Glenn Beck, Social Justice, and the Morality of Government Intervention

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Glenn Beck, Mormonism, Social Justice

Only someone living on the moon could have missed the controversy that erupted after Glenn Beck admonished his listeners of his March 2^nd show to “look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can.” Evidently, Beck believes these terms are code for communism and Nazism and that religious leaders who use these terms are subliminally persuading congregants to accept an evil ideology. Commentators and bloggers have raged against Beck’s seemingly heartless attack on the poor, his ignorance of Christian theology (the term “social justice” dates back to nineteenth century Catholic thought, has been codified in Papal encyclicals, and is used widely in Protestant and Catholic churches to the present), and his lack of understanding of how Catholic diocese function (Catholics, like Mormons, do not shop for a congregation but are assigned one based on geographic region).