A New Televangelist In Town

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by Chris Bodenner

Peter at Right Wing Watch profiles the less-publicized part of Glenn Beck's revival weekend:

... America’s Divine Destiny, the Friday night warm-up to Beck’s Lincoln Memorial rally. The three-hour program at the Kennedy Center for the Arts combined gospel music, patriotic songs, and speeches about the need for spiritual renewal in America. It is impossible to overstate Beck’s assessment of the importance of his events. Toward the beginning of Divine Destiny, he stated, “this is the beginning of the end of darkness. We have been in darkness a long time.” Saturday’s rally, he said, would be a “defibrillator to the spiritual heart of America.” Near the end of the program, he emphatically declared, “We are 12 hours away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America. It has nothing to do with this city or politics, it has everything to do with God Almighty.”

Ultra-Christianist John Hagee gave the closing prayer. Peter was also there at 6 am:

[Betty] Ring said she arrived at 10 last night, too late for tickets, but spent the night outside anyway as she had no hotel room.  She encouraged people to come back to the Kennedy Center tonight for an unofficial prayer rally outside while Divine Destiny was happening inside.  Ring claimed that Beck had been told by Kennedy Center officials that he could not pray inside, and that in response they will pray all night.

(Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

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