Glenn Beck's "Twelve Values": #1 Honesty

Paul Derengowski, ThM

The problem is we don't have any trust for one another anymore.  Bernie Madoff, the banks, the politics, there's no honesty.  We must mean what we say and say what we mean.  As individuals, never let anyone—make a vow today.  You will never let anyone doubt your word.  Believe me, it is going to take you a very long time to change that.  I have been trying since 1996 and people still doubt my word from time to time if they don't know me.  That's okay.  I understand that.  Mean what you say and say what you mean.—Glenn Beck.

The irony in Glenn Beck's first "value" is overwhelming, given his carefully orchestrated attempt to propagate his Mormon beliefs without anyone knowing that he is doing it.  This will become more evident as one peruses through each subsequent value to be discussed.  In the mean time what exactly does it mean for a Mormon to be honest?  Does it mean a straightforward explanation to a question when it is asked, or does honesty become expendable when exposure of falsehood, aberrant belief, and lying for the cult becomes imperative?  In the 30 years of dealing with those dedicated to the Mormon cult, like Glenn Beck, honesty takes on a completely different connotation other than merely telling the truth.

Not long ago at Brigham Young University, Dr. Robert Millet gave a perfect illustration of what the Mormon was supposed to do when confronted with questions from those who were critical of Mormonism.  His address was to the BYU Mission Prep Club, or young college students with expectations of one day going on a Mormon mission, or perhaps serving in some other capacity for the Mormon church.  After misleading the students to believe that "contention is of the devil," he proceeds to share with them how to lie to the critic without actually telling them to lie.  He advised that when asked a question that perhaps is a little too convicting, then change the question.  Answer the question that should have been asked, not the one that has been asked.  He illustrates what he means by giving the following example:

For example, if a person, out of the blue, that I don’t know from Adam, walks up to me and says, “So, you’re a Latter-day Saint?”  Uh-huh.  “Tell me, uh, you folks believe that man can become like God, huh?”  See, how do I respond?  This is a total stranger.  I don’t know what he knows about the church.  It may not be the smartest thing in the world to say, “Yeah, yeah, let me, let me quote the Lorenzo Snow couplet for you, and then I’m going get the teachings of the Prophet, and I’m going read to you the King Follett Discourse.”  That may not be our best approach.

It might be a much wiser approach to say, “Well, that’s an interesting question, it is asked frequently, but you know, let me begin this way.  In the Spring of 1820 there was a young man named Joseph Smith, Jr., who was concerned about the subject of religion, and wanted to know which church to join.” Dot, dot, dot, dot.  What did I just do?  I just answered the question he should have asked.  Now, what’s the question he should have asked?

In other words, in Dr. Millet's mind, instead of answering the question about Mormons becoming gods (which is what Mormon's believe), he avoided the question to talk about something more nebulous and less convicting, and thought that that was the honest thing to do.

But, Dr. Millet has had plenty of Mormon examples in the past to learn from and emulate who have used lying and deception as a substitute for honesty as well.  Probably none were more cunning and deceitful than the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith.  Not only did he lie about Book of Mormon origins, the storyline found in the Book of Mormon is a lie as well.  Then he lied about his ability to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics, he lied to his wife about all the women and girls he was bedding down, and then lied to his own people about his banking scheme, their inability to build the New Jerusalem in Independence, Missouri, and finally about the reason why he destroyed the printing press in Nauvoo, Illinois, which led to his death.

When we turn to Glenn Beck, he hides behind a façade of patriotism and Constitutional jargon, all of which are cloaks that he uses to deliver his Mormon message.  In fact, he never really comes out and tells anyone that the main source of his God-Country-Family message comes straight out of the playbook of the late Mormon hardliner and fundamentalist, W. Cleon Skousen.  Beck will hint around about Skousen and his book The Five Thousand Year Leap, to which Beck wrote an introduction to it.  But, Beck will not tell anyone that Skousen's worldview is a rehash of Mormon doctrine which stems all the way back to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and one of Skousen's favorites, Joseph Fielding Smith, all of which taught that the Constitution was inspired by God, and that the only way for the United States to survive was by imposing a pseudo-Mosaic legalism upon U.S. citizens as guided by Mormon interpretation.

Beck's view of honesty, therefore, is a ruse.  It is dishonest because he speaks in veiled terms that only those familiar with Mormonese can detect or understand.  He tells people things that are pleasing to their ears, but means something totally different when examined more closely.  Glenn Beck is not an honest person because his Mormon allegiance will not allow it.  Mormonism is predicated on deceit, lying, misrepresentation, cheating, corruption, and distortion.  Therefore, when Glenn Beck speaks of honesty as a value, he speaks of something that is vacuous, because his Mormon worldview has robbed it of any significance.  It is a term that has been redefined, like so many in Mormonism, to mean just the opposite of its intended meaning.  And because of that Glenn Beck has discredited himself as a person that anyone should have anything to do with, if they value something as virtuous as honesty.

NEXT: Glenn Beck on Reverence