A Fitting Tribute

Glenn Beck’s 8/28 Restoring Honor Rally on the Washington Mall was an incredible event. Pundits are still arguing over the number of people who attended. I have seen crowd estimates from as high as 600,000 to as low as 87,000 (whoever estimated 87,000 should be banned from crowd estimating). The number I’ve seen most quoted was 300,000. Regardless, it was a huge turnout. Beyond the numbers, this rally may mark a milestone in the struggle to bring this country back to the vision of its Founders.

Aside from Mr. Beck, Sarah Palin, the other speakers, and the organizers of the event, a great deal of praise must be given the people who attended. Beck asked those attending the rally to leave their flags and signs at home and for the most part his wishes were carried out. Mainstream media pundits predicted the crowd (what few would attend) would be angry, hateful and rowdy. The huge crowd was very peaceful and benign. Charles Krauthammer described it as “a huge church picnic.” Just think of it; an event that large and there was not one arrest. After the event, there was no trash to be picked up. In fact, the attendees probably left the grounds in better shape than they found them.

This was not what we were told by the experts in the media. Ed “Sergeant” Schultz (long way to go for a Hogan’s Heroes reference) said a day prior to the event that the rally would be about “harassment and intimidation” and “spreading a bunch of hate.” The people attending would be “old, white, desperate, out of touch and scared of black people.” Of course, no one saw him say these things because it was on MSNBC. I don’t expect “The Sarge” will apologize for his mischaracterization. If shown video of the peaceful folks, he will likely exclaim, “I see noth-ing! I know noth-ing!”

Part of the reason for the rally was a fund raiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF). This group provides college scholarships to the children of special operations personnel killed in service or training. Through the generosity of those who attended, the event raised some $5 million for SOWF.

Also, the event was timed to coincide with the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Many left-leaning pundits predicted that Beck’s rally would be an insult to the memory of Dr. King. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The people were dignified and respectful and cheered all references to Dr. King and his great speech. The media would do well to follow Dr. King’s dream and judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

Beck’s rally was virtually nonpolitical. His focus was encouraging people to return to the Judeo-Christian values on which this republic was founded. I’m sorry if it offends some people, but this is a Christian republic. It was these Judeo-Christian principles that brought us to become the most powerful nation on the face of the earth. It is these same values that must be restored if this republic is to survive.

Beck says that the movement is larger than politics. He is correct. But the political aspect must not be ignored. What did the Founders first do in working toward American independence from Great Britain? They became politically active. The “Tea Party” movement takes its name from The Boston Tea Party, which was a political act. Citizens protested a tax on tea by dumping tea into the Boston Harbor. One of the first battles we must wage will be a political battle. Of course, I’m referring to this November’s elections.

In order to restore our country we must get God on our side. However, that is actually backwards. For God to get on our side, we must get on His. God never moved; we did. Remember the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”