Glenn Beck and "social justice"

If Beck had, from the beginning, made an argument for small government and private charity, none of us would have responded to him. But on his show this week he wrote on his blackboard: “My definition of social justice” is “the forced redistribution of wealth, with a hostility to individual property, under the guise of charity and/or justice.” I doubt many churches in America would agree with that…

But I’ve learned that to merely challenge Beck’s attacks leads to being called “Marxist,” or to hear warnings that “the hammer will fall” on you or to face threats that he will devote a week of shows to your demise. My offer of a personal invitation to a respectful and civil conversation was met with more threats and name calling. Jesus said that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. So whatever Beck does, Christians who want to follow Jesus should not personally attack Beck but, rather, should pray for him, for the poor and for our country, which is being harmed by an increasingly poisonous public discourse.