This blog is designed for a class at Brigham Young University. Students use this blog to discuss elements of our multicultural society that we learn about in class. Due to the limit in the number of authors allowed, only students will be able to make posts on this blog. We welcome comments to the posts. Our hope is that this blog will foster dialogue about a number of difficult issues regarding diversity, which in turn will help us to better understand other people's diverse perspectives.
In 2007 I had the opportunity to visit Yale University as a panel of prestigious businessmen discussed the book "The Mormon Way of Doing Business." Glenn Beck was the moderator and was asked some questions at the end by two Muslim women. The girls were polite and asked a question that dealt with religious relations.
That was the first time that I had heard of Beck and I found him to be extremely rude to the girls based on their appearance and belief. His worst comments came the next day as he discussed these girls on his radio show. He expressed extreme distrust and disgust of the girls and from what I heard he based this on nothing more than their appearance and beliefs.
Here with his made up statistics he again shows his prejudice. I wonder how many people he convinces, especially in Mormon culture, to assume Muslims are terrorist until they can prove otherwise.
Growing up around people who are political extremists has left me with a bad taste in my mouth for people like that of any political background. As obnoxious as it is to hear people spout off that all Mormons are polygamists/fanatics/cult-members/etc., it is equally obnoxious for me to hear that about other people. If people could learn from history and take some time to look at reality, we could avoid the panic that could spark another mistake like the Holocaust, witch trials, Japanese internment camps, Extermination Order, and other social atrocities. Things like this, on both sides of the political spectrum, just propagate fear which isn't helping anyone.
I think people are far too hasty in the political scene today. There is constant back and forth from one extreme to the other, based on nothing more than hearsay. No one checks these facts, no one reads reliable sources to form their own opinion. They simply listen to political or social voices, and then scream-on whatever their favorite celebrity source is saying. Our "hard facts" come from Glen Beck, we read more about the President in Us or People magazine more than we do from pertinent sources, and our potential presidential candidates are elected in by fans of their reality TV show. I wish we could say it was just prejudice, but it seems we have a fair dose of ignorance and just plain stupidity adding to the problem.
As members of the Church, we all need to be careful that what we preach will sometimes, rightfully or not, be associated with the Church.
Whether we like it or not, whether we denounce that we are or not, we are all role models. (Perhaps Charles Barkley is best famous for his ad campaign back in the 90s in which he stated that he was not a role model. No matter how much he said it, he still was still a role model to many youths).
Glenn Beck is a flawed human being whom I believe is trying to impact society positively in the way that he deems is best.
He also would be well-served to remember that, even though he isn't directly affiliated with the Church in the same capacity as say a Member of the Twelve, others still associate him as being a high-ranking Mormon expert.
What we, speaking to members of the Church, can do is to learn from Beck's experiences, and also strive to be careful about how we represent ourselves.
We also can learn to be more forgiving of those who strongly feel that they are doing what is in the best interest of society.
Beck is flawed, like all of us. Kudos to him for trying to use his platform to do what he feels can help better society.
I have to say that the saddest part about this video, to me, is that I've watched several other videos with Glenn Beck which are much worse. It has become more and more frustrating to me to hear my friends cite him and other biased sources as if it were the golden truth. I think we need to be very careful as to how we say things and especially as to what sources we use to back up our ideas. Glenn Beck is not the only person to push his ideas by faulty statistics. In our "Understanding Diversity" book, I was surprised to read that Pincus cited Alfred Kinsey as a reputable source, even though he has mountains of controversy surrounding his work. I think it just goes to show that both sides of the political spectrum have their faults, and we, as political and media consumers, need to do our best to sort out the fact from the fiction.
In 2007 I had the opportunity to visit Yale University as a panel of prestigious businessmen discussed the book "The Mormon Way of Doing Business." Glenn Beck was the moderator and was asked some questions at the end by two Muslim women. The girls were polite and asked a question that dealt with religious relations.
ReplyDeleteThat was the first time that I had heard of Beck and I found him to be extremely rude to the girls based on their appearance and belief. His worst comments came the next day as he discussed these girls on his radio show. He expressed extreme distrust and disgust of the girls and from what I heard he based this on nothing more than their appearance and beliefs.
Here with his made up statistics he again shows his prejudice. I wonder how many people he convinces, especially in Mormon culture, to assume Muslims are terrorist until they can prove otherwise.
~ Mike Leavitt
Growing up around people who are political extremists has left me with a bad taste in my mouth for people like that of any political background. As obnoxious as it is to hear people spout off that all Mormons are polygamists/fanatics/cult-members/etc., it is equally obnoxious for me to hear that about other people. If people could learn from history and take some time to look at reality, we could avoid the panic that could spark another mistake like the Holocaust, witch trials, Japanese internment camps, Extermination Order, and other social atrocities. Things like this, on both sides of the political spectrum, just propagate fear which isn't helping anyone.
ReplyDeleteI think people are far too hasty in the political scene today. There is constant back and forth from one extreme to the other, based on nothing more than hearsay. No one checks these facts, no one reads reliable sources to form their own opinion. They simply listen to political or social voices, and then scream-on whatever their favorite celebrity source is saying. Our "hard facts" come from Glen Beck, we read more about the President in Us or People magazine more than we do from pertinent sources, and our potential presidential candidates are elected in by fans of their reality TV show. I wish we could say it was just prejudice, but it seems we have a fair dose of ignorance and just plain stupidity adding to the problem.
ReplyDeleteLisa Lindow
As members of the Church, we all need to be careful that what we preach will sometimes, rightfully or not, be associated with the Church.
ReplyDeleteWhether we like it or not, whether we denounce that we are or not, we are all role models.
(Perhaps Charles Barkley is best famous for his ad campaign back in the 90s in which he stated that he was not a role model. No matter how much he said it, he still was still a role model to many youths).
Glenn Beck is a flawed human being whom I believe is trying to impact society positively in the way that he deems is best.
He also would be well-served to remember that, even though he isn't directly affiliated with the Church in the same capacity as say a Member of the Twelve, others still associate him as being a high-ranking Mormon expert.
What we, speaking to members of the Church, can do is to learn from Beck's experiences, and also strive to be careful about how we represent ourselves.
We also can learn to be more forgiving of those who strongly feel that they are doing what is in the best interest of society.
Beck is flawed, like all of us. Kudos to him for trying to use his platform to do what he feels can help better society.
Are we doing the same with our platform?
I have to say that the saddest part about this video, to me, is that I've watched several other videos with Glenn Beck which are much worse. It has become more and more frustrating to me to hear my friends cite him and other biased sources as if it were the golden truth. I think we need to be very careful as to how we say things and especially as to what sources we use to back up our ideas. Glenn Beck is not the only person to push his ideas by faulty statistics. In our "Understanding Diversity" book, I was surprised to read that Pincus cited Alfred Kinsey as a reputable source, even though he has mountains of controversy surrounding his work. I think it just goes to show that both sides of the political spectrum have their faults, and we, as political and media consumers, need to do our best to sort out the fact from the fiction.
ReplyDelete