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Monday, August 30, 2010

The Restoring Honor Rally in Washington D.C.

YouTube - Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally pt.10 Beck's Monologue

(Messenger-Inquirer) Fox News Channel commentator Glenn Beck and tea party champion Sarah Palin appealed Saturday to a vast crowd on the National Mall to help restore traditional American values and honor Martin Luther King, Jr.'s message.  The Restoring Honor rally coincided with the 47th anniversary of the famous speech Martin Luther King Jr. made on August 28, 1963 which was entitled, "I Have a Dream."  Civil rights leaders such as Al Sharpton have accused the group of hijacking King's legacy.  Sharpton held a counter rally and march.  Beck billed this event as non-political.  Conservative activists said their show of strength was a clear sign that they can swing elections because much of the country is angry with the career politicians in Washington who are guilty of out-of-control spending and are usurping more power over the American people.  Palin told tens of thousands who stretched from the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the grass of the Washington Monument that calls to transform the country weren't enough.  "We must restore America and restore her honor," said the former Alaska governor.  Palin, the GOP vice-presidential nominee in 2008 and a potential White House contender in 2012, and Beck repeatedly cited King and made references to the Founding Fathers.  This rally had religious overtones to it.  Beck was emphasizing the importance of America turning to and depending upon God.  Beck at times sounded like an evangelical preacher.  "Something beyond imagination is happening," he said.  American begins to turn back to God." 

Beck exhorted the crowd to "recognize your place to the Creator.  Realize that He is our King.  He is the One who guides and directs our life and protects us."  Beck asked his audience to pray more.  "I ask, not only if you would pray on your knees, but pray on your knees with your door open for your children to see," he said.  Sharpton held a counter rally at a high school, then embarked upon a three-mile march to the site of a planned monument honoring the late Martin Luther King, Jr.  The site, bordering the Tidal Basin, was not far from the Lincoln Memorial, where Beck and others spoke about two hours earlier.  Sharpton and the several thousand marching with him crossed paths with some of the crowd leaving Beck's rally.  People wearing "Restoring Honor" and tea party T-shirts looked on as Sharpton's group chanted "reclaim and dream" and MLK, MLK."  Both sides were generally restrained, even though there was some mutual taunting.  One woman from the Beck rally shouted to the Sharpton marchers: "Go to church.  Restore America with peace."  Some civil rights marchers chanted "don't drink the tea" to people leaving Beck's rally.  Sharpton told his rally that it was important to keep King's dream alive and that despite progress more needs to be done.  "Don't mistake progress for arrival," he said. 

Beck claimed he didn't intend to choose the King anniversary for his rally but had since decided it was "Divine Providence."  He portrayed King as an American hero.  Sharpton and other critics have noted that, while Beck has long sprouted anti-government themes, King's famous march included an appeal to the federal government to do more to protect Americans' civil rights.  It wasn't clear how many tea party activists were in the crowd, but the sheer size of the turnout helped demonstrate the size and potential national influence of the movement.  Tea party activism and widespread voter discontent with government have already affected primary elections and could be an important factor in November's congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative races.  Palin told the crowd she wasn't speaking as a politician.  "I've been asked to speak as the mother of a soldier, and I am proud of that distinction.  Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet and you can't take that away from me."  It was in reference to her son Track, who served a yearlong deployment in Iraq.  Palin likened the rally participants to the civil rights activists from 1963.  She said the same spirit that helped them overcome oppression, discrimination, and violence would help this group as well.  "We are worried about what we face.  Sometimes, our challenges seem insurmountable," Palin said.  "Look around you.  You're not alone." 

Beck paced on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and spoke through a wireless microphone headset.  "For too long, this country has wandered in darkness.  . . . Today we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished--and the things that we can do tomorrow."  In one of his many references to King, Beck noted he spent the night before in the same Washington hotel where King placed the finishing touches to his "I Have a Dream Speech." 

Alveda King, the niece of the slain civil rights leader, appealed to the Beck rally participants to "focus not on elections or on political causes but on honor, on character...not the color of our skin."  Beck had appealed to those attending to not bring signs with them.  For the most part, there weren't many signs.  There were a few exceptions.

America does need to turn to God.  The thing that disturbed me about this particular rally was there were so many religious participants at this event from Roman Catholics to rabbis even to Imams.  It was ecumenical in nature.  That was the only issue I had with it.  I will discuss this issue further in tomorrow's post as a sequel to this post.  If America is to turn to God, it won't do so through an ecumenical appeal.  Those religious groups preach a distorted gospel which won't save America.  Much of what Beck and Palin said was right on target.  However, religious groups can't save America.  America won't be saved apart from the pure unadulterated preaching of the gospel and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  Tomorrow I'll expound on the theme, "America Must Turn Back to God."  I've also linked YouTube clips featuring the "Restoring Honor" rally with Glenn Beck speaking.  I also have featured both parts of Fox News Chris Wallace interviewing Glenn Beck yesterday morning on Fox News Sunday.

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