did. Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., spoke at the event and even said in her speech, “I have a dream, too.”Given that King’s niece felt she could speak at a rally in Washington on that historical date, perhaps the timing of “Restoring Honor” might be more appropriate than it seems after all.Even so, I personally feel that Beck should exercise more discretion when selecting dates for future events.AERIAL WHITING is the asst. copy editor for the 2010-2011 Bison. She may be contacted atawhiting@harding.edu
