Glenn Beck's 912 Project
Glenn Beck has started a movement to help Americans get back to the feeling of unity and charity we felt the day after 9/11.
I think the program is a good start. However, I like to do a little thinking before I jump on a band-wagon. And there is no earthly organization that I endorse 100%.
My over-arching thought:
To hope that Americans feel the way that we did after 9/11 is to hope that America gets attacked again, for "except [God] doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him."
Truly, prosperity is our greatest trial. As Brigham put it: "The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell."
Here are my initial thoughts in bold. All other words and quotes are from Beck's website.
9 Principles:
1. America Is Good.
[Only when we do good. We are not God. We can make mistakes, and at times, need to repent. You may disagree.]
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
[Amen. But beware of self-righteousness and hypocrisy, the foul fruits of fanaticism.]
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
[Yep.]
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
[Yep. Glenn Beck is Mormon.]
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
[Yep. With two warnings.
1. That which is lawful is not always right. Alma warned that, "the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges." Bankers and investors have recently gambled away our retirements, legally.
2. That which is illegal is not always wrong. The men who pledged all that they had to make our country free, did so illegally. They committed treason.]
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
[Yes. A middle class is needed to prevent the tyranny of oligarchy. A strong middle class is the greatest difference between the U.S. and Russia. I feel that the rich have too strong a hold of the government already. Does a stronger federal government facilitate that tyranny or protect us against it?
Does "everyone" here pertain to all people, or only Americans, or white males? I assume Jefferson meant white males. I disagree with him on that point.]
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
[Yes. But this does not go far enough.
We should not be forced to pay taxes. It should be completely voluntary. Forceful taxation is no different from petty theft.
Next time you organize a 'tea party,' actually put your butt on the line, like our ancestors did, by stamping "return to sender" on your tax forms.
But as long as we pay taxes, I have two thoughts:
1. Most people are not so worried about losing their agency as they are about losing their cherished money. It seems strange to me that this only becomes a concern when that money is given to people deemed lazy, and not when it is used for national defense, or to build roads.
I assume that when the taxes are used to provide vital services to the taxpayer, that his loss of agency is compensated by his gain in convenience and security, enough to buy his complacency.
2. Inequality of pay does not result from a just, free market, but results from a corruption of power. The amount of money one has does not equal the amount of work put in to getting that money.
Wendell Berry put it well:
"We might as well admit that we do not have a working concept of economic justice. We are resigned to the poor principle that people earn what they earn by power, not by the quality or usefulness of their work."
In most corporations, those who obtain authority use that authority to benefit themselves at the expense of those whom they view as working below them. The amount or quality of work is not taken into account.
Note: I do not mean that rich people are bad. I have always emphasized that economic station has nothing to do with morality. Rich and poor have equal opportunity to do well or ill. This is a comment on the general state of our financial system.]
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
[Agreed (see blog heading). But this principle makes me think that many of the people signing up for this are not rebelling against specific principles, or against the condition of the nation, but against the Democratic party. For example, Obama has been blamed for the entire bailout, with pundits saying little about the $700,000,000,000 Bush gave to banks a few months ago, no strings attached.
Surely unity and charity cannot be achieved through petty partisan bickering. Otherwise it would be nothing but the same old politics coated in sticky emotion and wrapped in religio-patriotic rhetoric.]
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson
[Read Ron Paul.]
The 12 Values look good.
* Honesty
* Reverence
* Hope
* Thrift
* Humility
* Charity
* Sincerity
* Moderation
* Hard Work
* Courage
* Personal Responsibility
* Gratitude
And here's Colbert's take on 912
I think the program is a good start. However, I like to do a little thinking before I jump on a band-wagon. And there is no earthly organization that I endorse 100%.
My over-arching thought:
To hope that Americans feel the way that we did after 9/11 is to hope that America gets attacked again, for "except [God] doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him."
Truly, prosperity is our greatest trial. As Brigham put it: "The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell."
Here are my initial thoughts in bold. All other words and quotes are from Beck's website.
9 Principles:
1. America Is Good.
[Only when we do good. We are not God. We can make mistakes, and at times, need to repent. You may disagree.]
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
[Amen. But beware of self-righteousness and hypocrisy, the foul fruits of fanaticism.]
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
[Yep.]
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
[Yep. Glenn Beck is Mormon.]
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
[Yep. With two warnings.
1. That which is lawful is not always right. Alma warned that, "the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges." Bankers and investors have recently gambled away our retirements, legally.
2. That which is illegal is not always wrong. The men who pledged all that they had to make our country free, did so illegally. They committed treason.]
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
[Yes. A middle class is needed to prevent the tyranny of oligarchy. A strong middle class is the greatest difference between the U.S. and Russia. I feel that the rich have too strong a hold of the government already. Does a stronger federal government facilitate that tyranny or protect us against it?
Does "everyone" here pertain to all people, or only Americans, or white males? I assume Jefferson meant white males. I disagree with him on that point.]
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
[Yes. But this does not go far enough.
We should not be forced to pay taxes. It should be completely voluntary. Forceful taxation is no different from petty theft.
Next time you organize a 'tea party,' actually put your butt on the line, like our ancestors did, by stamping "return to sender" on your tax forms.
But as long as we pay taxes, I have two thoughts:
1. Most people are not so worried about losing their agency as they are about losing their cherished money. It seems strange to me that this only becomes a concern when that money is given to people deemed lazy, and not when it is used for national defense, or to build roads.
I assume that when the taxes are used to provide vital services to the taxpayer, that his loss of agency is compensated by his gain in convenience and security, enough to buy his complacency.
2. Inequality of pay does not result from a just, free market, but results from a corruption of power. The amount of money one has does not equal the amount of work put in to getting that money.
Wendell Berry put it well:
"We might as well admit that we do not have a working concept of economic justice. We are resigned to the poor principle that people earn what they earn by power, not by the quality or usefulness of their work."
In most corporations, those who obtain authority use that authority to benefit themselves at the expense of those whom they view as working below them. The amount or quality of work is not taken into account.
Note: I do not mean that rich people are bad. I have always emphasized that economic station has nothing to do with morality. Rich and poor have equal opportunity to do well or ill. This is a comment on the general state of our financial system.]
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
[Agreed (see blog heading). But this principle makes me think that many of the people signing up for this are not rebelling against specific principles, or against the condition of the nation, but against the Democratic party. For example, Obama has been blamed for the entire bailout, with pundits saying little about the $700,000,000,000 Bush gave to banks a few months ago, no strings attached.
Surely unity and charity cannot be achieved through petty partisan bickering. Otherwise it would be nothing but the same old politics coated in sticky emotion and wrapped in religio-patriotic rhetoric.]
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson
[Read Ron Paul.]
The 12 Values look good.
* Honesty
* Reverence
* Hope
* Thrift
* Humility
* Charity
* Sincerity
* Moderation
* Hard Work
* Courage
* Personal Responsibility
* Gratitude
And here's Colbert's take on 912
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The 10/31 Project | ||||
| ||||
I think Colbert is kind of a butt head to Glen Beck. I also think he is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI want to say that this is the kind of thoughtful process that needs to go on throughout this country, so thank you for writing this.
ReplyDeleteThe founding fathers are supportive of the 912 Project, and the work that is being done to bring together all Americans into one voice. We are, from time to time, also making comments about what we see, and learn, about the 912 Project as it progresses through its development.
On behalf of the founding fathers,
Respectfully,
John Adams
http://thejohnadams.blogspot.com
Thanks John. I loved your movie. I thought Paul Giamatti did a great job.
ReplyDelete