Glenn Beck, Paige Patterson to Address Class of 2010
Glenn Beck, Dr. Paige Patterson to address Class of 2010 (at Liberty University)
Well-known radio host Glenn Beck will address Liberty University’s Class of 2010 at Commencement on Saturday, May 15, Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. announced today at Convocation. Joining Beck as a speaker will be Dr. Paige Patterson, the current president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Patterson will also be the keynote speaker at Baccalaureate Service on May 14.
“Liberty University is blessed to have two national conservative leaders speak at our 2010 Commencement ceremony,” Falwell said. “Dr. Patterson is one of the patriarchs of Christian higher education, and Beck is one of the few courageous voices in the national media standing up for the principles upon which this nation was founded. Both speakers continue Liberty’s long tradition of Commencement speakers who are making a positive impact on society in all walks of life.
Read the rest here and here; a triumph of religious pluralism, I guess.
Comments
I love who passes for an expert in this world: Ted Nugent on the second amendment and original intent, Chuck Norris on Texas politics and karate, Glenn Beck on American history and tax laws, Anne Coulter on non-Christian religions . . .
Randall, please tell me your book on evangelical experts includes a chapter on Ted Nugent and Chuck Norris.
There has been some opposition to this move, though. One editorialist argued that Beck "should not be allowed to speak at a university that demands its students to believe that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation."
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/1307013715.html
There has been some frustration expressed around the Mormon blogosphere as well that "Brother Beck" should refuse the invitation on principle given that evangelicals have not always been very friendly to Mormons. This, of course, misses the fact that Falwell, Sr. reached out to Mormons in an effort to include them in his Moral Majority.
Other Mormons, meanwhile, see this as a positive move toward evangelicals accepting Mormons are their Christian compatriots. One blogger rejoiced that this "shows that, because of Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign and the California Proposition 8 campaign, Evangelicals are slowly warming up to us."
http://mormonism-unveiled.blogspot.com/2010/04/lds-pundit-glenn-beck-accepts-jerry.html
It's finally worth noting that Beck's Mormon buddy and notorious flip-flopper and all-around sell-out Mitt Romney spoke at Pat Robertson's Regent U. commencement in 2007.
Also, RAndall, to your list of experts, I would add Paige Patterson on women's rights and gender equality.
Of course, they could invite Carmello Anthony or Kenyon Martin, who shouldn't be busy too much longer, either. While that doesn't fulfill the internationalist desire, it would allow you to tag this post under the "assholes" label. :)
Carmelo has a good Catholic name, that would further pluralize the proceedings. As for K-Mart, the less said the better.
Thanks, Peter Mac Murray