"I can't deny it--I kind of like Glenn Beck."

Challies takes a look at Arguing With Idiots.

Discussion

“If you don’t know, just imagine what Rush Limbaugh would say and you’re on the right track.” -Challies
Well, sorta. Beck is much funnier on air and—on average—less vulgar. From an entertainment standpoint alone, I’ll hazard a prediction that he’ll surpass Rush in popularity within a few years (if he doesn’t go bananas and start a revolution first… he often seems to me to be teetering on the edge of completely losing his mind).

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

I’ve listened to Glenn Beck on and off for years. I agree that he’s less vulgar than Rush or Boortz and equally as informative and entertaining. Sometimes he just flat out cracks me up. And he is MUCH better than Hannity.

Where is Glenn Beck on Religious issues? He often cites the need for prayer, faith, religious belief’s, etc. if America hopes to regain her fundamental moorings, and not run headlong off the cliff into Socialism, Nazism, or any of the other ever-present foes of our society. I’ve heard somewhere that he is a mormon? Is that true? Is his acknowledgement of the need for religion perhaps what makes him more palatable for conservatives than Rush? (or is it simply that he is much funnier and not as bullishly arrogant even “with one hand tied behind my back…just to make it fair”)

Yes, Beck is Mormon. I’m not sure his faith consists of much more than the average American’s general theism though. Maybe that + belief in traditional morals.
Personally, I think it would be better if he referred to God less. I haven’t listened to him more than half a dozen times, but in that time I never him refer to God and religious themes in a way that was actually helpful. It struck me as nothing more than religious sentiment expressed pretty much randomly.

So in my case, I enjoy Beck more because he’s funnier (and it’s often better to laugh at the stuff that’s going on than to get angry about it… though he does the latter also), less predictable, and less self-aggrandizing. I also haven’t heard him engaging in the kind of childish name calling Rush has been using of Obama of late.

But I’m not a “fan” of Beck or anything. He’s just one more “conservative” populist. But the country has yet to produce a consistent conservative who is engaging and entertaining enough to succeed in a big way on the radio or TV. (We’ll know the mindset of the nation is shifting dramatically when it becomes possible to talk like a conservative and not be immediately branded “elitist” and dismissed).

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.