We live in a time of great confusion and uncertainty, and even this in itself is confusing to us because we literally have all of the world’s accumulated knowledge and experience at our fingertips. We have volumes of books from licensed and certified experts and PhDs’ explaining everything under the sun to us, and beyond.

Science and technology was supposed to fix it all, to fill in the gaps between religious superstition and enlightenment, to bring peace and unity through higher education, learning, and the elimination of ignorance, but here we are early in the 21st century more angry, fearful, depressed and divided than ever.

In Glenn Beck’s new book, “Addicted to Outrage,” he adds his voice to the chorus of experts who have gone before him, attempting to present a path forward if we can just convince enough people to change and get on board.  This, of course is a challenge as even Glenn openly admits most people are not willing to change as he describes in great detail in chapter 34.

In this book, and frequently on his daily radio program, Glenn Beck makes a compelling case for our country being addicted to outrage and being torn apart at the seams as a result of postmodernism, declining moral values, and deviation from our founding documents, particularly the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights which he states, “are perhaps the most divinely inspired documents of all time,” (Beck, Addicted to Outrage, pg. 78).

At times the book feels a bit like drinking from a fire hose, however, it is filled with a vast amount of evidence for our country’s problem which he deftly lays out with each passing chapter. And though he does make a compelling argument for our country’s addiction, his prescription for this perceived illness, while intriguing and technically conceivable, is unfortunately, still not the answer.

However, I believe in some ways he is on the right track, but postmodernism as the culprit of what appears to be America’s imminent downfall is once again missing the mark.  Postmodernism as Beck defines, using Wikipedia as his source is a philosophy where “there is no objective natural reality and that logic and reason are mere conceptual constructs that are not universally valid…, and that good and evil are subjective” (Beck, Addicted to Outrage, pg. 99, Wikipedia).

Additionally, Postmodernist vehemently reject absolute truth, and quite confusingly it appears that Glenn Beck does as well.  While on one hand he appears absolutely steadfast in his defense of truth and reason,  suggesting certain truths are “universal and eternal truth.  Those things that are ” ‘self-evident,’ ” (Beck, Addicted to Outrage, pg. 73).  While on the other hand, he defends uncertainty as a virtue in and of itself, quoting the Robert Harris book, Conclave, “My brothers and sisters….let me tell you that the one sin I have come to fear more than any other sin is certainty.  Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.  Even Christ was uncertain at the end,” (Beck, Addicted to Outrage, pg. 294). 

And though a surface level reading of the Gospels may imagine an uncertain Christ in his final hours, if anything, we can be absolutely thankful for his absolute certainty about what his mission was here on earth, to die on the cross (Acts 2:23).  And though Glenn Beck and Robert Harris may be right about certainty being the enemy of unity and tolerance, it is not the enemy of God.  Jesus specifically stated, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”  In this, Jesus was referring to the fact that there were really only going to be two camps in this world, those that were for him, and those that opposed him.

So, while post modernism may indeed be one of the main symptoms of the cancer which grows within us, it is merely just that, a symptom. And though certain symptoms do eventually kill, treating symptoms without addressing the root cause of a disease does not typically result in a cure. So without stretching this out for too much longer, let me get to my point.

Thus, rather than unity and tolerance being the “holy grail,” to which all must ascend toward, Jesus Christ presents a different standard.  He alone is to be ruler and King in our hearts and minds.  And there in lies the problem, this  rejection of Christ and Christianity has led to the flourishing of all types of philosophies such as humanistic  postmodernism, and others too numerous to mention.

This disease that we now find ourselves inflicted with is a sickness of the soul.  We have become corrupted by a deadly God deficiency. This crisis of identity is first and foremost a result of a complete and utter abandonment of our christian heritage, and like a ship with a broken rudder that has cut loose it’s anchor drifts helplessly on turbulent seas, so goes our country having cut loose the faith that has anchored our souls to almighty God.

And though Mr. Beck hits on the faith topic heavily, his prescription seems to be more god in a generic sense than any one particular all supreme, all powerful, all knowing, big “G” God.  And definitely not Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Old and New Testament in the Holy Bible between the pages of Genesis and Revelation.  While he himself claims to be a Christian, under the banner of Mormonism, his path forward seems to be more in line with Alcoholics anonymous definition of god in it’s “12 step program” as the basis for America’s much needed recovery program, specifically steps 2 and 3 as found in  AA literature and re-stated below:

“Step 2. to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity, and… Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2017)

In and around 1939, when the founder of AA, Bill Wilson, himself a recovering alcoholic, first penned the 12 step program, he was a Christian and most likely envisioned a Christian interpretation of his program.   However, over the past 80 years this has morphed to encompass whatever an individuals interpretation of god might be and while such things as a “placebo effect,” might have their value, particularly physical recovery from alcohol abuse, this generic god would still only exist in the mind of the believer and have a limited affect on the world around them.

With this personal interpretation of who god is left to our own imaginations, we are  destined to crash on the rocks of self indulgence and sin as long as we continue on the path of pursuing happiness and just any old god you may personally consider your “higher power.” For faith in a higher power is only powerful if there is actually a god wielding that power.

In promoting this unity first, salad bar approach to faith and god, that all roads lead to the promise land, Mr. Beck has unwittingly, and unfortunately added his voice to the legions of false teachers the Bible warns about.  If you’re a Christian still on the fence about what Glenn Beck believes, read chapter 35 where Glenn discusses in detail his faith journey which culminated ultimately in someone being able to satisfactorily  answer his question to where the deceased Gandhi’s current residence is, heaven or hell?

While I don’t necessarily know Gandhi’s story that well, or what his heart condition was at death, I do know that the answer that Glenn Beck was looking for is the more revealing part in chapter 35.  Glenn stated that he asked a Mormon pastor, “Where’s Gandhi?”  He followed up by stating, “One of my biggest problems with other religions was the belief that anyone who did not follow their beliefs ended up in hell.  Gandhi knew about Jesus and rejected him.  I couldn’t imagine anyone believing that a deity would tell one of the greatest men in history, ‘Yeah, did a lot of good, but you didn’t join the right church, so it sucks to be you,’ And then he would be sentenced to eternal flames.”  (Beck, Addicted to Outrage, pg.322)

The answer that won Glenn over is a telling, “Well…, we don’t know, but he’s in heaven.”  (Beck, Addicted to Outrage, pg. 322) Despite the fact that the Mormon pastor’s answer in itself is contradictory, first claiming not to know, then suggesting definitively that he’s in heaven, also suggests that Glenn’s search for religious truth was in itself limited to the boundaries of a belief system he already possessed, rather than humbly showing a willingness to conform to whatever God’s truth might actually be.

The two specific things that conflict directly with the teachings of Christ are not only huge, but they are deal breakers as far as Christian doctrine is concerned.

I wish it were not so and we could all embrace this all roads, unity of faith message, but unfortunately, God is clear in his guidance that Jesus Christ is not just a great moral teacher in a long line of great moral teachers, but he alone is, “the truth, the way and the life,” and that, “no one comes to the Father except through him,” (John 14:6). 

Jesus said it, I’m just a follower, but if your going to buy off on the Christian faith and become a follower of Christ, this is it, a central tenet of the faith that we have to come to grips with.   And unfortunately, if Mr. Gandhi did not have a coming to Jesus moment in his life and rejected Christ as Savior, then according to Christ, his final destination would be hell.   Doesn’t matter how much good he did, because scripture addresses that issue as well.  I know this is a difficult teaching, but again, it is a central tenet of the Christian faith.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Again, I mean no disrespect to Mr. Beck as he appears to be a man of great worldly character and faith and conviction, as well as an impressive philanthropist who genuinely seems to care for the oppressed and down trodden, but even this is not what saves.

The Bible warns in Proverbs 14:12 – “there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

When our founders penned the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, their understanding of who God was, even though they did not all fully understand, was the Creator of all things, the Christian God of the Bible.

Furthermore they also understood that these documents would be wholly inadequate to govern a nation that was not firmly anchored to God as John Adams is quoted below:

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  John Adams (The Works of John Adams, ed. C. F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown Co., 1851, 4:31)

And though this quote does not specifically mention Jesus Christ, we know through other documents that the founders were guided by Christian beliefs and doctrine.  Even Glenn himself pays significant homage to the Bible in this book and relates a story about Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine.  Even though Thomas Paine, “didn’t believe in the Bible being an accurate history, and didn’t believe in Jesus, but believed in a higher being.  Ben Franklin told him that everything he could dream and do was because of the people who did believe in the Judeo-Christian teachings.” (Beck, Addicted to Outrage, pg. 309)

To understand where we are at now, perhaps might best be summed up from the biblical scriptures themselves, particularly, the book of Romans, Chapter 1:18-28.  I would encourage you to read the whole thing, but here is an excerpt that I think very well blueprints the current state of our nation. –

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Additionally, God also said in 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

And though God was specifically speaking of the Jews in this 2 Chronicles quote, we can probably infer that, if we as Americans went through such great pains to establish ourselves as a Christian nation, guided by the fundamental teachings of the God of the Bible, then we can probably surmise God would look upon our idolatry in a similar fashion.

On the other hand , God made it pretty clear, in both the old and new testament, that faith in any other god, rather than himself through Jesus Christ was considered idolatry, and ultimately, whether we like it or not, punishable by judgement, both for the individual and the nation.

“But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 12:17

And while Glenn Beck’s “12 step” knock off  adaptation of Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step program may be an effective way for treating alcoholics, and in theory, effective in helping our country recover from self destruction, it is ultimately doomed because there is only one “higher power” who has warned us of the coming judgement for idolatry.

And as Thomas Jefferson so eloquently penned,

“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”  – Thomas Jefferson