Why they came to Glenn Beck’s rally in Washington

What is the significance of Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28? You really had to be there (and I was) to fully appreciate the nature of the gathering. If I were pressed to describe it, I would say it best resembled a peculiar blend of church picnic and 4th of July block party.

More than 300,000 people gathered from across the nation in response to Beck’s call to come to a “Restoring Honor” rally in the nation’s capital. Why did they come?

They did not come because of politics. The rally and the crowd generated were not driven by politics. The deep concerns that brought them to Washington will be reflected in, but were not driven by politics. Their concerns are much deeper and broader than the political process. Their concerns are spiritual and cultural.

These were almost universally people of faith — Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim (all of whom were represented in the program).

While they adhere to differing faiths, their common concern is a country they fervently believe has taken a drastically wrong turn spiritually and culturally. And, they don’t think the wrong turn occurred in 2008, but began much, much earlier in the tumultuous decade of the 1960s.

They acknowledge gladly that many good things happened in the ‘60s such as the Civil Rights movement. Every mention of Dr. King’s name elicited sustained applause at the rally. They do believe the ’60s ushered in an era in which Americans began to emphasize their rights and privileges at the expense of their obligations and responsibilities. They further believe the consequences of this change in emphasis have been catastrophic, especially for children. The meteoric rise in illegitimacy from 5 percent in the early ‘60s to 41 percent today is but one example to which they would point as illustrative of their lament.

Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally called for people to go back to their communities and allow their faith to make a difference in themselves, and how they live their lives in their families, and to make a difference in their churches, synagogues, mosques and temples and to transform civil society one family, one place of worship, one community at a time.

Millions of Americans believe their God had impressed upon them a similar mission long before Glenn Beck began to articulate it on radio and television. For example, the vision statement of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is “An American society that affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority.” The mission statement to achieve that vision is “to awaken, inform, energize, equip and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically based transformation of their families, churches, communities and the nation.”

These mission and vision statements were adopted more than a decade ago and make no mention of government, or politics, but society as a whole. Increasingly, the people gathered at the mall and the tens of millions of people they represent understand that politics and government are lagging societal indicators. When the country changes, then the government will change in a system of government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

As stated earlier, however, it will impact politics. When President Obama was running for president, he stated on several occasions that he wanted to “remake” America.” The people gathered at the mall came to rally for restoring honor to America. They do not want to remake, but rather to restore an America where obligations and responsibilities and promises are honored and taken seriously. They have declared their intent to restore America, not remake it. Their vision, and the president’s vision, for America’s future differ greatly. That will impact the political process.

Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.