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Glenn Beck, What If There Is No God?
 The Axiom Of Respect I'm not sure if you have seen Glenn Beck's television show lately, but if you have, then you probably know why I'm so frustrated with him. He has the opportunity to make personal freedom relevant for all Americans, and he's completely mucking it up by bringing religion into it. He has become another reason why those of us who believe in personal freedom (and free markets) are often perceived as intolerant, religious fanatics. Here is just a sampling of how he is tying his religion to protecting our Constitutional rights: If you are a God fearing person and you believe it requires you to believe two things, and maybe you don't, but I do. One, I believe in God. Two, I believe rights come from man and this Constitution and the founding of this nation were divinely inspired. These are God's rights and God's freedoms. Now, what we've done with them in the last 200 and some years is on our heads. We have pissed them away. We have treated them like garbage, but in the end and this is why we will be destroyed for it if we don't turn our ways. In the end they belong to Him. So if we appreciate those rights, if we do the right thing, we are going to have to pay for a consequence because I'm sorry, not everybody gets a trophy just for participation. We're going to have to pay the consequence for our living and mistreating these rights. But in the end have no fear because nothing will thwart Him because these are His rights. This was His Constitution. This is His country for His purposes. Not ours. And nothing, nothing will thwart Him in the end. We are quite honestly in many ways pawns in a battle that has been raging since the beginning of man. Take yourself out of the hapless pawn and be part of the solution. And the only way that that happens is if you first tie yourself to Him and the only way you can do that is tie yourself to the truth. ("Glenn Beck: Coburn - Pelosi Rox, Fox Does Not") There's just one problem, Glenn. What about our fellow Americans who don't believe in God? Are their rights any less important? Must people believe in God to believe in freedom? Personally, I believe in God, but many Americans don't. (And those who do believe belong to a wide variety of religions, groups within religions, or perhaps to no religion at all.) One of the things that makes America an ideal is her religious freedom and separation of church and state. The truth is that our rights are being eroded. "We have treated them like garbage." There will be lasting, negative consequences if we as a society continue to go on as we have been. And yes, "not everybody gets a trophy just for participation." Glenn Beck is correct in so many ways, and the rights he speaks of are incredibly valuable to society, regardless of our religious beliefs. They make our country free, allowing us to be who we are and accomplish what we can. No matter what we believe about God, these rights are fundamental to a free, civilized, and prosperous society. I hope that instead of dividing Americans, Glenn Beck will start uniting us for freedom. Ellie Sherise
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