The Restoring Honor rally was held August 28, 2010 at the
Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and was organized by
Glenn Beck to "restore honor in America" and to raise funds for the non-profit
Special Operations Warrior Foundation
The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) is an American tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to provide college scholarships and educational counseling to the surviving children of American Special Operations per ...
. Billed as a "celebration of America's heroes and heritage,"
[Glenn Beck Comes To D.C., Controversy Follows](_blank)
by Liz Halloran, ''NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
'', August 27, 2010 several veterans were honored. Along with Beck, the speakers included former
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
vice presidential nominee
Sarah Palin and activist
Alveda King
Alveda Celeste King (born January 22, 1951) is an American activist, author, and former state representative for the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives.
She is a niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and daughte ...
, a niece of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
Beck's speech urged Americans of all religions to turn to their faith in
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
, "turning our face back to the values and principles that made us great." Beck's and Palin's speeches praised
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
,
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as American war veterans. Beck called for Americans to unite despite political or religious disagreements, with 240 clergy from different races and religions – belonging to the ecumenical ministerial group, the
Black Robe Regiment – joining the events' speakers on stage before its closing statements.
The attendance at the rally was disputed: a scientific estimate placed the crowd size around 87,000, while media reports varied wildly from tens of thousands to 500,000. The event was held at the Lincoln Memorial, the same location, and the 47th anniversary of the 1963
March on Washington
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
and Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "
I Have a Dream" speech, drawing criticism from African American leaders who believed the rally was clouding the legacy of the
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
.
[Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally Draws Tea Party Activists](_blank)
by Huma Khan, ''ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
'', August 27, 2010 Beck's
Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...
ism was a concern for some of his
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
fans.
Announcement
On November 21, 2009, at
The Villages, Florida
The Villages is a census-designated place (CDP) in central Florida. It is in Sumter and Marion counties, Florida, United States. It shares its name with a broader master-planned age-restricted community that spreads into portions of Lake Co ...
, Beck announced a rally to be held on August 28, 2010, in Washington, D.C., at the
Lincoln Memorial. Beck originally intended the rally as political, and planned to promote his next book, ''The Plan,'' in which he would outline a century-long plan to "save the country". Over the 2009 Christmas holidays, however, Beck claimed the event would be "non-political", and focus on raising awareness and funds for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation charity, because soliciting tax-exempt funds to pay for the rally through the charity restricts political activity. The charity receives funds collected above the amount needed to pay for the rally.
Beck named his planned rally "Restoring Honor," saying its theme was "about honoring character" as well as honoring the sacrifices of U.S. Armed Services personnel.
Commentators noted that the planned date would be the forty-seventh anniversary of the
Great March on Washington, at which, on August 28, 1963, King had accompanied an assemblage of 250,000
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
marchers from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his "
I Have a Dream" speech. Beck said the timing and place for his event was coincidental but appropriate, with its theme agreeing with King's "message of focusing on the content of a person's character above all else." The rally would coincide with the
Reclaim the Dream commemorative march
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic ...
planned by
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
and
Martin Luther King III
Martin Luther King III (born October 23, 1957) is an American human rights activist, philanthropist and advocate. The oldest son and oldest living child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, King served as the 4 ...
for further down on the
National Mall and adjacent to the
Tidal Basin, at the future site of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which created concern over the two groups possibly clashing.
Preparations
Organizers hoped as many as 300,000 would attend, with the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
preparing for 100,000 and the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency preparing for 100,000–200,000. Former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin
and Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were announced as speakers. Expected attendees included
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player
Albert Pujols and MLB manager
Tony La Russa
Anthony La Russa Jr. (; born October 4, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. His MLB career has spanned from 1963 to 2022, in several roles. He is the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland At ...
, both of whom decided to attend after being assured by Beck that the rally would not be political. Beck broadcast his
TV show
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...
from the
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
Washington studio instead of New York in the week leading up to the event.
Pre-event criticism
March On Washington anniversary
Various
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
leaders of the black community criticized Beck leading up to the event, under the auspice that picking the anniversary of Dr. King's 1963 speech was a "deliberate way to distort King's message."
[Glenn Beck's Rally Panned by Civil Rights Leaders, Kicks Off Tea Party Rallies](_blank)
by Huma Khan, ABC News, August 20, 2010 Rev.
Carlton W. Veazey, minister of the
National Baptist Convention and president of
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is an abortion rights organization founded in 1973 by clergy and lay leaders from mainline denominations and faith traditions to create an interfaith organization following ''Roe v. Wade'', t ...
, held a press conference to announce his opposition to Beck's rally.
After referring to Beck's comment from July 2009 that President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
has "over and over again" exposed himself as "a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture", Veazey stated:
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
, president of the
National Action Network
The National Action Network (NAN) is a not-for-profit, civil rights organization founded by the Reverend Al Sharpton in New York City, New York, in early 1991. In a 2016 profile, '' Vanity Fair'' called Sharpton "arguably the country's most infl ...
called Beck's event an "outright attempt to flip the imagery of Dr. King", while accusing Beck of circumventing and distorting King's legacy.
Former civil rights leader
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives, representing the District of Columbia since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Ea ...
, the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
's non-voting representative in
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, opined that if Beck "has any respect for the unity across racial lines that August 28 represented, he would not hold what looks to be an all-white march that cannot possibly appeal across racial lines because of how he has modeled himself on radio and television." In similar remarks,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
City Councilman
Harry Thomas Jr.
Harry Thomas Jr. (born October 21, 1960), is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. In 2006 he was elected to represent Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.#Ward 5, Ward 5 on the Council of the District of Co ...
accused Beck of "hypocrisy at its highest degree."
Martin Luther King III
Martin Luther King III (born October 23, 1957) is an American human rights activist, philanthropist and advocate. The oldest son and oldest living child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, King served as the 4 ...
, Dr. King's son and cousin of speaker Dr. Alveda King, noted that as a "champion of free speech," his father "would be the first to say that those participating in Beck's rally have the right to express their views."
[Still Striving for MLK's Dream in the 21st Century](_blank)
by Martin Luther King III
Martin Luther King III (born October 23, 1957) is an American human rights activist, philanthropist and advocate. The oldest son and oldest living child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, King served as the 4 ...
, ''The Washington Post'', August 25, 2010 However, King reminded Beck that his father's dream "rejected hateful rhetoric and all forms of bigotry or discrimination, whether directed at race, faith, nationality, sexual orientation or political beliefs."
King also pointed out that his father "advocated compassion for the poor" and "wholeheartedly embraced the social gospel," noting that King's spiritual and intellectual mentors included
social gospel advocates
Walter Rauschenbusch
Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918) was an American theologian and Baptist pastor who taught at the Rochester Theological Seminary. Rauschenbusch was a key figure in the Social Gospel and Georgist, single tax movements that flourished in the United ...
and
Howard Thurman
Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was an American author, philosopher, theologian, mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements ...
.
Similarly, Rev.
Jim Wallis
James E. Wallis Jr. (born June 4, 1948) is an American theologian, writer, teacher and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of ''Sojourners'' magazine and as the founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian commu ...
, of the
Sojourners Community, admonished Beck under the rationale that "Martin Luther King Jr. was clearly a
Social Justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
Christian", noting that this is "the term and people that Beck constantly derides."
[Martin Luther King, Jr. Was a Social Justice Christian](_blank)
by Jim Wallis, ''The Huffington Post'', August 26, 2010 After pointing out that Dr. King gave a December 18, 1963 speech entitled "''Social Justice and the Emerging New Age''", Wallis related Dr. King's 1961 warning to the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
that "before the victory is won, some will be misunderstood, some will be called
reds
Reds may refer to:
General
* Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism
* Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863
* USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...
and
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
merely because they believe in
economic justice
Justice in economics is a subcategory of welfare economics. It is a "set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions". Economic justice aims to create opportunities for every person to have a dignified, productive and creativ ...
and the brotherhood of man."
According to Wallis, if Beck were "an honest man", he would thus have to brand Dr. King a "communist,
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
, (or)
Marxist" in the same way that he has branded those currently who are calling for "economic and social justice."
Media reaction
Leading up to the event, Beck attracted criticism from various media personalities, comedians and writers.
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
's
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer.
Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and r ...
stated that he was worried about Glenn Beck's sanity after Beck said that he wanted to let "
the spirit
The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...
" speak through him at the rally. The day before the rally on the same network,
Chris Matthews, of ''
Hardball With Chris Matthews
''Hardball with Chris Matthews'' was an American television talk show that was hosted by Chris Matthews. The program premiered on the now-defunct America's Talking network in 1994 (as ''Politics with Chris Matthews'') before moving on CNBC, and t ...
'', used his ending segment to announce:
Political satirists such as
''Comedy Central's'' Jon Stewart dubbed the rally "Beckapalooza" and "I Have A Scheme", while
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
facetiously
Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in ...
announced that he was ready to follow Beck in his "silver freedom spaceship that runs on human tears." Journalist Jason Linkins was critical of what he deemed an "insanely melodramatic video promotion of the rally, replete with
Goldline scamflackery", positing that the "Glenn Beck rally will be like (the)
moon landing
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
The United S ...
,
Wright Brothers and
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...
all rolled into one massive orgasm of
American history
The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...
." Film director and activist
Robert Greenwald created a website and video entitled "Glenn Beck is Not Martin Luther King Jr.", which provided a petition featuring over 30,000 signatures the day before the rally, denouncing Beck.
A.J. Calhoun, who attended the original 1963 King rally, criticized Beck's holding what he called a "rally of
right-wingers, Tea Partiers,
neoconservatives
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and cou ...
,
fascists, the delusional and the truly wicked, (and) the New
Kluxers disguised as patriots wanting something they cannot or will not identify openly."
Eugene Robinson
Eugene Keefe Robinson (born May 28, 1963) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, who signed him as an undrafted free age ...
of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' described Beck as an "egomaniacal talk-show host who profit(s) handsomely from stoking fear, resentment and anger", while calling his "absurdly titled" rally "an exercise in self-aggrandizement on a Napoleonic scale."
[Even Beck can't Mar King's Legacy](_blank)
by Eugene Robinson
Eugene Keefe Robinson (born May 28, 1963) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, who signed him as an undrafted free age ...
, ''The Washington Post'', August 27, 2010 Robinson, continued his
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
analogy by ending his column with a quip that he half-expected Beck to "appear before the crowd in a
bicorne
The bicorne or bicorn (two-cornered) is a historical form of hat widely adopted in the 1790s as an item of uniform by European and American army and naval officers. Most generals and staff officers of the Napoleonic period wore bicornes, whic ...
hat, with one hand tucked into the front of his jacket."
Alexander Zaitchik
Alexander Zaitchik is an American freelance journalist who writes on politics, media, and the environment. He has written for ''The Nation'', ''The New Republic'', the '' Intercept'', ''Rolling Stone'', the '' Guardian'', '' Foreign Policy'', the ...
, author of the 2010 unauthorized Beck biography ''
Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance'', also rejected Beck's embrace of the civil rights mantle, remarking:
According to Zaitchik, the purpose of the rally was not primarily to honor heroes, but was the fulfillment of Beck's long-held dream of holding an event on the National Mall.
In elaborating on his "cynical" hypothesis, Zaitchik stated "I view this through a prism of his business – he's in a very competitive media world with many distractions and this will enable him to be the topic of conversation."
Divine Destiny meeting
On August 27, 2010, the evening before the rally, at an event not officially connected with the rally, Glenn Beck and
David Barton co-hosted the "Divine Destiny" inspirational patriotic meeting at the 2,454-seat Concert Hall in the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
. Beck and his wife rented the Hall and the audience consisted mostly of about 2000 religious leaders to whom Beck and Barton had given tickets. The remaining tickets were offered to the general public for free. Many lined up all night inside the Kennedy Center to get the tickets which were released the morning of the 27th, and Beck made a surprise visit to the people in line. The event was emceed by
Scott Baker, with
Randy Forbes
James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for , serving from 2001 to 2017.
Prior to joining the United States Congress, he was a member of the Virgin ...
, founder of the
Congressional Prayer Caucus, and
Christian-Zionist pastor
John Hagee
John Charles Hagee (born April 12, 1940) is an American pastor and televangelist. The founder of John Hagee Ministries, his ministry is telecast to the United States and Canada. Hagee is also the founder and chairman of the Christian-Zionist or ...
offering prayers. Former
Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...
Justice Raul Gonzales led the
Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...
. An "all-star"
gospel music choir performed various religious and patriotic selections (while several of its members performed praise dance), including a rendition of "
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe.
Howe wrote her l ...
."
Twila Paris Twyla (also Twila) is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Twyla
* Twyla Hansen (born 1949), American poet, a Nebraska State Poet
* Twyla Herbert (1921–2009), American songwriter
* Twyla King (1937-2022), American newspaper editor ...
sang "True North" and J. E. McKissic, co-pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church of
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...
, sang "
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature son ...
."
Beck was introduced by
Pat Gray,
his radio show co-host and close friend who
baptized him in 1999 into
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of ...
, and spoke briefly, remarking:
Other speakers included Barton, televangelist
Gloria Copeland, Rabbi
Daniel Lapin
Daniel Lapin (born January 1, 1947) is an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and public speaker. xaminer om/article/rabbi-lapin-reveals-prosperity-secrets (URL blocked by Wikipedia) He was previously the founding rabbi of the Pacific Jewish Center ...
, Dr. Patrick Lee of the
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio. The university had 3,040 students as of fall 2019, including 2,317 students on campus, in 40 undergraduate and 8 graduate degree programs. The studen ...
, the Rev.
Miles McPherson
Miles Gregory McPherson (March 30, 1960) is the pastor of the Rock Church in San Diego, a motivational speaker, and a former NFL football player.
History
McPherson grew up on Long Island. He attended the University of New Haven, where he maj ...
(formerly a
San Diego Chargers football player), actor
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts champions ...
, and the Rev. Dave Roever (a decorated Vietnam War veteran).
Rally events
Beck asked that attendees refrain from bringing signs to the event. Speakers at the 8/28 rally included Sarah Palin, Alveda King, and Beck.
Many in the crowd watched the proceedings on large television screens.
On the edges of the Mall, vendors sold "
Don't Tread on Me" flags, popular with
Tea Party activists.
Other activists distributed fliers urging voters to "dump Obama."
However, the speeches themselves were restricted from overt
partisanship
A partisan is a committed member of a political party or army. In multi-party systems, the term is used for persons who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with political opponents. A political partisan is no ...
as the tax-exempt co-sponsor of the event, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, required all speakers to sign an agreement promising not to talk politics.
[The Foundation Behind Glenn Beck's Million-Dollar Rally](_blank)
by Kate Pickert, ''Time magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
'', August 26, 2010 Of note, all proceeds raised through Beck's promotion of the event were slated to go to SOWF, after the estimated $1 million costs for the rally itself were covered.
Beck gave out "badge of merit" awards to three people for service in the categories of
faith, hope, and charity.
Catherine McDonald, head of the
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
chapter of the
9.12 Project, opined that Beck was providing a forum for people who believe the nation has lost its sense of honor and focus, remarking "These are people who believe this country was founded on good principles and God."
Richard Land
Richard D. Land (born 1946) is the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, a post he has held since July 2013.
Formerly he served as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public polic ...
president of
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission later attempted to spin the event as
ecumenical, remarking that:
Alveda King
Alveda King, a minister and
anti-abortion activist and former
Georgia State Representative who is a niece of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., appealed to rally attendees to "focus not on elections or on political causes but on honor, on character ... not the color of our skin.
Yes, I too have a dream. ... That America will pray and God will forgive us our sins and revive us our land." King also addressed the civil rights leaders and members of the black community who had been critical of the rally, responding that "My daddy, Rev.
A. D. King, my granddaddy,
Martin Luther King, Senior – we are a family of faith, hope and love. And that's why I'm here today. Glenn says there is one human race; I agree with him. We are not here to divide. I'm about unity. That's why I'm here, and I want to honor my uncle today."
Sarah Palin
Palin told the crowd that calls to transform the country were not enough;
"We must restore America and restore her honor."
[Beck: U.S. Has 'Wandered In Darkness' Too Long](_blank)
by ''NPR'', August 28, 2010 Palin likened the rally participants to the civil rights activists from 1963, and said the same spirit that helped them overcome oppression, discrimination and violence would help this group as well.
Palin's lines such as, "Look around you. You're not alone. You are Americans! You have the same steel spine and moral courage of Washington and Lincoln and Martin Luther King. It is in you. It will sustain you as it sustained them," were greeted by the crowd's standing ovations and chants of "U!–S!–A!"
Glenn Beck
Beck opened his remarks by decreeing that "Something beyond imagination is happening. America today begins to turn back to God."
He later said,
Beck, in referring to Dr. King, noted that he had spent the night before in the same Washington hotel where King had put the finishing touches on his famous "
I Have a Dream" speech.
Beck wore a
bulletproof vest at the request of his wife.
Program
Additional features of the event included: the songs "Heaven Was Needing A Hero" and "
America, the Beautiful," sung by
Jo Dee Messina; the
Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...
, led by a
Boy Scout; the
National Anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
, sung
a cappella; the gathered masses' singing of "
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...
," as accompanied by bagpipers;
[ and pastors' offerings of ]invocation
An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of:
*Supplication, prayer or spell.
*A form of possession.
*Command or conjuration.
* Self-identification with certain spirits.
These forms ...
(D. Paul Jehle, The New Testament Church, Plymouth, Massachusetts) and benediction
A benediction ( Latin: ''bene'', well + ''dicere'', to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposit ...
(the Reverend Dave Roever). At the event, Beck introduced a group of 240 religious leaders from among the " Black Robe Regiment," that includes clergy of various denominations, ranging from evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
pastors to Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
priests to Jewish rabbis to Muslim imams, among others. Also there were presentations of Badges of Merit awards to individuals selected by Beck.
List of gathering's honorees
Black Robe Regiment
During the rally weekend, Beck promoted a Black Robe Regiment (BRR) on his radio program, envisioned as a grass-root efforts to rally clergy to conservative American Constitutionalist
Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law".
Political organizations are constitutional ...
activism (as with one-time Constitution Party U.S. presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin
Charles Obadiah Baldwin (born May 3, 1952) is an American right-wing politician, radio host, and founder-former pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. As of January 2011 he was pastor of Liberty Fellowship in Kalispell, Mon ...
's group of this name) combined with generalized, moral revival.
The name was taken from phrases such as ''black regiment'' or ''black robe brigade'' occasionally used by British Loyalists during the American Revolution – not to refer to a fighting force but to Protestant clergymen, predominantly non-Anglican, that assisted in rallying the populace to take up arms against the crown.
Becoming interested in the concept of the BRR through David Barton, Beck decided to promote the group himself, taking it in a more ecumenical direction. Beck arranged to meet with about eighteen high-profile evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
Christians, including James Robison, James Dobson
James Clayton Dobson Jr.
(born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...
, John Hagee
John Charles Hagee (born April 12, 1940) is an American pastor and televangelist. The founder of John Hagee Ministries, his ministry is telecast to the United States and Canada. Hagee is also the founder and chairman of the Christian-Zionist or ...
, and Richard Land
Richard D. Land (born 1946) is the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, a post he has held since July 2013.
Formerly he served as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public polic ...
, at The London, a New York City hotel, on June 30, 2010, to discuss the religious dimension Beck was seeking in his talk shows.
Some of the leaders, such as Land, participated in Beck's rally. Land said after the event that he was a charter member of the BRR. According to press reports, other members were Dobson,[''Christianity Today'']
And Glenn Beck Shall Lead Them
September 3, 2010. Jerry Falwell Jr., Richard Lee (pastor of First Redeemer Church of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
), Harry Jackson (Hope Christian Church in Maryland), Shawn Mitchell (New Venture Christian Fellowship, Oceanside, California and Chaplain, San Diego Chargers, NFL's longest-tenured chaplain), Jim Garlow
Jim Garlow is the former Senior Pastor of Skyline Church located in La Mesa, California, a suburb of San Diego. Garlow is often cited as an evangelical leader in the political arena, quoted on issues such as the 2012 Republican presidential prima ...
( Skyline Wesleyan Church, San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
) and Catholic social conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...
activist Maggie Gallagher
Margaret Gallagher (born September 14, 1960) is an American writer, socially conservative commentator, and activist. She wrote a syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate from 1995 to 2013 and has written several books. Gallagher founde ...
.
According to Beck, a group at the rally selected from among the "thousands"-strong "Black Robe Regiment was introduced on stage which is, was 240 pastors, priests, rabbis and imams on stage all locked arms saying the principles of America need to be taught from the pulpit."
Crowd size
The '' New York Daily News'' said crowd counts depended "dramatically on who you ask." Before the rally Beck expected a crowd of 100,000, and he joked during his rally that "I have just gotten word from the media that there is over a thousand people here today." '' CBS News''' commissioned AirPhotosLive for the rally's only scientific estimate, which placed attendance at 87,000 plus or minus 9,000.
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
and the ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' put attendance at 300,000.[ NBC reporter Domenico Montanaro ]tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that an "official at top of memorial said 300-325K." Less exact were the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', which simply called the crowd "enormous", and Fox News Channel, which referred to "strong" turnout and "huge crowds." Though NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
doubted that an accurate estimate was possible, they nonetheless said attendance was in the "tens of thousands", the same estimate of the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
, while ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
reported "more than 100,000 people" at the rally.[
Some media outlets used ranges to report crowd size. '']The Washington Examiner
The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ...
'', relying on "photographic comparisons to past events" reported attendance as being "well into six figures."[ '']The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' and McClatchy Newspapers
The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and ...
agreed that the crowd was somewhere in the hundreds of thousands.[
No estimates were issued by ]National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
, which had ceased making public estimates after rally sponsors from the Million Man March
The Million Man March was a large gathering of African-American men in Washington, D.C., on October 16, 1995. Called by Louis Farrakhan, it was held on and around the National Mall. The National African American Leadership Summit, a leadin ...
in 1995 threatened court action over official estimates.
Post-rally response
Beck's comments
On the rally
Beck used the full hour of his TV show on August 30 to talk about the rally. He said the crowd "was polite. It was calm. It was friendly. It was welcoming. It was helpful," and noted that zero arrests were made "in a crowd this size." In summing up the event, Beck declared that "What you saw was a minimum of 500,000 people who never claimed that God was on their side. They wanted to change their lives so they could be on God's side." Moreover, he said in preparing for the rally he tried for a year to get a military flyover or someone in a military uniform to present the flag and could not; at 9:59 am, one minute before the rally's scheduled start time, a flock of geese flew directly over the rally. Beck called it a miracle. He also said he received a call from the Smithsonian saying they wanted "items from the event preserved for the Smithsonian." During his recap broadcast, Beck also displayed a photograph of Sarah Palin at the rally, capturing her praying "for a full 10 minutes", remarking that it was "the most beautiful picture of Sarah Palin ever taken."[Glenn Beck's Rally Recap is One Way to Fill an Hour](_blank)
by Hank Stuever, ''The Washington Post'', August 31, 2010
On ''The O'Reilly Factor
''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'' on August 30, he described "the hate from the other side" as the "lowlight" of the rally and said, "I warn you, America, the attacks are going to get worse." He said he offered a bulletproof vest to Alveda King but she decided not to take it. He also described her as "a marked woman for standing on that step with me."
On media coverage
Beck commented on media coverage of the rally, such as the ''New York Times'' calling him "the anti-King" and a quote (misattributed to NPR) by ''The Root
"The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, ''Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...
'' worrying that the event could spiral into a "pit of hatred." Two days before the rally, ''The Root'' had written, "Little is known about the event except that there will be speeches by Beck and Sarah Palin, and attendees are prohibited from bringing signs. The fear, of course, is that it will turn into a pit of hatred a la the health-care town halls. But there may be a glimmer of hope."
From the media
Hours after the rally finished, Martin Luther King Jr.'s personal attorney and speechwriter, Clarence B. Jones
Clarence Benjamin Jones (born January 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and the former personal counsel, advisor, draft speech writer and close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. He is a Scholar in Residence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Institute at ...
, said he believes King would not have been offended by Beck's rally but "pleased and honored".[Beck: US has "Wandered in Darkness"](_blank)
by ''The New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', August 28, 2010 Jones, a visiting professor at Stanford University, said the Beck rally seemed to be tasteful and did not appear to distort King's message, which included a recommitment to religious values. James Freeman, in an op-ed for ''The Wall Street Journal'', wrote positively about the rally, remarking that "the day was largely devoted to expressions of gratitude for the sacrifices of U.S. soldiers, for great men of American history like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and for God." He said "you couldn't find a more polite crowd" and remarked that he couldn't find a single piece of trash left on the Mall by attendees. After noting how the crowd refused to boo when Dave Roever gave the closing prayer thanking God for President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
and members of Congress
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
, Freeman theorized that "between Saturday's crowd in Washington and the tea partiers agitating for limited government, we may be witnessing the rebuilding of the Reagan coalition, the fusion of religious and economic conservatives." ''Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
'' host Bill O'Reilly described it as an "appeal for a return to Judeo-Christian values" and called it "a huge victory for Glenn Beck and Americans who believe that his message of honor and dignity is worthwhile." He also said, "I don't think there's anybody in the country that could have mobilized that many people at this point in time."
Conversely, liberal radio host Bill Press
William H. Press (born April 8, 1940) is an American talk radio host, podcaster, liberal pundit and author. He was chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1993 to 1996, and is a senior political contributor on CNN. He hosts ''The Bill ...
, who attended the rally personally, criticized the "Christian religious fervor" of the event, remarking that at one point he expected Beck "to part the Reflecting Pool and walk across it."[Glenn Beck's Big Bust on the Mall](_blank)
by Bill Press
William H. Press (born April 8, 1940) is an American talk radio host, podcaster, liberal pundit and author. He was chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1993 to 1996, and is a senior political contributor on CNN. He hosts ''The Bill ...
, ''The Huffington Post'', August 30, 2010 In discussing the setting among the crowd, Press stated that it was "a strange combination of political rally and religious revival", which left him surrounded by the "old, white, and angry." Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...
questioned Beck's mental sanity, while referring to Beck's audience as "lost souls" in the middle of an economic downturn who then follow the " racist" and "hatemonger" Beck, whom Dean compared to Father Coughlin
Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic priest based in the United States near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the ...
from the 1930s. Author Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...
in '' Slate'', critiqued the rally as a "large, vague, moist, and undirected ''Waterworld
''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Char ...
'' of white self-pity", describing the spectacle as a consequence of the white American subconscious feeling anxiety mixed with nostalgia at the uneasy realization that soon they will no longer be the majority.[White Fright: Glenn Beck's Rally was Large, Vague, Moist, and Undirected — the Waterworld of White Self Pity](_blank)
by Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...
, ''Slate magazine
''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In 2 ...
'', August 30, 2010
In Hitchens' view, the expressions of "pathos and insecurity", were voiced in a "sickly", "pious" and "persecuted" tone, while the speeches "denied racial feeling so monotonously and vehemently as to draw attention." ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' compiled a slideshow of what they believed were "the most ridiculous messages" from Beck's rally, while Eric Deggans, media critic for the ''St. Petersburg Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'', hypothesized that with the rally, Beck had created a blueprint for "ultra-conservative" Tea Party activists to look more mainstream to independent voters before the November 2010 midterm elections
The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's first term. Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the H ...
.[The Genius of Glenn Beck: Pushing Rivals to Restore His Ratings and Relevance in Rally Coverage](_blank)
by Eric Deggans, ''The Huffington Post'', August 30, 2010
Theological tensions
Mark Caleb Smith, director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University, said, "Many of the people you'd say are members of the Christian right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with ...
would consider Mormonism
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of ...
to be cultish, and so what's interesting is that Beck y means of the rallyis seemingly building bridges to that community from a very different theological perspective." However, several theologically
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
conservative evangelicals, many of them Beck fans politically, criticized evangelicals' "standing together in the faith"[ with Beck at the religion-centered rally, because Beck is Mormon and thus in their view not "a fellow Christian."][Beck's Faith Troubles some Fans: Religious Right has Issues with his Mormon Beliefs](_blank)
by Meredith Heagney, ''The Columbus Dispatch
''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...
'', September 3, 2010[Evangelicals have "Deep Concerns" about Beck](_blank)
by Sarah Posner, ''Religion Dispatches
''Religion Dispatches'' is a daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics, and culture. RD covers topics of religious thought, past and present, that underwrite social structures, aimed at providing a nonsectarian platform for writ ...
'', September 1, 2010[Glenn Beck's Mormonism Will Not Lead to Revival](_blank)
an August 28, 2010 media advisory by ''Christian Newswire''
After announcement of the planned rally, Brannon Howse, a professional organizer of Christian conferences, expressed wariness, stating "The Apostle Paul warns Christians against uniting with unbelievers in spiritual endeavors. While I applaud and agree with many of Glenn Beck's conservative and constitutional
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these prin ...
views, that does not give me or any other Bible-believing Christian justification to compromise Biblical truth by spiritually joining Beck." Breakpoint
In software development, a breakpoint is an intentional stopping or pausing place in a program, put in place for debugging purposes. It is also sometimes simply referred to as a pause.
More generally, a breakpoint is a means of acquiring know ...
's Diane Singer said, "If you're like me and believe ormonshave been deceived into following another Jesus, then perhaps you share my concerns. I want real revival to come to America, which means it must be based on Truth, not deception."[And Glenn Beck Shall Lead Them](_blank)
by Tobin Grant, '' Christianity Today'', September 3, 2010 In response to the rally, Warren Cole Smith, associate publisher of the Christian-themed ''World magazine
''World'' (often stylized in all-caps as ''WORLD'') is a biweekly Christian news magazine, published in the United States by God's World Publications, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Asheville, North Carolina. ''World''s declared p ...
'', said:
However, Jerry Falwell, Jr., attended the event and defended Beck, remarking "Glenn Beck's Mormon faith is irrelevant. People of all faiths, all races and all creeds spoke and attended the event. Nobody was there to endorse anyone else's faith, but we were all there to honor our armed forces and to call the people of America to restore honor."[ The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer said that while Beck's faith "is a problem," evangelicals are able to use Beck for their purposes during the Restoring Honor rally. Fischer remarked:
]
Subsequent related rallies
A liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
One Nation Working Together rally took place on the Mall on October 2, 2010, sponsored by 300 various liberal groups, including the NAACP, the AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
, and Organizing for America
Organizing for America (OFA) is a community organizing project of the Democratic National Committee. Initially founded after the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, the group sought to mobilize supporters in favor of Obama's legislative p ...
. Organizers hoped 100,000 would attend, and claimed more people were at their rally than at Beck's, but the ''New York Times'' said "significant areas of the National Mall that had been filled during Mr. Beck's rally were empty." Various other media outlets, including the Associated Press, ''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', the ''Washington Post'', and ABC News, all agreed there were significantly fewer people than at Restoring Honor.
Beck criticized the event for allegedly being political in nature as opposed to his, saying, "they are organizing for their version of America. They are pulling out all the stops. This is truly, truly Astroturf ... we also didn't have a political message. The message was about God." He also claimed that the rally was sponsored by groups such as the Communist Party USA, International Socialist Organization
The International Socialist Organization (ISO) was a Trotskyist group active primarily on college campuses in the United States that was founded in 1976 and dissolved in 2019. The organization held Leninist positions on imperialism and the role ...
, SEIU
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
, and Code Pink
Code Pink: Women for Peace (often stylized as CODEPINK) is a left-wing internationally active non-governmental organization that describes itself as a "grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S.-funded wars and occupations, ...
, among others.
On October 30, 2010, Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
comedians Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
and Jon Stewart hosted a rally at the National Mall called the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which drew approximately 215,000 people according to aerial photography
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing airc ...
analysis by AirPhotosLive.com.
See also
* Taxpayer March on Washington
* ''The Blaze'' (online news, information and opinion site), launched by Beck three days after the rally
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Restoring Honor Rally
2010 protests
Sarah Palin
Politics and race in the United States
Protest marches in Washington, D.C.
2010 in American politics
Tea Party movement
2010 in Washington, D.C.
August 2010 events in the United States