After urging his radio-show listeners to "run as fast as you can" from churches preaching "social or economic justice" — a term he called "code" for Nazist or Communist ideology — Fox News' Glenn Beck has become persona non grata for a diverse list of Christian leaders. Left-leaning evangelical leader Jim Wallis called for Christians to boycott Beck's broadcasts, and National Council of Churches of Christ President Peg Chemberlin said Beck, a Mormon, is disrespectfully pushing his own political agenda. Did Beck cross a line? (Watch an ABC report about Glenn Beck's comments)
Reducing the Bible to "Communism" is perverse: Beck's distortions are absurd, says Bill Press in The Hill. "Jesus expected his followers to help the poor, the hungry and the dispossessed." Christians call this the "social gospel." By stigmatizing the word "social," Beck is, in effect, telling Christians to ignore role models like St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa and "instead follow the teachings of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and George W. Bush, who don’t give a fig about the poor." Now we know Beck's theology is as sick as his politics.
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