BLOGAugust 23, 2017

Glenn: Do the Things You’re Doing Back up What You Believe?

America is in turmoil, and it’s time to remember who we are as a country.

“Who are we?” Glenn asked the audience on radio Wednesday, reminding them of our country’s beginning. “What is the American story? Who are we as a people?”

Are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and the right to be secure in your own home among your fundamental beliefs?

“I know I believe in the Bill of Rights,” Glenn said. “I know it with everything in me.”

As Americans, we used to be certain that people shouldn’t be able to take your property and you should be able to say what you believe without fear of being thrown in jail. Now, we’re questioning everything. But freedom must be both earned and understood because it comes with “profound responsibility,” Glenn asserted.

“America is a place where tyrants do not win,” he said.

GLENN: Interesting speech last night from the president. He gave a fiery campaign speech in Phoenix. He said he wasn't going to mention any names, and he didn't. Here's the issue: The left hates Donald Trump. Hates him. More than any other president, it seems in history, including George W. Bush, including strangely Woodrow Wilson. Democrats in office want to impeach him. The media has a hysterical hatred of him, so much so that they often compare him to Hitler and Kim Jong-un. And now he's railing against highly influential Republican senators, making bigger enemies of them as well.

The question is: Who will work with him on anything? Please, Mr. President, get off the campaign trail and start governing. That's what you need a media source to tell you: Stop with the bickering and start with the healing and the governing. If you don't have a media source that's telling you that, maybe perhaps it's time to find a new media source.

(music)

GLENN: How is it that we are going down this road? How is it that we are in a civil war, a cold civil war now? I believe it's about to be a hot civil war. How is this happening to us? And on what? On what?

The last time we had a civil war, it was over slavery. It was over something really, really important. It wasn't about state's rights, no matter what the Confederates and the Confederate apologists say today. It wasn't over state's rights, and I can prove that to you very easily. And -- and do your own work.

Just -- just look it up yourself. Read the Confederate constitution. When you read it, if you really loved America, you wouldn't rewrite the Constitution. You would say, "We're going to reset towards the Constitution and include the Bill of Rights." None of that was included in the Confederate constitution.

In fact, you didn't have a state right. If you joined the confederacy, you had to agree to slavery. And you had to agree with the expansion of slavery. That's not about states' rights. That's about slavery. Pure and simple. There it is. Look it up. Read it. Now let's move on.

Our last Civil War was about slavery, about ending oppression. Now, what kind of oppression is this that these statues -- do they -- are we living in a country where it's like Night at the Museum? Do the statues come alive at night? Come over to your house, ride into your bedroom, and oppress you? Do they come off their pedestal and whisper bad things into your ears and tell you that you're never going to make it because you're black, you're white, you're whatever it is?

Or are they just statues? Are they just -- is it nothing more than a bunch of copper or brass or metal that's just formed into the shape of something that sits alone in the dark and pigeons crap all over it? Is that what is oppressing you?

What are we argue you?

And President Trump was out at a fundraiser, a fundraiser. He -- he's -- he was just elected.

Why is he doing a campaign fundraiser now?

I have a lot to talk to you about. And I really, really want to talk to you about the insanity of ESPN, where they have now taken off -- they took a guy off play-by-play because his name was Robert Lee. Not Robert E. Lee. In fact, not even named after Robert E. Lee. He's of Asian descent. It's like Lee's noodle house. Not Robert E. Lee.

But ESPN doesn't want him on the air because they're afraid that will add to the controversy. Oh, my gosh.

Would somebody please look up Dietrich Bonhoeffer, On Stupidity, so I can just read that again? Because that's where we are.

I have a lot to say to you today. And a lot of perspective, I think, that you're not going to get anyplace else. And I just want to ask you -- I just want to ask you a couple of questions first. And I'm...

I really am looking for your answer. I want to know. I want you to call us and tell me these answers. What is it you really believe in, anymore? Is there anything that you had a gun to your head that you could say, "I know this is true?"

What is it you believe in, anymore?

To the core of your being. Who are we? What is the American story? Who are we as a people? Why are we here? Do you even know anymore?

The things that you're doing, do they back up your belief? Are they strengthening your belief, in whatever it is you believe in?

Maybe I should go back and start here, give you an example. I know I believe in the Bill of Rights. I know it. I know with everything in me. You cannot convince me that the Bill of Rights is wrong.

Now, it used to be something we hold these truths to be self-evident, but they're not self-evident anymore. They're not self-evident to most people. Remember, we were a small group of people. Imagine how groundbreaking these self-evident truths were.

See, we've always thought -- I've always thought, you could wake anybody in the dead of night from a sleep and say, "Hey, should people be able to have access to your stuff?" No. Should you be able to say what you really, truly believe without fear of somebody coming and throwing you in jail for your point of view?

I thought we would all say, "Of course, you can say what you want."

I thought those things were self-evident, but they're really not. I could go to China right now, and I could read the Bill of Rights, and they would be so foreign, that I don't know if I could convince them that those things were true in a generation. It's what's happening in Afghanistan. We think we're going to give people freedom. They have to earn freedom. They have to want freedom. They have to understand freedom. They have to understand that with freedom comes profound responsibility.

But those things are not self-evident. You have to go searching for those truths. You have to be quiet enough to listen, to ponder. To seek.

You have to be well-fed enough, to be able to have the time to ponder and to seek. So what is it that you believe?

I believe in the Bill of Rights. And I believe that America is here to stop tyranny, even if it's in our own lives. It is a place -- it is a nation of -- of sanctuary. It is a place that you can go, whether it's on a raft or a ship or a plane, however you get here. It is a place to where you can say, "Sanctuary."

And then after you catch your breath, lift yourself up, not other people. Lift yourself up and be who you were born to be.

America is a place where tyrants do not win. They're routed and they're conquered by a good and decent, fair and just people.

It's a place where virtue triumphs over wickedness. And basic morality, basic decency is the rule, not the exception.

America is a place that is pitched toward the happy ending. I still believe those things. And maybe I'm stupid for believing them, but I still believe them.

I still believe that it is my responsibility, my God-given responsibility to stand up for you, no matter how much I disagree with you.

It is a moral imperative that I do it. It is a moral imperative that I forgive if I want to be forgiven myself. That I have to forgive. And I also have to find a way to believe the best in others, no matter how many times I've been kicked in the face. I still have to believe the best in others. I still have to believe that people can change and that people make mistakes, and that everybody's not evil, that they've just gone astray because of something in their life. They weren't born that way. They become that way.

So what is it that is happening in their life, where they go astray?

What is happening to our friends and our neighbors, who we have always loved and respected and trusted? We used to trust our neighbors. We don't anymore.

Unless you vote -- vote. Vote. Vote.

Unless you vote exactly the way I think you should vote, you're worthless, and that's at best. You're an enemy.

That has nothing to do with America. At least my version of America. And if that is no longer the version of America, then I'm outdated, and I am happy -- happy to walk away in the sunset, in my own belief.

But I will not be a part of going over the cliff anymore. It's why I ask you -- you can call in or -- or just do it yourself. But please, do this. Please. Make a list of the things that you believe in.

It's probably pretty short. And that should tell you something. Wasn't that list longer five years ago? Wasn't that list almost endless 15 years ago?

Are we turning into nothing more than cynics? Are we turning into everything we despise?

Do we have any hope? Once you extinguish hope of a better tomorrow, there is no tomorrow.

And once you know what you believe in, that which you gaze upon, you will become. Who are your leaders? Who are your heroes? Who are the ones you're watching? Who are the ones you're cheering for?

Are they encouraging you to be better, or worse? Are you being encouraged to cheer for something you would never ever, ever in your wildest dreams have thought of five years ago of cheering for? Antifa? You're cheering for Antifa?

You're excusing the neo-Nazis? That's not you. That's not us. So what's causing us to do this?

Look, I don't know how to do my job. And I don't -- I don't know. I'm not in this for ratings. And it's been a really hard thing because, A, I have a lot of stations and a lot of employees of those stations that depend on a successful show. I -- I owe them my loyalty. And it's a responsibility of mine to help all of these local stations be successful. And if I believe in something, I need to be successful to be able to have a voice that can be put out there and heard.

But I think what's being put out into the system, on all sides, is poison.

And so I guess I plead with you to -- to pause for a second. And let's try to have a conversation about empathy, forgiveness, and -- and what we really want in the future -- in the future. What do we really want? Because I don't think we're that far away, when we get to that question.

Jobs, security, a future for our children that's better than this one. Those are the basics.

RADIO

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.

Glenn's Show Prep

Glenn: Do the Things You’re Doing Back up What You Believe?

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

Transcript

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

Here’s what we know about the suspected Charlie Kirk assassin