Glen Beck and Jim Wallis

Glen Beck regularly hammers on Christians who belong to churches that promote "social justice". Jim Wallis, founder and president of Sojourners Community in Washington, D.C., has been a voice from within Christian evangelicalism for several decades, and his face gets taped on Beck's blackboard as the symbol of that most sinister thing called "Christian social justice". Jim has been trying to get Glen to participate in a public dialog about the biblical roots of social justice, and his offers have been routinely ignored or refused. No surprise, of course.
Jim is a hero of mine. That said, I want to respectfully suggest that Glen Beck and his sensational baloney owe at least some tribute to Jim's evangelical tradition. The words "evangelical" or "evangelism" come from a Greek word that means "good message" or "good news". "Evangelicals" take as a priority of their Christian faith the biblical admonition to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations", in other words, to use whatever means are at their disposal to spread the "good news" or "gospel" of Jesus Christ.
A little history: In the early 1700s, colonial America experienced what became known as a "Great Awakening". Protestant preachers, notably Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, held public meetings during which they would raise their loud voices and hyperbolic rhetoric to elicit intense emotional responses from those present. A "Second Awakening" occurred in the early 19th century, from which several Christian denominations emerged, notably the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, with whom Glen Beck is associated. Some historians identify later "awakenings", including the emergence of the "social gospel" in the late 19th century and the "Renewal" movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
American religion has always tended to the sensational, the spectacular, the theatrical. The names of Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson or Kathryn Kuhlman may not be familiar to many, but these religious performers set the stage for Billy Graham's career of crusades, the radio ministries of Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland, and the myriad satellite television evangelism empires of the past quarter century.
American evangelicalism has spawned Glen Beck and the other media monsters who use ever more powerful technologies, corporate wealth and sophisticated rhetorical devices to overwhelm the senses and sensibilities of their audiences. Hey - anything to save a soul, right? Since American religion is all about sensations, the shiniest new product or the flashiest political, theatrical or spiritual celebrity is going to sell the most product. The medium hasn't really seemed to matter much to American evangelicals. For a population of consumers, the preaching of "good news" has never really been about awakening humanity to the presence of God in our midst, or building a movement toward social justice, global peace or prosperity.
Beck is just another American spectacle, a product of American evangelicalism. I think when we begin to acknowledge how our own faith tradition has given birth to truly mutant versions of the "good news", at that point a real, planetary spiritual transformation might be born.