Sunday, November 04, 2012 10:14:26 PM
Beck Acts as a Bridge Between Romney and Evangelical Christians
By AMY CHOZICK
Published: November 3, 2012
On radio and on his Internet network, the influential conservative pundit Glenn Beck [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/glenn_beck/index.html ] frequently invokes God, religious freedom and the founding fathers, but he does not regularly discuss his own Mormon faith.
But in early September, he broke with practice and hosted a special one-hour show, asking his audience, “Does Mitt Romney [ http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/candidates/mitt-romney ]’s Mormonism make him too scary or weird to be elected to president of the United States?”
Mr. Beck has not always supported Mr. Romney. (“I think he’s an honorable man, but I don’t trust him,” he said last year.) But as perhaps the best-known Mormon after the Republican presidential candidate and a major influence on evangelical Christians, Mr. Beck has emerged as an unlikely theological bridge between the first Mormon presidential nominee and a critical electorate.
At the same time, Mr. Beck’s defense of his and Mr. Romney’s shared faith speaks to the long-frayed relationship between evangelical Christians and Mormons and raises the question of whether evangelicals will ultimately put aside religious differences and vote on common conservative issues.
During his special program, Mr. Beck took questions from mostly evangelical Christian listeners, colorfully debunking misperceptions about Mormonism. The “magic underwear” was compared to a skullcap, and Mr. Beck insisted that polygamy [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/polygamy/index.html ] was seen as a “perversion” in the modern church.
“It’s not weird to be a Mormon,” he assured his listeners at the end of the program, “and it’s not weird to be president if you’re Mormon.”
Although Mr. Beck’s national media profile has waned since he left Fox News last year, his support among his core audience remains strong. “The Glenn Beck Program” is typically the third-most-popular talk-news radio show, after “The Rush Limbaugh Show” and “The Sean Hannity Show.” In September, an agreement was reached with Dish Network to bring Mr. Beck’s online network, The Blaze, to traditional television.
Mr. Beck’s unique position as both a Mormon and a prominent voice among evangelicals has been too tempting for Mr. Romney’s campaign to pass up. Campaign officials have quietly courted Mr. Beck, according to a person briefed on his meetings with campaign surrogates who could not discuss private conversations publicly. Mr. Beck declined to comment for this article.
Last month, Mr. Beck, along with former Vice President Dick Cheney and Mr. Romney’s son Josh, headlined a Dallas fund-raiser that brought in more than $250,000 for the Romney Victory committee, and on Friday Mr. Beck held a rally in Columbus, Ohio, intended to influence voters in that swing state. On Saturday, he attended Mr. Romney’s rally in Dubuque, Iowa.
Stalwart conservatives who support the Romney-Ryan ticket, like Representative Louie Gohmert, Republican of Texas; Rick Santorum, a former senator and Republican presidential candidate; and retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin, have appeared on Mr. Beck’s program not so much to tout Mr. Romney directly as to discuss hot-button political issues like the handling of the attack on the United States mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Mostly Mr. Beck has helped Mr. Romney by directly addressing his devout Mormon faith, something the candidate himself rarely does. “I believe Mr. Romney prays on his knees every day,” Mr. Beck said recently on his radio program. “I believe he is being guided.” He has also said that a Romney victory would be “a sign from God.”
Mr. Romney already enjoys a commanding lead among white evangelical Protestant voters — 76 percent to 17 percent for President Obama, according to a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey released on Monday [ http://projects.pewforum.org/2012-presidential-election-candidate-religious-groups/#for-obama ], and 54 percent to Mr. Obama’s 39 percent among Protestant voters. Influential Christian leaders including the Rev. Billy Graham and Ralph Reed have endorsed Mr. Romney.
But deep-rooted tensions between Mormons and evangelical Christians persist, and could affect the turnout on Tuesday, several evangelical leaders said.
“Romney has staked out issues that are aligned with evangelicals,” said Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the conservative nonprofit American Family Association. But, he added, Mr. Romney’s faith may ultimately present a problem in the voting booth. “It’s still an issue for some evangelicals and may influence their voting decision on Nov. 6,” he said. “There are a number of evangelicals who will not vote for someone who doesn’t adhere to orthodox Christianity.”
Mr. Beck and Mr. Romney’s relationship dates to before the presidential campaign when they crossed paths from time to time at events in Salt Lake City. In 2009, Mr. Romney called Mr. Beck “my friend and a statesman in his own right” when he announced Mr. Beck via video at a fund-raiser for George Wythe University.
Born a Roman Catholic, Mr. Beck, 48, converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1999 just before he married his second wife, Tania. His personal story of born-again transformation from drug addict and alcoholic to best-selling inspirational author, as well as his rants against big government, made him a favorite among Tea Party [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/tea_party_movement/index.html ] conservatives.
But that does not mean they accept him as one of their own, spiritually speaking. Mr. Beck has come under fire from religious leaders, especially after his 2010 Restoring Honor rally in Washington, which some evangelical leaders suggested was a Mormon tent revival masquerading as a political event. Denny Burk, an associate professor of biblical studies at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky., part of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the event “Mormon-American-pie-populist politics.”
Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, “It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Mr. Fischer said of the complicated relationship between evangelical Christians and Mormons that “evangelicals appreciate what Glenn Beck has done in refocusing attention on the values of our founding fathers,” but “that doesn’t mean evangelicals regard him as a Christian.”
The Romney campaign has faced similar hurdles and has tried to reach out to evangelicals by focusing on conservative issues like opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/same_sex_marriage/index.html ], rather than on Mr. Romney’s own religious beliefs.
“I think when people of other faiths decide to focus more on common values and less on common theology, they can get quite comfortable with Mitt Romney,” said Mark DeMoss, an evangelical Christian and a senior adviser to Mr. Romney.
The focus on issues rather than religious outreach has been a relief to some evangelical leaders. “I’m frankly surprised and relieved that I don’t see a movement of evangelicals who are waiting to claim Mitt Romney as a brother in Christ,” Mr. Moore said in an interview. “He’s won over evangelicals politically, not religiously.”
The reluctance to embrace Mormonism was reflected in a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey [ http://www.pewforum.org/christian/mormon/mormons-in-america-executive-summary.aspx ], released Jan. 12, that found that about a third of adults in the United States said Mormonism was not a Christian faith and 17 percent said they did not know. Until last month, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Web site listed Mormonism as a “cult” along with Scientology and Jehovah’s Witnesses. That characterization was taken off the Web site last month around the time that Mr. Graham endorsed Mr. Romney. The Rev. Franklin Graham, chief executive of his father’s association, said the characterization had been added by a staff member and should never have been on the site.
In an interview, Franklin Graham said Mr. Romney’s opposition to same-sex marriage trumped any concerns over his faith. “We have to remember we’re not voting for a pastor in chief,” he said.
David Neff, editor in chief of Christianity Today, said that while evangelical Christians have no problem with Mormon politicians like Senators Harry Reid of Nevada and Orrin D. Hatch of Utah, a Mormon president would “mainstream a religion they’d like to keep marginalized.”
That fear of making Mormonism mainstream is perhaps the biggest difference between evangelicals’ willingness to accept a Mormon TV pundit who shares their views, as opposed to a Mormon presidential candidate.
“There’s a difference between a public figure like Glenn Beck and someone who could be the president of the United States,” said John C. Green, the author of “The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections.” “Many evangelicals believe this country was founded by Christian leaders. It’s important that the person in the White House be positive about Christianity, if not a devout Christian himself.”
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/politics/beck-acts-as-a-bridge-between-romney-and-evangelical-christians.html [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/politics/beck-acts-as-a-bridge-between-romney-and-evangelical-christians.html?pagewanted=all ]
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Restoring Honor Rally: Closing Prayer and Song
Watch the entire rally here: http://www.watchglennbeck.com/restoringhonor
Dave Roever gives the closing prayer at the Restoring Honor Rally, and then a beautiful song to close out a historic day.
8/28/10- At the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Glenn Beck and hundreds of thousands of Americans from all backgrounds came together on this day to restore honor to a great nation.
Note: If you were a part of the event and would like a custom clip made, feel free to e-mail me at thedailybeck@gmail.com and I would be glad to do it for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_dnE0KODsE
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Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally - Interviews With Participants
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera) with additional camera from Kasey Hosp.
On 8.28.2010, Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The purpose of the rally, which Beck claimed to be "non-political" despite featuring Tea Party-favorite Sarah Palin as a speaker and its being attended entirely by conservatives, was unclear. The participants spoke abstractly about the need to restore "honor" and "pride" to a country that had lost it. When pressed for when our country had lost its honor, most cited the election of Barack Obama.
8.28.2010 also represented the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, and Glenn Beck has been criticized for by civil rights groups for trying to misappropriate the occasion.
Last year, Beck referred to Barack Obama—our country's first African-American President--as a "racist... who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." When offered the chance to respond to Beck's statements, his fans either agreed with him or simply refused to believe that he had ever made them.
While the speaker list was diverse, the overwhelmingly white crowd expressed paranoid and conspiratorial fears of multiculturalism—that atheists or black liberation theologists or radical Muslims or "free-loading" Latinos were going to ruin our country. There was the constant suggestion that white Christians and their way of life are somehow under assault, and that the attendees of this rally were here to put an end to it and return the country to what it used to be.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8PmEjxUfg [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/14422749040/glenn-becks-restoring-honor-rally-interviews (with comments)]
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Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally - Interview B-Roll
PLEASE HELP US SHARE THIS VIDEO.
Some interview footage that didn't make it in our original film covering Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally, linked here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8PmEjxUfg [just above]
And before you comment or message to let me know: Koch is pronounced Coke. My guess was incorrect.
At the end of the video, two Tea Partiers bicker over who should get a certain location from which to view Mr. Beck's speech.
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera) with additional camera from Kasey Hosp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFerRGB7nYM [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/14423144610/glenn-becks-restoring-honor-rally-interview ]
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Restoring Honor - Mitt Romney
Vote for Mitt Romney on November 6th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5MQLmqdICI
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Ohio Romney Rally - Interviews with Supporters
Election observers believe that Ohio is the state most likely to decide who becomes our next President. These interviews were conducted with Ohio voters at a recent Romney rally in Defiance, OH.
See Interview B-Roll - Social Issues here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-ePaZ8148 [next below]
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviewer) & Erick Stoll.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0M7IdNl7U [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/34776839834/ohio-romney-rally (with comments)]
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Ohio Romney Rally - Interview B-Roll - Social Issues
Election observers believe that Ohio is the state most likely to decide who becomes our next President. These are interviews that didn't make it in our original coverage of a recent Romney rally in Defiance, OH.
Original video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0M7IdNl7U [just above]
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) & Erick Stoll (camera).
NLM ELSEWHERE:
Web: http://newleftmedia.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/newleftmedia
Twitter: http://twitter.com/newleftmedia
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-ePaZ8148
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The War on Women's Health is Real
The Republican Party continues to pass harsh laws restricting access to women's healthcare across the country, but the mainstream press has stopped paying attention.
That's why we've produced a short documentary that cogently explains the state and national efforts by Republicans--including Mitt Romney--to limit access to birth control and other basic women's health services.
Featured interviews include Rep. Lois Capps (CA-23), who as a former nurse has long been a leader on women's health issues; Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY's List; and Dr. Kimberly Shepherd, an OB/GYN who provides medical authority on issues that never should've been politicized in the first place.
With the lives of millions of women potentially impacted by the dangerous proposals of Mitt Romney and Republican lawmakers, it's vital that this issue isn't forgotten this election season. Help us spread the word.
TAKE ACTION
Visit http://StopTheWarOnWomen.com/ , and SHARE THIS VIDEO!
This documentary film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews), Erick Stoll (camera), and Liz Cambron.
Graphic design by Chase Whiteside.
Motion design by Ashley Walton (ashleywalton.com).
Music from the brilliant Jon Brion.
THANKS
Sean Barma, Laura Dawn, EMILY's List, Emma Shapiro, Ashley Schapitl, Rick Pender, Jay Marose, Victoria Shantrell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejYoV_UzGFk [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/28338909671/gop-war-on-womens-health-is-real (with comments)]
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Religion And Politics: IRS Not Enforcing Rules On Separation Of Church And State
By RACHEL ZOLL
Posted: 11/03/2012 1:53 pm EDT Updated: 11/04/2012 11:19 am EST
NEW YORK (AP) — For the past three years, the Internal Revenue Service hasn't been investigating complaints of partisan political activity by churches, leaving religious groups who make direct or thinly veiled endorsements of political candidates unchallenged.
The IRS monitors religious and other nonprofits on everything from salaries to spending, and that oversight continues. However, Russell Renwicks, a manager in the IRS Mid-Atlantic region, recently said the agency had suspended audits of churches suspected of breaching federal restrictions on political activity. A 2009 federal court ruling required the IRS to clarify which high-ranking official could authorize audits over the tax code's political rules. The IRS has yet to do so.
Dean Patterson, an IRS spokesman in Washington, said Renwicks, who examines large tax-exempt groups, "misspoke." Patterson would not provide any specifics beyond saying that "the IRS continues to run a balanced program that follows up on potential noncompliance."
However, attorneys who specialize in tax law for religious groups, as well as advocacy groups who monitor the cases, say they know of no IRS inquiries in the past three years into claims of partisanship by houses of worship. IRS church audits are confidential, but usually become public as the targeted religious groups fight to maintain their nonprofit status.
"The impression created is that no one is minding the store," said Melissa Rogers, a legal scholar and director of the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University Divinity School in North Carolina. "When there's an impression the IRS is not enforcing the restriction — that seems to embolden some to cross the line."
The issue is closely watched by a cadre of attorneys and former IRS officials who specialize in tax-exempt law, along with watchdog groups on competing sides of the church-state debate.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which seeks strict limits on religious involvement in politics, and the Alliance Defending Freedom, which considers the regulations unconstitutional government intrusion, scour the political landscape for any potential cases. While Americans United gathers evidence it hopes will prompt an IRS investigation, the Alliance Defending Freedom jumps in to provide a defense. Neither group knows of any IRS contact with houses of worship over political activity since the 2009 federal ruling.
Nicholas Cafardi, a Duquesne University Law School professor and Roman Catholic canon lawyer who specializes in tax-exempt law, said he has heard of no IRS inquiries over churches and politics in the last three years. Neither has Marcus Owens, a Washington attorney who spent a decade as head of the IRS tax-exempt division and is now in private practice.
Owens, who was with the IRS through 2000, said the agency had once initiated between 20 and 30 inquiries each year concerning political activity by churches or pastors. He said he knows of only two recent cases the IRS pursued against houses of worship or pastors, and neither involved complaints over partisan activity.
"What the IRS is desperate to do is to avoid signaling to churches and pastors that there is no administrative oversight," Owens said. "The IRS has been vigilant with regard to civil fraud and criminal cases, but those aren't all that common."
The tax code allows a wide range of political activity by houses of worship, including speaking out on social issues and organizing congregants to vote. But churches cannot endorse a candidate or engage in partisan advocacy. The presidential election has seen a series of statements by clergy that critics say amount to political endorsements. Religious leaders say they are speaking about public policies, not candidates, and have every right to do so.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has recently taken out full-page ads in major newspapers, featuring a photo of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, urging Americans to vote along biblical principles. Graham met last month with Mitt Romney and pledged to do "all I can" to help the Republican presidential nominee.
In a survey last week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 40 percent of black Protestants who attend worship services regularly said their clergy have discussed a specific candidate in church — and the candidate in every instance was President Barack Obama.
This Sunday, Roman Catholic Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill., ordered all the priests in his diocese to read a statement urging Catholics to vote and stating that, "Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord."
In Texas, a pastor of a small independent church posted a sign on the front of the building that read, "Vote for the Mormon, not the Muslim." Romney is the first Mormon nominee for president by a major party. Opponents of Obama, who is Christian, have spread false rumors that he is Muslim.
Renwicks made his comments Oct. 18, at a Washington seminar on tax-exempt organizations presented by the American Law Institute-Continuing Legal Education. Responding to a moderator's question about the status of church audits, Renwicks said, "we're basically holding any potential church audits — they're basically in abeyance.
"I haven't done a church audit in quite some time," said Renwicks, according to a recording of the talk provided by the American Law Institute. "There were one or two — what I'd call somewhat, maybe potentially egregious cases — where I thought maybe, we need to go out there, but even those were put in abeyance until we get the signature issue resolved."
An IRS reorganization in 1998 put responsibility for authorizing the audits in the hands of lower-ranking IRS officials. A Minnesota pastor, who faced an audit over his 2007 endorsement from the pulpit of Rep. Michele Bachmann, argued the IRS was violating its own rules. In 2009, a federal judge agreed, prompting a formal IRS rule-making process that continues today.
Dean Zerbe, a former senior counsel to the Senate Finance Committee who specializes in tax fraud and abuse, said the audits are "an extremely hellish area for the IRS to deal with."
The agency has to balance enforcement with churches' First Amendment rights. Even when the federal agency finds an outright violation, the penalty for houses of worship is usually little more than a warning. The IRS has revoked nonprofit status in just a handful of these cases since the rules for religious groups were adopted in 1954.
Last month, more than 1,500 pastors, organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom, endorsed a candidate from the pulpit and then sent a record of their statement to the IRS, hoping their challenge would eventually end up in court. The Alliance has organized the event, called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," since 2008. The IRS has never contacted a pastor involved in the protest.
"I think people are misled to think the IRS wakes up every morning wanting to knock on the door of a church or synagogue," said Zerbe. "Most senators blanch at the idea of having an IRS agent in the pews listening to what's going on from the pulpit. ... I think the IRS in some ways reflects that similar discomfort."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/irs-church-state_n_2069009.html [with comments]
By AMY CHOZICK
Published: November 3, 2012
On radio and on his Internet network, the influential conservative pundit Glenn Beck [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/glenn_beck/index.html ] frequently invokes God, religious freedom and the founding fathers, but he does not regularly discuss his own Mormon faith.
But in early September, he broke with practice and hosted a special one-hour show, asking his audience, “Does Mitt Romney [ http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/candidates/mitt-romney ]’s Mormonism make him too scary or weird to be elected to president of the United States?”
Mr. Beck has not always supported Mr. Romney. (“I think he’s an honorable man, but I don’t trust him,” he said last year.) But as perhaps the best-known Mormon after the Republican presidential candidate and a major influence on evangelical Christians, Mr. Beck has emerged as an unlikely theological bridge between the first Mormon presidential nominee and a critical electorate.
At the same time, Mr. Beck’s defense of his and Mr. Romney’s shared faith speaks to the long-frayed relationship between evangelical Christians and Mormons and raises the question of whether evangelicals will ultimately put aside religious differences and vote on common conservative issues.
During his special program, Mr. Beck took questions from mostly evangelical Christian listeners, colorfully debunking misperceptions about Mormonism. The “magic underwear” was compared to a skullcap, and Mr. Beck insisted that polygamy [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/polygamy/index.html ] was seen as a “perversion” in the modern church.
“It’s not weird to be a Mormon,” he assured his listeners at the end of the program, “and it’s not weird to be president if you’re Mormon.”
Although Mr. Beck’s national media profile has waned since he left Fox News last year, his support among his core audience remains strong. “The Glenn Beck Program” is typically the third-most-popular talk-news radio show, after “The Rush Limbaugh Show” and “The Sean Hannity Show.” In September, an agreement was reached with Dish Network to bring Mr. Beck’s online network, The Blaze, to traditional television.
Mr. Beck’s unique position as both a Mormon and a prominent voice among evangelicals has been too tempting for Mr. Romney’s campaign to pass up. Campaign officials have quietly courted Mr. Beck, according to a person briefed on his meetings with campaign surrogates who could not discuss private conversations publicly. Mr. Beck declined to comment for this article.
Last month, Mr. Beck, along with former Vice President Dick Cheney and Mr. Romney’s son Josh, headlined a Dallas fund-raiser that brought in more than $250,000 for the Romney Victory committee, and on Friday Mr. Beck held a rally in Columbus, Ohio, intended to influence voters in that swing state. On Saturday, he attended Mr. Romney’s rally in Dubuque, Iowa.
Stalwart conservatives who support the Romney-Ryan ticket, like Representative Louie Gohmert, Republican of Texas; Rick Santorum, a former senator and Republican presidential candidate; and retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin, have appeared on Mr. Beck’s program not so much to tout Mr. Romney directly as to discuss hot-button political issues like the handling of the attack on the United States mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Mostly Mr. Beck has helped Mr. Romney by directly addressing his devout Mormon faith, something the candidate himself rarely does. “I believe Mr. Romney prays on his knees every day,” Mr. Beck said recently on his radio program. “I believe he is being guided.” He has also said that a Romney victory would be “a sign from God.”
Mr. Romney already enjoys a commanding lead among white evangelical Protestant voters — 76 percent to 17 percent for President Obama, according to a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey released on Monday [ http://projects.pewforum.org/2012-presidential-election-candidate-religious-groups/#for-obama ], and 54 percent to Mr. Obama’s 39 percent among Protestant voters. Influential Christian leaders including the Rev. Billy Graham and Ralph Reed have endorsed Mr. Romney.
But deep-rooted tensions between Mormons and evangelical Christians persist, and could affect the turnout on Tuesday, several evangelical leaders said.
“Romney has staked out issues that are aligned with evangelicals,” said Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the conservative nonprofit American Family Association. But, he added, Mr. Romney’s faith may ultimately present a problem in the voting booth. “It’s still an issue for some evangelicals and may influence their voting decision on Nov. 6,” he said. “There are a number of evangelicals who will not vote for someone who doesn’t adhere to orthodox Christianity.”
Mr. Beck and Mr. Romney’s relationship dates to before the presidential campaign when they crossed paths from time to time at events in Salt Lake City. In 2009, Mr. Romney called Mr. Beck “my friend and a statesman in his own right” when he announced Mr. Beck via video at a fund-raiser for George Wythe University.
Born a Roman Catholic, Mr. Beck, 48, converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1999 just before he married his second wife, Tania. His personal story of born-again transformation from drug addict and alcoholic to best-selling inspirational author, as well as his rants against big government, made him a favorite among Tea Party [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/tea_party_movement/index.html ] conservatives.
But that does not mean they accept him as one of their own, spiritually speaking. Mr. Beck has come under fire from religious leaders, especially after his 2010 Restoring Honor rally in Washington, which some evangelical leaders suggested was a Mormon tent revival masquerading as a political event. Denny Burk, an associate professor of biblical studies at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky., part of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the event “Mormon-American-pie-populist politics.”
Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, “It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Mr. Fischer said of the complicated relationship between evangelical Christians and Mormons that “evangelicals appreciate what Glenn Beck has done in refocusing attention on the values of our founding fathers,” but “that doesn’t mean evangelicals regard him as a Christian.”
The Romney campaign has faced similar hurdles and has tried to reach out to evangelicals by focusing on conservative issues like opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/same_sex_marriage/index.html ], rather than on Mr. Romney’s own religious beliefs.
“I think when people of other faiths decide to focus more on common values and less on common theology, they can get quite comfortable with Mitt Romney,” said Mark DeMoss, an evangelical Christian and a senior adviser to Mr. Romney.
The focus on issues rather than religious outreach has been a relief to some evangelical leaders. “I’m frankly surprised and relieved that I don’t see a movement of evangelicals who are waiting to claim Mitt Romney as a brother in Christ,” Mr. Moore said in an interview. “He’s won over evangelicals politically, not religiously.”
The reluctance to embrace Mormonism was reflected in a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey [ http://www.pewforum.org/christian/mormon/mormons-in-america-executive-summary.aspx ], released Jan. 12, that found that about a third of adults in the United States said Mormonism was not a Christian faith and 17 percent said they did not know. Until last month, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Web site listed Mormonism as a “cult” along with Scientology and Jehovah’s Witnesses. That characterization was taken off the Web site last month around the time that Mr. Graham endorsed Mr. Romney. The Rev. Franklin Graham, chief executive of his father’s association, said the characterization had been added by a staff member and should never have been on the site.
In an interview, Franklin Graham said Mr. Romney’s opposition to same-sex marriage trumped any concerns over his faith. “We have to remember we’re not voting for a pastor in chief,” he said.
David Neff, editor in chief of Christianity Today, said that while evangelical Christians have no problem with Mormon politicians like Senators Harry Reid of Nevada and Orrin D. Hatch of Utah, a Mormon president would “mainstream a religion they’d like to keep marginalized.”
That fear of making Mormonism mainstream is perhaps the biggest difference between evangelicals’ willingness to accept a Mormon TV pundit who shares their views, as opposed to a Mormon presidential candidate.
“There’s a difference between a public figure like Glenn Beck and someone who could be the president of the United States,” said John C. Green, the author of “The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections.” “Many evangelicals believe this country was founded by Christian leaders. It’s important that the person in the White House be positive about Christianity, if not a devout Christian himself.”
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/politics/beck-acts-as-a-bridge-between-romney-and-evangelical-christians.html [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/politics/beck-acts-as-a-bridge-between-romney-and-evangelical-christians.html?pagewanted=all ]
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Restoring Honor Rally: Closing Prayer and Song
Uploaded by TheDailyBeck on Aug 28, 2010
Watch the entire rally here: http://www.watchglennbeck.com/restoringhonor
Dave Roever gives the closing prayer at the Restoring Honor Rally, and then a beautiful song to close out a historic day.
8/28/10- At the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Glenn Beck and hundreds of thousands of Americans from all backgrounds came together on this day to restore honor to a great nation.
Note: If you were a part of the event and would like a custom clip made, feel free to e-mail me at thedailybeck@gmail.com and I would be glad to do it for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_dnE0KODsE
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Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally - Interviews With Participants
Uploaded by NewLeftMedia on Aug 30, 2010
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera) with additional camera from Kasey Hosp.
On 8.28.2010, Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The purpose of the rally, which Beck claimed to be "non-political" despite featuring Tea Party-favorite Sarah Palin as a speaker and its being attended entirely by conservatives, was unclear. The participants spoke abstractly about the need to restore "honor" and "pride" to a country that had lost it. When pressed for when our country had lost its honor, most cited the election of Barack Obama.
8.28.2010 also represented the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, and Glenn Beck has been criticized for by civil rights groups for trying to misappropriate the occasion.
Last year, Beck referred to Barack Obama—our country's first African-American President--as a "racist... who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." When offered the chance to respond to Beck's statements, his fans either agreed with him or simply refused to believe that he had ever made them.
While the speaker list was diverse, the overwhelmingly white crowd expressed paranoid and conspiratorial fears of multiculturalism—that atheists or black liberation theologists or radical Muslims or "free-loading" Latinos were going to ruin our country. There was the constant suggestion that white Christians and their way of life are somehow under assault, and that the attendees of this rally were here to put an end to it and return the country to what it used to be.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8PmEjxUfg [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/14422749040/glenn-becks-restoring-honor-rally-interviews (with comments)]
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Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally - Interview B-Roll
Uploaded by NewLeftMedia on Sep 4, 2010
PLEASE HELP US SHARE THIS VIDEO.
Some interview footage that didn't make it in our original film covering Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally, linked here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8PmEjxUfg [just above]
And before you comment or message to let me know: Koch is pronounced Coke. My guess was incorrect.
At the end of the video, two Tea Partiers bicker over who should get a certain location from which to view Mr. Beck's speech.
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera) with additional camera from Kasey Hosp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFerRGB7nYM [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/14423144610/glenn-becks-restoring-honor-rally-interview ]
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Restoring Honor - Mitt Romney
Published on Oct 27, 2012 by SpencerJProductions
Vote for Mitt Romney on November 6th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5MQLmqdICI
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Ohio Romney Rally - Interviews with Supporters
Published on Nov 1, 2012 by NewLeftMedia
Election observers believe that Ohio is the state most likely to decide who becomes our next President. These interviews were conducted with Ohio voters at a recent Romney rally in Defiance, OH.
See Interview B-Roll - Social Issues here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-ePaZ8148 [next below]
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviewer) & Erick Stoll.
NLM ELSEWHERE:
Web: http://newleftmedia.com
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/newleftmedia
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0M7IdNl7U [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/34776839834/ohio-romney-rally (with comments)]
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Ohio Romney Rally - Interview B-Roll - Social Issues
Published on Nov 2, 2012 by NewLeftMedia
Election observers believe that Ohio is the state most likely to decide who becomes our next President. These are interviews that didn't make it in our original coverage of a recent Romney rally in Defiance, OH.
Original video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0M7IdNl7U [just above]
Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) & Erick Stoll (camera).
NLM ELSEWHERE:
Web: http://newleftmedia.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/newleftmedia
Twitter: http://twitter.com/newleftmedia
Tumblr: http://blog.newleftmedia.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-ePaZ8148
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The War on Women's Health is Real
Published on Jul 30, 2012 by NewLeftMedia
The Republican Party continues to pass harsh laws restricting access to women's healthcare across the country, but the mainstream press has stopped paying attention.
That's why we've produced a short documentary that cogently explains the state and national efforts by Republicans--including Mitt Romney--to limit access to birth control and other basic women's health services.
Featured interviews include Rep. Lois Capps (CA-23), who as a former nurse has long been a leader on women's health issues; Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY's List; and Dr. Kimberly Shepherd, an OB/GYN who provides medical authority on issues that never should've been politicized in the first place.
With the lives of millions of women potentially impacted by the dangerous proposals of Mitt Romney and Republican lawmakers, it's vital that this issue isn't forgotten this election season. Help us spread the word.
TAKE ACTION
Visit http://StopTheWarOnWomen.com/ , and SHARE THIS VIDEO!
This documentary film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews), Erick Stoll (camera), and Liz Cambron.
Graphic design by Chase Whiteside.
Motion design by Ashley Walton (ashleywalton.com).
Music from the brilliant Jon Brion.
THANKS
Sean Barma, Laura Dawn, EMILY's List, Emma Shapiro, Ashley Schapitl, Rick Pender, Jay Marose, Victoria Shantrell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejYoV_UzGFk [ http://blog.newleftmedia.com/post/28338909671/gop-war-on-womens-health-is-real (with comments)]
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Religion And Politics: IRS Not Enforcing Rules On Separation Of Church And State
By RACHEL ZOLL
Posted: 11/03/2012 1:53 pm EDT Updated: 11/04/2012 11:19 am EST
NEW YORK (AP) — For the past three years, the Internal Revenue Service hasn't been investigating complaints of partisan political activity by churches, leaving religious groups who make direct or thinly veiled endorsements of political candidates unchallenged.
The IRS monitors religious and other nonprofits on everything from salaries to spending, and that oversight continues. However, Russell Renwicks, a manager in the IRS Mid-Atlantic region, recently said the agency had suspended audits of churches suspected of breaching federal restrictions on political activity. A 2009 federal court ruling required the IRS to clarify which high-ranking official could authorize audits over the tax code's political rules. The IRS has yet to do so.
Dean Patterson, an IRS spokesman in Washington, said Renwicks, who examines large tax-exempt groups, "misspoke." Patterson would not provide any specifics beyond saying that "the IRS continues to run a balanced program that follows up on potential noncompliance."
However, attorneys who specialize in tax law for religious groups, as well as advocacy groups who monitor the cases, say they know of no IRS inquiries in the past three years into claims of partisanship by houses of worship. IRS church audits are confidential, but usually become public as the targeted religious groups fight to maintain their nonprofit status.
"The impression created is that no one is minding the store," said Melissa Rogers, a legal scholar and director of the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University Divinity School in North Carolina. "When there's an impression the IRS is not enforcing the restriction — that seems to embolden some to cross the line."
The issue is closely watched by a cadre of attorneys and former IRS officials who specialize in tax-exempt law, along with watchdog groups on competing sides of the church-state debate.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which seeks strict limits on religious involvement in politics, and the Alliance Defending Freedom, which considers the regulations unconstitutional government intrusion, scour the political landscape for any potential cases. While Americans United gathers evidence it hopes will prompt an IRS investigation, the Alliance Defending Freedom jumps in to provide a defense. Neither group knows of any IRS contact with houses of worship over political activity since the 2009 federal ruling.
Nicholas Cafardi, a Duquesne University Law School professor and Roman Catholic canon lawyer who specializes in tax-exempt law, said he has heard of no IRS inquiries over churches and politics in the last three years. Neither has Marcus Owens, a Washington attorney who spent a decade as head of the IRS tax-exempt division and is now in private practice.
Owens, who was with the IRS through 2000, said the agency had once initiated between 20 and 30 inquiries each year concerning political activity by churches or pastors. He said he knows of only two recent cases the IRS pursued against houses of worship or pastors, and neither involved complaints over partisan activity.
"What the IRS is desperate to do is to avoid signaling to churches and pastors that there is no administrative oversight," Owens said. "The IRS has been vigilant with regard to civil fraud and criminal cases, but those aren't all that common."
The tax code allows a wide range of political activity by houses of worship, including speaking out on social issues and organizing congregants to vote. But churches cannot endorse a candidate or engage in partisan advocacy. The presidential election has seen a series of statements by clergy that critics say amount to political endorsements. Religious leaders say they are speaking about public policies, not candidates, and have every right to do so.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has recently taken out full-page ads in major newspapers, featuring a photo of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, urging Americans to vote along biblical principles. Graham met last month with Mitt Romney and pledged to do "all I can" to help the Republican presidential nominee.
In a survey last week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 40 percent of black Protestants who attend worship services regularly said their clergy have discussed a specific candidate in church — and the candidate in every instance was President Barack Obama.
This Sunday, Roman Catholic Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill., ordered all the priests in his diocese to read a statement urging Catholics to vote and stating that, "Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord."
In Texas, a pastor of a small independent church posted a sign on the front of the building that read, "Vote for the Mormon, not the Muslim." Romney is the first Mormon nominee for president by a major party. Opponents of Obama, who is Christian, have spread false rumors that he is Muslim.
Renwicks made his comments Oct. 18, at a Washington seminar on tax-exempt organizations presented by the American Law Institute-Continuing Legal Education. Responding to a moderator's question about the status of church audits, Renwicks said, "we're basically holding any potential church audits — they're basically in abeyance.
"I haven't done a church audit in quite some time," said Renwicks, according to a recording of the talk provided by the American Law Institute. "There were one or two — what I'd call somewhat, maybe potentially egregious cases — where I thought maybe, we need to go out there, but even those were put in abeyance until we get the signature issue resolved."
An IRS reorganization in 1998 put responsibility for authorizing the audits in the hands of lower-ranking IRS officials. A Minnesota pastor, who faced an audit over his 2007 endorsement from the pulpit of Rep. Michele Bachmann, argued the IRS was violating its own rules. In 2009, a federal judge agreed, prompting a formal IRS rule-making process that continues today.
Dean Zerbe, a former senior counsel to the Senate Finance Committee who specializes in tax fraud and abuse, said the audits are "an extremely hellish area for the IRS to deal with."
The agency has to balance enforcement with churches' First Amendment rights. Even when the federal agency finds an outright violation, the penalty for houses of worship is usually little more than a warning. The IRS has revoked nonprofit status in just a handful of these cases since the rules for religious groups were adopted in 1954.
Last month, more than 1,500 pastors, organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom, endorsed a candidate from the pulpit and then sent a record of their statement to the IRS, hoping their challenge would eventually end up in court. The Alliance has organized the event, called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," since 2008. The IRS has never contacted a pastor involved in the protest.
"I think people are misled to think the IRS wakes up every morning wanting to knock on the door of a church or synagogue," said Zerbe. "Most senators blanch at the idea of having an IRS agent in the pews listening to what's going on from the pulpit. ... I think the IRS in some ways reflects that similar discomfort."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/irs-church-state_n_2069009.html [with comments]
Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
F6
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