Tom Roberts' commentary at National Catholic Reporter about Mr. Beck's national revival meeting yesterday is well worth the read. As Roberts notes,
In this Orwellian era, when a TV entertainer like Glenn Beck is able, if only for a day, to somehow claim to advance the vision of Martin Luther King Jr. while urging listeners to flee from churches that preach social justice, a major reality check is in order.
Reality check, indeed. As Roberts points out, Rev. King preached the real gospel, which focuses on justice (and compassion) for all. Here's King's take on what the gospels demand of the wealthy nations of the world, as they interact with nations in need:
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say: "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
As Dr. King's son Martin notes, his father wholeheartedly embraced the same social gospel that Mr. Beck persistently attacks at the behest of his filthy rich funders. He did so because that gospel is the gospel, the good news proclaimed by the Jesus in whose footsteps Martin Luther King sought to walk.