Glen Beck breaks down over Hinckley death

[_Ray A]

I had to crank up some tears on more than one occassion, especially when my mission President literally forced me to bear my testimony in front of a crowd of people who were already in tears. It was probably easier for me to do since I was just a scared kid, and the tears were actually genuine in that sense. But there is plenty of pressure in the Church to cry. If you don't then there is a spiritual deficiency in you. So yes, I think Mormon men are able to pump out tears with little effort, or at the least, tap into their femine side at the drop of a hat.

And while you haven't gone there, I have.

Well, Kev, I have actually gone there. My mission president asked me to bear testimony as a convert of only 14 months, to an area-wide conference. I was reluctant to do so, but only because at the time I was shy, and couldn't understand the focus on me. Undoubtedly I was a willing pawn of the fraud :) (I deeply regret that. Insert smiley here) Nothwithstanding, I managed to pump out the tears, all insincere of course. I couldn't think of anything better than two years of sacrificing all that I had, all because I was insincere. I just thought a mission was a fun distraction. Something different. Better than a Rubic's cube obssession.

Do you think you have a corner on objective truth, Kev?

[_the road to hana]

That's his conversion story?

Sounds exactly like the story Johnny Hunt tells on a monthly basis.

Hunt is the head minister at the largest Baptist Church in the south, in Woodstock Ga. My ex-girlfriend attended that church before I baptized her.

That's part of it. His mother and brother also committed suicide when he was younger, and another brother died of a heart attack, so he'd had a pretty rough life before he got to the point that he found AA and a church that forbid alcohol and drugs.

[_dartagnan]

Do you think you have a corner on objective truth, Kev?

No, but I know that it is much easier to find objective truth once you've removed all the subjective baggage, which is precisely what crying is. Emotion doesn't confirm truth. It only confirms uncertainty and possibly a personality instability. I wanted the Church to be true, same as most Mormons do. We cried about that more than anything. The desire, the hope, that maybe it will be shown beyond doubt, to be true. They just don't know how to be completely honest, so they say it as a matter of fact, "I know" it is.

Oh yea, if you "know," then why are you crying?

Another question is why is it that whenever a couple of Mormons start talking about someone they haven't seen in 5-10 years, an inevitable question that comes up is something like, "Hey is he still active in the Church"? It is rarely taken for granted that members just stay Mormons all their lives. Because all Mormons know the seed of doubt that exists others as it does in themselves, and all it takes is a little breathing room of critical thought and reasoning for it to grow into common sense and rational thought.

But tears and emotional testimonies work to suppress that growth. And that is about the only thing they "know" for sure. If you don't keep bearing your testimony, sharing your emotions, etc., then you'll eventually "fall away."

[_Ray A]

No, but I know that it is much easier to find objective truth once you've removed all the subjective baggage, which is precisely what crying is. Emotion doesn't confirm truth. It only confirms uncertainty and possibly a personality instability. I wanted the Church to be true, same as most Mormons do. We cried about that more than anything. The desire, the hope, that maybe it will be shown beyond doubt, to be true. They just don't know how to be completely honest, so they say it as a matter of fact, "I know" it is.

Oh yea, if you "know," then why are you crying?

Another question is why is it that whenever a couple of Mormons start talking about someone they haven't seen in 5-10 years, an inevitable question that comes up is something like, "Hey is he still active in the Church"? It is rarely taken for granted that members just stay Mormons all their lives. Because all Mormons know the seed of doubt that exists others as it does in themselves, and all it takes is a little breathing room of critical thought and reasoning for it to grow into common sense and rational thought.

But tears and emotional testimonies work to suppress that growth. And that is about the only thing they "know" for sure. If you don't keep bearing your testimony, sharing your emotions, etc., then you'll eventually "fall away."

I understand all of this, Kevin. And I even agree with you to some extent.

It's not as if I came to this two days ago.

Crying is not "subjective baggage". How in the world can you know what Glen Beck's motives were?

Answer: You are reading into his motives how you think.

I'll be back later.

[_dartagnan]

Its just the Mormon way of thinking, and since I spent a lot of time as an LDS, I can spot Mormon testimonies easily even when they are in the guise of something else. I never knew Beck was LDS until a few months ago, but when I saw him tonight, I would have known instantly that he was LDS. You just don't encounter too many crying men, as you do in the LDS Church.

Crying clouds judgment and rational thought, the same as screaming and yelling would. It is just an emotional outburst of a different kind.

Of course this isn't how the Church understands it. It understands crying as a sign of spirituality.

It serves a twofold purpose. Not only does it have an immediate effect on you, but it also draws empathy and sympathy from your audience. How many others are getting misty while watching you cry? Its just another conditioning tool. People become too involved in their own emotions to even bother wondering the veracity of the truth claims.

When you do it often enough, you start to depend on it. Testimony meeting becomes an emotional fix for the spirit junkies strung out in the Church.

[_Phaedrus Ut]

Those who want to see Glen's Becks program on GBH


http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articl ... /200/5127/

Phaedrus

[_Jason Bourne]

On is CNN show no less...

On three different occassions over a two minute send off, he broke down in tears as if he personally knew the man.

When he started into his blurb I thought he was referring to Jesus Christ or something. Because he said he was going to talk about a man who he only wish he could be like, and believed everyone should follow his example of perfect love, etc etc... I totally forgot about Hinckley's death, so it blew me away when he mentioned his name. It freaked me out though the way he was crying about it.

My 12 year old daughter cried. I got a tear or two in my eye. Heck, the man had really pretty much run the Church all my adult life. I feel like I know him even though I do not. My son met him once. Shook his hand. I was about 20 feet away.

[_Some Schmo]

For what it's worth (this and $4 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks), I find Beck's emotionalism to be contrived as well. I don't know for sure, but I think he lacks sincerity. He is, after all, a performer of sorts.

[_Jason Bourne]

He knows his Bishop and Stake President are watching. He knows he is getting pressure from the ward to push for Romney without making it so obvious as to create a noticeable scene.

He is sure to receive all sorts of celestial noogies for the stunt he pulled tonight.

Horse malarky. There is no pressure to back Romney from the ward or stake leaders at al.

by the way, want to bet the Romney take Florida?

[_karl61]

We need to refer Glen Beck to -

www.letitout.com