BYU-I’s Bookstore Should Not Carry Glenn Beck

In last Tuesday’s edition of The Scroll, Brigham Young University Idaho’s student newspaper, there was a letter to the editor which challenged the bookstore’s love affair with Glenn Beck.  The argument made by the author was that the bookstore’s promotion of Beck violated the school’s overly militant stance on political neutrality, which is rooted in avoiding all partisan contention.  The student requested that books by liberal authors get the same representation in the bookstore as those written by radical right wing authors.

Although I agree with the sentiment shared by this student, I have a bit of a different stance.  I believe Glenn Beck should be banned from BYU-I’s bookstore.  It is obvious that Glenn Beck’s career is creating contention.  Beck achieves this by acting in an unchristian manner which goes against the mission of BYU-I.

BYU-I’s learning model is centered on Jesus Christ, an attempt to welcome the spirit on campus.  The school strives for this through their honor code which is by far the most comprehensive and strict of all four of the LDS colleges.  That being said, why in the world would such an institution promote the contentious figure of Glenn Beck?  Below is a short list of the un-christian rhetoric which Beck propogates.

• November 14, 2006 - Beck asks the first ever Muslim congressman to prove that he is not working for the enemy.
• August 10, 2006 - In alarmist style, threatens Muslims who have “sat on [their] frickin’ hands” and have not been opposing “bad muslims” with internment camps.
• August 15, 2006 – Mocks Muslim heritage by stating Wal-Mart theifs were “[t]hree guys with names I could never pronounce, basically Mohammed, Mustafa, Abdul, something like that.”
• March 20, 2006 - “Are we this stupid, are we as dumb as Nigeria?”
• April 6, 2006 - The indians “have found something that can be more profitable than casinos, and that’s abortion clinics.” Also, shows cultural insensitivity toward the history of Native Americans.
• July 28, 2009 - Beck calls President Obama a racist.  Resulting in the loss of approximately 80 advertisers.
• October 16, 2009 – Compares Fox New’s “persecution” from the White House to Jewish Holocaust victims.
• November 12, 2009 - While discussing protecting oneself against a government conspiracy on gold prices, Beck states that we need to think like a “German Jew in 1934.” 
• November 16, 2009 – Beck uses a disgusting analogy which places the opponents of Health Care reform as Roman Polanski’s 14 year old rape victim screaming “no, no, help me.”
• November 19, 2009 - Beck states that the “people in New York” are being “raped by” their “government.”

After seeing the divisive nature of Beck’s speech, can one sincerely believe that this is the sort of message we want associated with our “Temples of Learning” here at the “Disciple Training Center.”  This is not a matter of political correctness, it is a matter of religious adherence.

Tags: Bookstore, Brigham Young University, BYU-I, Glenn Beck, Idaho, Jews, lds, mormon, Muslim, Obama, Racist, Rape, Rexburg, Roman Polanski, Terrorist, The Scroll