Who will stand with those who lose their jobs because of what they believe? On Monday's episode of The Glenn Beck Program, Glenn said that he would stand, as would TheBlaze, for anyone being bullied because they speak up about their religious beliefs or have a point of view that isn't popular with outraged liberals. To illustrate his point, he welcomed the Benham brothers, who had been fired for anti-gay comments from HGTV, onto the show.
Below is a transcript of Glenn's opening monologue:
Hello, America, and welcome to TheBlaze. This is the network that you are building, and this is The Glenn Beck Program. Last week, I was reminded about how deceptive the media can be. I read a story about two brothers who were taping a new show on HGTV, they were canned before it even aired because of alleged anti-gay and anti-Muslim comments that were uncovered.
And the quotes that the media used sounded really offensive. I mean, I read them, and I thought, and I think I said on the radio if these are true, I mean, they might as well be members of the Westboro Baptist Church. They weren’t true. In fact, it didn’t take much investigation to find out that the quotes were either completely wrong or taken wildly out of context.
We invited the two brothers on the radio show on Friday. I didn’t know what to expect. Turns out lo and behold they’re good, decent people. They’re incredibly gracious. They won’t even lash out at HGTV. I mean, I don’t know if I would be that kind. We looked into their story, and before HGTV even green lit this show, they knew what their background was. HGTV decided to go ahead anyway with the show.
But then the bullies showed up with the pitchforks and the torches, and then HGTV caved. And the bullies caused everyone around who didn’t have a spine to just stop and go away and abandon freedom of speech, freedom of thought.
They don’t deserve to be treated like this. Nobody does. They’re not hateful people, and they’re being marked now as haters. They, yes, are pro-life. They believe babies have the right to be born. They believe in traditional marriage, but those aren’t controversial or even new ideas anymore. Or are they? I guess you’re not allowed to say those things.
This is flat-out bullying, which I thought we were supposed to be against, not supposed to tolerate bullying. We at this network stand with anyone who is being bullied, anybody who is being bullied for their views, whether they are atheist, gay, Muslim, liberal, Christian, doesn’t matter. I may not agree with their worldview. You may not. We can disagree, but we have the civil right to be who we are and to believe what we believe and not be persecuted for it, period.
Yes, and I did say civil rights. This may sound a little crazy, but the civil rights movement did not begin, nor did it end in the 1960s. Any attack on freedom anywhere, anytime is a civil rights issue. Martin Luther King said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. So as Christians now continue to be targeted for their views, as parents are intimidated and arrested for opposing Common Core, as farmers are harassed and punished by the EPA, as conservatives are being audited by the IRS, as reporters are being threatened by the White House and the DOJ, in a sea of self-serving and self-preserving cowards hoping against hope that time itself will cure all injustice, who will stand?
Who will stand with the terrified 14-year-old girl confronting a school board that just arrested her dad? Who will stand with those who lose their jobs because of what they believe? Who will stand when it is uncomfortable to do so or unpopular? I will stand. This network will stand. I believe you will stand.
Whether we like it or not, we are the new civil rights leaders, mostly because no one else appears willing to shake loose from the chains of conformity and fight injustice with peaceful resistance. That’s what happened to my two guests. Tonight, you will see a matter of injustice. Just for sharing their own personal beliefs, they have been smeared and run out of business.
Watch the interview with the Benham brothers below: