Glenn Beck on Fatherhood

And then there is this:

… a teary-eyed Glenn Beck and his studio audience engaged in something of a therapy session as they struggled to come to grips with the fact that God’s chosen candidate, Ted Cruz, has withdrawn from the Republican presidential race.

The rejection of Cruz by Republican voters was “the last reckoning for us,” Beck declared, warning that God will now allow this nation to suffer the consequences of our decisions. America, Beck said, has become “a petulant child” that God has warned and scolded and disciplined over and over again “but the behavior is getting worse” and so punishment must follow.

God cannot allow this nation to escape the punishment that is due, he said, because “that would be a bad dad. That would be a very bad dad and the one thing I know about God, He ain’t a bad dad.”

(Mantyla)

Three brief notes:

(1) Remember, the difference between the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and other religious condemnations of America is that he sounded like he was suggesting God should damn America, while Sarah Palin’s preacher, or Pastor John Hagee, or … I don’t know, how many along the way? At any rate, they simply said God would. And Glenn Beck? He just says God cannot not. You know. Because something about a “petulant child” and how God “ain’t a bad dad”. Because, you know, it’s not the bad dads that nail Florida and Louisiana with hurricanes. And what the hell did Canada do to deserve all that? I mean, come on, sure, we know the whole tar sands thing is a bad idea, but really?

(2) Preachers and media celebrities can say what they want about God’s will, but if California needs to answer the Lord for something, so do New Jersey, Florida, and North Carolina. Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Rick Scott, and, well, Pat McCrory. Alabama must be terrified.

(3) Or perhaps we ought to try something a bit more rational? Because, you know, it would be best to pay no mind to raving, bigoted stupidity, but when it’s actually functionally dangerous, we would be remiss to ignore it.

So, Glenn: What are you going to say when you wake up in Hell? Are you going to say, “Thanks, Dad, I know I deserved that!”

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Image note: Top ― Glenn Beck, circa 2016, via Twitter. Right Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). (Photo by Daniel Sangjib Min/Times-Dispatch.)

Mantyla, Kyle. “Glenn Beck Says God Must Punish America For Rejecting Ted Cruz Because ‘He Ain’t A Bad Dad'”. Right Wing Watch. 6 May 2016.

The End Times Shuffle (Bachmann’s Belfry Backbeat Redux Remix)

The Bach is back.

Indeed, if Michele Bachmann is aiming for a new hit, perhaps recycling her old clearance-bin favorites isn’t the best of ideas.

Former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann this weekend warned that gay couples marrying and legal abortion could lead to America’s destruction.

Appearing on Understanding the Times with Janet Markell, Bachmann, who spent much of her political career heaving anti-gay rhetoric, denounced President Barack Obama’s “dangerous policies,” which she claimed have angered God.

“When we raise our fist to a holy God and say that we are going to redefine marriage, we are going to be okay with paying a Planned Parenthood to cut up innocent baby parts and sell them for research, that clearly is a problem,” Bachmann said. “And we have seen God render judgment in the days of Noah, in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and so forth throughout history. What the prophets have told every generation is that there is a just God and the people must repent and turn to him. So too in this day of wickedness in our own culture, we need to do the same. We need to repent, and we need to confess because a holy Savior is coming to save us and redeem us from this sin-sick world.”

Markell agreed, saying that the pair could witness “the Lord’s literal return even before we finish this broadcast.”

(On Top)

Maybe the problem is that Bachmann wasn’t clear enough last time, when she said God would remove his “hedge of protection” over the United States, “and we will suffer the consequences as a result”.

Then again, we might also wonder at the strange phenomenon in which faith in the Almighty and American patriotism alike depict a God and nation so horrible.

Think about it this way: This is the same brand of “Christian” faith that bawls about the lack of patriotism in a black preacher complaining of racial discrimination, but rallies around white Christians celebrating a murderous God who will destroy America because we’re not being mean enough to gays and women.

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Image note: Michele Bachmann, then a Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol, 11 December 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

On Top Magazine Staff. “Michele Bachmann: God May Destroy America Over Gay Marriage, Abortion “. On Top. 29 September 2015.

The End Times Shuffle (Bachmann’s Belfry Backbeat)

There are so many things going on, here.

In a radio interview last week, Bachmann, the former Minnesota Republican congresswoman, told “End Times” host Jan Markell, “We need to realize how close this clock is getting to the midnight hour.”

“We in our lifetimes potentially could see Jesus Christ returning to earth and the rapture of the church,” Bachmann said. “We see the destruction, but this was a destruction that was foretold.”

Bachmann cited the Obama administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran as a cause. The U.S. and five partner nations are discussing a deal with Iran that would prevent the country from developing or obtaining nuclear weapons.

“We are literally watching, month by month, the speed move up to a level we’ve never seen before with these events,” Bachmann said. “Barack Obama is intent. It is his number one goal to ensure that Iran has a nuclear weapon.”

(Fang)