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Beck, a Mormon, said the word “social justice” is code for communism and Nazism.

“Beck says Christians should leave their social justice churches,”

In his radio and television show last week on Fox News, Beck urged Christian viewers to talk to their pastor or priest about the word social justice if their church uses the term. If the church leader refuses to change the church’s commitment to social justice, then they should leave, Beck continued.

“I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website,” the TV and radio personality said. “If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.

“Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!” he exclaimed.

Later in the show, Beck held up cards with a hammer and sickle on one and a swastika on the other. He said communism and Nazis both have the same philosophy and in America “social justice” is the code word for both.

“They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth, and surprisingly, democracy,” he said.

Wallis, in response, refuted the controversial claim and highlighted how the Catholic Church, Black churches, Mainline Protestant churches, and an increasing number of evangelical and Pentecostal churches believe that social justice is central to biblical faith.

“I don’t know if Beck is just strange, just trying to be controversial, or just trying to make money,” the long-time anti-poverty activist wrote. “But in any case, what he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show. His show should now be in the same-category as Howard Stern.”

Notably, Beck’s religious group, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or the Mormon church, is widely regarded by Christians as either a heretical Christian sect, a cult, or another Abrahamic religion.

Among the Mormon beliefs that are contrary to core Christian doctrines is the rejection of the validity and veracity of the Bible. Mormons believe that the proper translation of what God wants believers to know is found in another source – the Book of Mormon.

Mormons also reject the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed – which are based on the Bible and were agreed upon by the ancient Christian churches as statements that true believers should affirm.

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An evangelical leader is calling for a boycott of Glenn Beck's television show and challenging the Fox News personality to a public debate after Beck vilified churches that preach economic and social justice.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians, says Beck perverted Jesus' message when he urged Christians last week to leave churches that preach social and economic justice.

Wallis says Beck compared those churches to Communists and Nazis.

Wallis says at least 20,000 people have already responded to his call to boycott Beck. He says Beck is confusing his personal philosophy with the Bible.

"He wants us to leave our churches, but we should leave him," Wallis says of Beck. "When your political philosophy is to consistently favor the rich over the poor, you don't want to hear about economic justice."

Wallis says he wants to go on Beck's show to challenge the contention that churches shouldn't preach economic and social justice.

Social and economic justice is at the heart of Jesus' message, Wallis says.

"He's afraid of being challenged on his silly caricatures," Wallis says. "Glenn Beck talks a lot when he doesn't have someone to dialogue with. Is he willing to talk with someone who he doesn't agree with?"

Beck did not answer numerous requests for an interview.

Glenn Beck talks a lot when he doesn't have someone to dialogue with

--The Rev. Jim Wallis
But a prominent evangelical leader says he, too, is suspicious of churches that preach economic and social justice.

Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, a Christian college in Virginia, says Jesus wasn't interested in politics. He says that those pastors who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism."

"Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he never said that we should elect a government that would take money from our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor," Falwell says.

Falwell says that Jesus believed that individuals, not governments, should help the poor.

"If we all did as Jesus did when he helped the poor, we wouldn't need the government," says Falwell, the son of the late evangelical leader, the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

What is economic and social justice?

The term "economic and social justice" is not easy to define. It has different meanings for different people.

Jesus did when he helped the poor, we wouldn't need the government

--Jerry Falwell Jr.

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Christianity
Martin Luther King Jr.
For some Christians, practicing economic and social justice means that churches should practice charity: setting up soup kitchens, assisting victims of natural disasters, and helping people find jobs.

For other Christians, practicing economic and social justice also means trying to change the conditions that cause people to be poor or unemployed. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. subscribed to this definition of biblical justice.

Marty Duren, a Southern Baptist Convention pastor, says some conservative Christians have traditionally thought churches shouldn't get involved in economic or social justice.

"For a long time, Southern Baptists and evangelicals were so focused on the return of Christ that what was happening in the real world was almost incidental," says Duren, who blogs at martyduren.com.

But within the last two decades, Duren says, more evangelical Christians have come to believe that the Bible calls for economic and social justice.

William Wilberforce, for example, is a 19th century British politician who helped abolish the slave trade in his country. He is now regarded as a hero for some evangelicals because he applied his faith to the economic and social justice issues of his day, Duren says.

Did Jesus preach about social and economic justice?

The Bible cares about social and economic justice, Duren says.

"The Old Testament is replete with examples of God threatening to judge a nation because of a lack of justice or carrying out that threat of judgment against a nation,'' Duren says.

He believes Beck was wrong to tell Christians that they shouldn't belong to churches that seek justice.

"If I had any authority at Fox News right now, Glenn Beck would be seeking economic justice," Duren says.

That concern for justice is what helped convert him, says Wallis, president of Sojourners. Wallis, who counts King as one of his faith role models, says the Bible isn't just concerned with feeding the poor -- it's concerned about the conditions that create the poor.

Wallis also evoked the Christians who fought against slavery as well as civil rights activists.

"The Bible just didn't say take care of the victim -- it talks about justice," says Wallis, who is the author of "Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street."

Meanwhile, Wallis says he's waiting for that public debate with Beck.

"I'll have it," Wallis says, "anywhere he wants."

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his fame shows just how immature and silly this country is in general

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